This blog is dedicated to the family and loved ones of my heart donor and to Sharon Beer and all the transplant team in Birmingham QE hospital ,thank you all for the gift of life you've given me and my family ........
In 2010 I was told that my heart was only working at 18% which to any 34 year old with a love for life woud be blown away by ,I was scared of what the future would hold if there was much of a future at all !
By 2011 I'd met new friends ,kept myself fit-ish leafleting with the Swansea gang and was doing ok ,however around about early august i started feeling really low ,i had no energy ,i was coughing ,being sick ,couldn't keep food down ect ,but me being me ,I was stubborn ,i wouldn't get myself checked out , partly because i thought I'd get better and it would pass ,and partly because i was scared of what the doctors would tell me....
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| SPARKY |
I was sat in the house one day ,I wasn't very well at all and there was a knock on the door ,it was Joanne and Sion ,i knew i wasn't well but I'll never forget the look of horror on Jo's face as she looked at me and said "i'm phoning an ambulance now" , i knew there was no backing out of this at this time ,she meant buisness and I knew it !
I was taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea ,I was there only a few days and Timmy my partner came to visit later than usual and brought the news that our beloved Sparky had to be put to sleep ,he also had a heart condition and it would have been cruel to keep him alive as his organs were shutting down , I was devastated to say the least ,I broke my heart ,i wanted to go home but knew there was nothing i could do and thought I owed it to him to get myself better what ever the cost and stay put .
Almost a month later , being moved from ward to ward I was still there and the lovely consultant DR Thomas told me i was going to be referred to Birmingham for an assessment to see if I would be able to be put on the heart transplant list as I'd now dropped to 12% from 18% and my heart was getting worse and not better as first hoped , I was terrified !!!! Birmingham seemed a million miles away ! No one in the family had a car ,how on earth would i see anyone up there?? He explained I would only be there a week and I'd be back in morriston hospital in no time ,so i agreed ~not really expecting to be on the list anyway off i went ..... I updated my status on Facebook and off i went in the ambulance driven blue light all the way to get there quicker as it was late in the day and i arrived about 10:30 pm and was put in a beautiful ward ,304 room 1 (very posh to compared to where I'd just come from and had got used to ) The rooms had internet tv's which I had to pay for of course ,but very posh !
Each day i went through different cardiac tests of all sorts ,and by the end of the week ,all i wanted to do was to go home , I was miles away from everyone and missed everyone at home ,especially Timmy who was worried sick at home also grieving for Sparky who he had to bury in our back garden .
The last day had finally come and i knew I was going home in the morning ,I phoned Timmy and my Dad ,they were both delighted. To top it all off I was then given further news that i had been accepted to be put on the transplant list and I would be officially be on it at 12am that night !! I was so exited i could barely sleep !
I did eventually sleep.......but I was woken up at 2am by the lovely Sharon Beer the lady in charge of the transplants at the hospital ,she gently woke me whispering "good news Claire ,we've found you a heart ,you need to take these pills ,have a shower ,phone who you have to phone ,and someone will come and get you around 6:30 am to go down to surgery " I remember thinking "Im dreaming ,she'll go away now...." but I wasn't ,it was really happening ! OMG !!!!!!
I phoned Timmy ,phoned my Dad ,they were both half asleep when i phoned ,and were just as shocked as i was poor things .
6:30 came and i was on my way down to theatre .
Swansea city fc had reached the premiership earlier in the year and I remember having a bit of a football banter with the anesthetist before he "knocked" me out !
Timmy and my Dad met in the bus station to get the coach up together to be with me when i woke ...if i woke at all was the feeling .
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| day 1 with new heart |
I rung Timmy the night before the op ,messing about ,because I'd updated my facebook status with "who from the wizard of oz needed a new heart ?" ,he said ,the tin man needed a new a new nose because it was dented (which in the film it was haha) ,little did i know i was going for a new heart in the morning !Sore and aching all over and not yet even seen the wound the nurses wanted me up and about on my feet because the quicker youre up the quicker you heal they told me ,i was in the intensive care unit a few days before i was able to update my facebook status with " doing a lap of honour around the ward " it was very painful but i had done it !! wooop wooop ! I came back to the chair and Timmy was waiting chuffed to bits having seen me do this after a few frightening few days of wondering how I'd cope .A few days later after several tests i was given the news that my new heart was now rejecting ,i was petrified ! i was given a higher dosage of steroids through a drip in my neck for several days until the problem was solved I was then moved on to ward 306 once i was recovering
Timmy spent days with me walking me up and down the ward getting me back on my feet again,i could have never have done it with out him. He was my rock !!
Weeks later I was able to come home YAAAAAAAAAY !!!!!!!!! I couldnt believe it !!!
