Until this week, I had never visited an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Never visited as a patient. Never visited as a relative or a friend. The picture of it in my head had only been formed from watching ‘Casualty’ every Saturday night as a child, and binges of ’24 Hours in A&E’ more recently. Through … More Visiting Intensive Care
Last week I got a letter from Harefield Hospital. Since getting ill, I have collated a whole file of medical letters. Appointments, reminders for appointments, notes explaining what happened in the appointments, follow ups from points raised in the appointment. Having three hospitals wanting to see me regularly, I’ve now filled a large lever arch … More A Letter
Having a transplant is not like having a routine operation. You don’t get given a date and a time to attend. You don’t get a chance to prepare and organise your life beforehand. You don’t even know if it will ever actually happen. Agreeing to have a transplant is agreeing to go on a waiting … More All About The Transplant List
I feel like I’ve been on a treadmill for the whole of 2016. I’ve had to keep continuously plodding along in life, despite having some interesting curve balls thrown in my direction. Life has not allowed me much time to stop and think, instead I’ve been forced to keep going, to move forward and to … More The Wobbles
I sit there on my sofa knowing a decision is being made about me at this very moment. A room full of people who’ve only briefly met me (if at all) have the power to make the biggest ruling about my life. To them it will be about facts and results and statistics. It will … More The Decision
I used to assume that anyone who needed a new organ would be placed on the organ transplant waiting list. However, since entering the world of ill heath, I’ve sadly learnt that there is no guarantee that anyone will be accepted. Through transplant groups on facebook, I’ve observed daily, distraught people from around the globe, … More Final Transplant Assessment
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
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 