Hi and welcome to www.hannahsbags.com. My name is Hannah and I am 7 years old. I live with my mammy Deborah, my dad Patsy and my brother Michael. We also have a dog called Sammy, whom we share with our Grandad Paddy.

You may be wondering why a 7 year old has a website. Well, I have an illness called Cystic Fibrosis and this website is about how me and my family live with it. As you will see, my website is divided up into sections called Home-life; School-life, Hospital-life, a Fundraising section and a section for everyone who has a website that we know. My mammy has put up photos there as well. I also have a “blog” and I’ll keep you posted with all the interesting things that happen to me mainly! But I'll also keep you up to date about CF, how it effects me and any useful info or tips that we come across. I might even throw in a bit of fashion advice on bags!

I was diagnosed with CF when I was 14 months old. It came as a big shock to my mammy and daddy as they didn’t know anything about CF, how serious it was & as my mammy says "there was no history of it in either side of the family!" I know a lot about my illness and how it effects me. When I get sick or have to have some tests done in the hospital, everything is explained to me so that I understand what is happening to me and why I feel so bad. My parents also tell me why I have to take the medicines I take, and now that I am getting bigger I am allowed to put the nebulised medicines into the masks for my nebuliser. My mammy has written all the info on the website and she has told me that all the information is about us and how we feel about CF and our lives so far.

So who is Freddie? He's a semi-permanent line in my chest. When I need i.v.s, the nurse puts a special needle called a "gripper" needle into Freddie. We feed him with all the medicine that I need to take to make me better.Sometimes we feed him for 2 or 3 weeks at a time. After that I always feel much better & my needle comes out. Every 5 weeks my mammy "flushes" Freddie out with a special drink. This is where  my mammy puts the needle into him, makes up the drink and then gives it to Freddie. If I didn't have Freddie, I would have to stay in hospital every time I needed i.v.s. At least with Freddie in, I get to stay at home with my mammy, daddy and my brother.

My website is called hannahsbags.com because I LOVE handbags. (So does my mammy, but I have more than her!) I have bags from Dunnes, Penneys, Accessorize etc. But mainly I get bags as presents. Some of the bags I have came from other countries when my family or friends were on holidays. Earlier this year I got some bags in the post from a lady my mammy knows. My mum was more excited that me coz she said one of them was a Guess Bag! Guess who? All I know is that if I can fit my money (from the tooth fairy), my phone (not real), make-up (child friendly-my Mammy doesn't have very interesting make-up), a colouring book and pencils in it, I'm sorted.

Just to let you know, I like dolls like Barbies and Baby Alive, but I really love coloring and making cards and pictures for all my friends when I'm off school. But I also color when I'm well, but the pictures are for my mammy, or my daddy or the other members of my family like my Aunt Niamh who lives in Belfast. I send her pictures in the post sometimes. I also draw pictures for my cousin Sadhbh, who lives close to us. She loves coloring as well. At my birthday party, mammy's friend Sheena came over to teach my friends & I to make jewellery. We had great fun! And I look really nice wearing them! I have to go now, so slán and I'll see you soon.

From Hannah'sParents:

Thanks for visiting with us on Hannah's website. We have found talking to friends and other CF parents helps us deal with things. Sometimes it can be the simplest thing like knowing that another mother reacts the same way you do, or that another dad feels absolutely powerless to help make his little girl/boy better and hates himself for it. So if you have any comments or questions for us, please feel free to chat.  Everything we have written except for the section on entitlements is completely SUBJECTIVE AND OUR EXPERIENCE OF CF SO FAR. It is not better or worse than anyone else’s. We know what we know because we have lived it with our family. We can only speak from personal experiences and if we have offended anyone by prattling on, please accept our humblest apologies. This website was never intended to hurt anyone or sing our praises. It is merely our little girl’s story of living with an illness, told by us but carried around in one of her many colourful bags.