For the past near decade, my health, and my life, have been in the hands of the Royal Brompton Hospital. Or more specifically, the wonderful doctors and specialist nurses, that make up their Pulmonary Hypertension team. Over the years, these knowledgeable and caring folk have been by my side, keeping me alive, and guiding me … More Meeting A New PH Team
It was November 2006, and I was twenty-five. For the past few years, I’d been getting increasingly breathless whenever I exercised. Repeated doctor visits kept assuring me I was just unfit. I went to the gym, hiked, played badminton- I was even the Physical Education leader at my school. But, I trusted my GP. So … More When No Breath Comes
Last weekend we looked after our best friends’ children. Normally, to survive these fun yet full-on sleepovers, I need early nights and lie-ins and multiple sneaky rests. Yet, for the first time ever, I was there for it all. No power naps needed. I was awake early making breakfast waffles, and still there for movie … More Enjoying Some Miracle Months
On our living room wall, there is a beautiful wooden plaque, inscribed with a poem from our wedding ceremony. We’d never heard the words before, but as one of my best friends, Zoe, stood in the church pulpit, and read them aloud in front of our family and friends, they truly resonated with us. The … More Holding Up The Ceiling
It was a typical Sunday morning. The radio was playing love songs, Kepler was chewing his toy squirrel, and the Covid tests were brewing on the side. As I served up the runny egg soldiers, I glanced across at them. Over the past eighteen months, we’ve stuck many swabs down our throat and up our … More I Caught Covid
I first noticed it in February; in the awful week of illness, following my lumbar puncture. Whilst battling sickness and headaches and strange sensations whenever I stood up, I also realised that my oxygen saturations were a little low. My body wasn’t getting enough O2. Since becoming an oxygen user in 2016, the amount of … More Strange Saturations
It all started three weeks ago. Phil and I were ‘playing’ in the bedroom -yes, this story is about sex 😉 – when Phil, quite literally, blew my mind. All of a sudden, my head felt like it was exploding. Boom. A wincing and jarring pain radiated from the back of my head, like spilt … More The Lumbar Puncture
Back in March 2013, I was feeling rundown. Walking made me breathless, and life felt exhausting. I’d reported similar symptoms to my GP in the years prior; but was always told I was anxious or unfit or anxious or unfit. Desperate to improve, I started walking a loop on the outskirts of our village, that … More A Mini Miracle
When I was first diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension, back in 2013, I was really ill. After a month of lying in a hospital bed, overwhelmed with weakness, incapacitated with fatigue, and breathless with movement; I was like a living corpse. Phil would spend every day on the ward, by my side, emotionally supporting and physically … More Beating My PB
I’m not a fan of Cardio-Pulmonary exercise tests (CPET). They’re exhausting. Professional athletes regularly enjoy them as part of their training regimes. Keen amateurs pay big bucks to have a go. And Phil would love love love to strap on the probes and push himself really hard. 😉 But not me- I’m not a fan. … More Some Long Overdue Tests
We Can Adjust The Sails 