Steroids have a bad reputation. They have gained fame for being a dichotomy in the world of medicines- a wonder drug responsible for performing great medical miracles, yet a fiendish drug responsible for sending the rest of the body haywire! Having learnt about the many negative side-effects, nowadays doctors try and reduce the amount of … More The Problem With Steroids
One of the worst parts about being ill is when I am on a decline. For six months I could feel myself deteriorating every day. Slowly being able to do less and less. Slowly getting more and more breathless. Slowly getting weaker and weaker. I felt helpless. It is a scary experience, as you are … More Enjoying Some Good Weeks….
It’s a very strange feeling starting the transplant assessment journey. I feel like my life is in the hands of someone else. The final answer could be a yes and the potential to save my life, or the final answer could be a no and that’s it, the end. I’d deliberately not really thought about … More The Start of Transplant Assessment
My husband is a runner. A crazy, keen, committed runner. He can stumble out of bed hungover and still manage a 10 miler before I’ve even made it downstairs. He can put his suit in his backpack and run a marathon home after a full day at work. He has even twice run one hundred … More The Benefits of Running
I’m a big fan of Gareth Malone. If you’re not familiar with the name, then he’s the young TV choir master that converts the roughest of voices in to a beautiful song. Over the last ten years, we’ve watched him train hundreds of awful singers, and be responsible for the Military Wives phenomena and the … More A Concert for the PHA
When I was working I used to keep track of my life in my head. I didn’t need a diary, I just about managed to work out where I was supposed to be and when. I didn’t really plan too far ahead, so the months calender in my head was sufficient. At the beginning of … More Juggling Fun and Rest
I fear my chances of competing in the Olympics this year have just been squashed. I am now so pumped full of steroids, that I’m not going to pass any drug doping blood tests. And my slowly rounding “moon face” will probably also give it away! When Phil and I lived in Ethiopia, we were … More Pumped full of steroids!
Since I was little I’ve always had active holidays. As children we would always go away to places dotted around the UK and so our vacations were filled with day trips to theme parks, castles and adventures. If we went to the beach, we wouldn’t be creatures of the sun, instead we would be out … More A ‘Relaxing’ Easter Holiday Away
This week marked the third anniversary of my initial dramatic collapse, which turned out to be Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). In a strange coincidence, this week will now also be the date when I found out the name of a second lung condition I am also suffering from. At least it makes anniversaries easy to … More A Second Diagnosis
Yesterday they mentioned the T word to me for the very first time. The T word- too scary to be called by it’s full name yet. The T word- a small word but signalling the scariest, biggest operation possible. The T word- only ten letters long, but the start of the most frightening battle for … More The T Word
We Can Adjust The Sails 