tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20215769537533816562024-02-20T08:50:49.148+00:00TAKE A BREATH AND SAY 99A PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF WAITING AND RECOVERING FROM A DOUBLE LUNG TRANSPLANTMark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-69838809773716165302018-10-04T18:10:00.002+01:002018-10-04T18:10:47.098+01:00Eight Years Extra Life Living With New Lungs Thanks To my Donor<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Eight years have passed since my double lung transplant and I find it hard to believe that I have been so blessed </b></div>
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When I was given my transplant the survival rate was 50% at 5 years it meant that half the people receiving a lung transplant would be dead within 5 years thank God I was not in that statistic but many people who I followed on this journey are no longer with me now. They are in my thoughts today and I am grateful for the support they gave me along the way.<br />
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It has not been plain sailing and my body is suffering from the medications I have to take my kidneys are suffering and on a few occasions my kidney function has declined enough for the Drs to be concerned<br />
This lead me to having to go on insulin to control my Diabetes also a side effect from transplant.I has taken me a while to get used to this but now I am more relaxed about the whole process.one thing In hadn't thought about was the restrictions and regulations regarding driving I had to return my driving licence and was given a five year one and when driving I need to check my blood sugar levels every 2 hours<br />
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On a more positive note thanks to my transplant I have been able to see my children grow into strong independent adults.<br />
This year I am proud to say my daughter finished her studies at university and achieved a first class honours degree in English <br />
My son passed his Full bike test and is a confident mature motorcyclist now I was able to ride with him as he progressed from his first bike thanks to my transplant.<br />
I will celebrate 9 years married to my wife later on this month we have been together 31 years but I will always remember that day we married with me sitting in the car using Oxygen so i was able to walk the few steps into the registrar office to say our vows.<br />
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Time has been kind me but unfortunately not all my friends this year In was intending to go traveling to visit people I know.<br />
One of those was a very dear friend of 30 yrs who I had only recently got back in contact with after losing contact for many years But before I could visit her again I got the sad news that she had suffered a heart attack and died I attended her funeral which was held in Oxford and although I don't normally attend funerals it was a opportunity to connect with her children and offer what support I could and celebrate her life, I was glad I did but it reminded me how fragile life is and how quickly things can change.<br />
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<b>Therefore I would like to say to all of you reading this tell those close to you you love them! and don't let opportunity pass by you dont know when if ever it will happen again.</b></div>
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<b>I send out all my best wishes to all those struggling with health issues all those waiting for a call for a new life and all my friends who continue to support me on my journey</b></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-82074479560857059022017-10-21T19:47:00.000+01:002017-10-21T19:47:39.966+01:00Sam and Luke - A Love Worth Giving<div style="text-align: center;">
I thought I would draw peoples attention to the following film promoting organ donation </div>
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I was lucky to meet Luke in Oxford when he exhibited his paintings sadly I never met Sam.but had followed her blog while she waited for a transplant</div>
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you can read it Here</div>
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<b><u><a href="http://endofmytether-sammie.blogspot.co.uk/">The End Of My Tether </a></u></b></div>
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That day it lead to a opportunity to meet up with another friend from Scotland Victoria Glen who sadly is no longer with us she was also advocate for organ donation</div>
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Please take the time to watch the film and if you can share the link on social media so other understand the importance of Organ Donation </div>
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You can watch the film by providing an Email and will be sent a link</div>
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To see the Trailer click </div>
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<b><u><a href="http://www.aloveworthgiving.com/">A Love Worth Giving</a></u></b></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-521253122442002292017-10-04T23:59:00.002+01:002017-10-04T23:59:52.864+01:00Seven years of new life for which I am eternally grateful<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Today marks the seventh year that I have been breathing with someone else's lungs </b></div>
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<b>I won't say that this year has gone entirely smoothly,but I am still here and still enjoying life</b></div>
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The problem with transplants is not the surgery but the medication that is required to keep the organs against the body's inclination to reject anything foreign including my new lungs </div>
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I had got a six month holiday from transplant clinic as at the beginning of the year all was well with my health, I had lost weight and my lung function was good.But other things in my body were not going as well as I would have liked</div>
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I attended my renal appointment and was informed that there were concerns about my Kidney function it was deteriorating and some of my medication could be causing it.</div>
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The medication that I take for immune repression is known to cause chronic kidney problems but this is a drug I cant stop taking due to organ rejection. But it seem that the drug that I take for my Diabetes and medication I had been taking for an infection on my leg may also been contributing.</div>
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The consultant was also keen to do a biopsy on my kidney which I was not happy about </div>
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I was told to stop taking these tablets or risk kidney failure and need to go on dialysis.Ultimately I would need a kidney transplant! </div>
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I stopped the antibiotic and went back to the lower dose that had been recommended by transplant hospital the diabetic medication presented more of a problem Without the tablets my diabetes would not be controlled, there was no other solution than for me to go onto twice daily Insulin injection!</div>
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I was fed up!! I knew that I might end up on insulin but I hoped it would not be so soon.</div>
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It took me a while to get used to and a while to adjust the dose to my diet.</div>
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I had to send my driving licence back and was issued with a five year one and have to adhere to strict guidelines about testing my blood glucose levels when driving </div>
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These changes had some positive and negative effects</div>
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The postive effects on my kidney function was gradual but allowed the consultant to feel happier and stop talking about the biopsy </div>
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The negative effects was weight increase I had put back on all the weight I had lost and was suffering with swollen legs again, a problem I had not had for quite a while </div>
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I dont want to seem negative the problems I have had are small compared with other people I follow on my blog roll I would suggest you have a look</div>
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Again this year I have said goodbye to more transplant fiends and personal friends I had known for many years </div>
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I have also moved into the 55 - 65 demographic on forms I fill out, something I thought I would never have to do I am in the old age range now but it is something to celebrate! </div>
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My son has passed his full bike licence this month and has got a new job starting soon.</div>
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My daughter is doing well in her University course. </div>
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My wife & I celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary at the end of this month after 30 years together. </div>
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<b>LIFE IS GOOD </b></div>
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Finally I heard some great news today the day of my 7 Year transplant anniversary </div>
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<b><i>The prime minister Theresa May announced in her tory party speech that the government will be changing the law to presumed consent for Organ Donation </i></b></div>
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<b><i>This would requiring people who dont want to have there organs used in transplants to opt out </i></b></div>
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<b><i>I hope that this will allow many more people to have the chance at a new life as I have I am so glad </i>😊 😊 😊</b></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-55287649304805439302016-10-04T21:35:00.000+01:002016-10-05T02:19:26.803+01:006 Years and still going strong <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another year has passed and I am still here<br />
With each passing year I give thanks to the 45yr old man that signed the donor register and who's family gave the go ahead for me to receive his lungs<br />
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I have looking after his gift and kept his lungs alive inside me and have been able to live a full life because of this I have met some lovely people as part of this journey and I am sad to say that some are not with us now<br />
One of the things that happens on this journey that the people who start off the journey with you sometimes only stay for part of the road you travel. This has been particularly true this year with several of my fellow transplantees having passed on and many more having life changing and life threatening complications.I wont go into a in depth listing of the people concerned but it becomes quite hard to keep positive in the light of all the issues people are facing.<br />
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But this is the deal you sign up for </div>
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Swap one life threatening condition for a slightly easier to manage life changing condition </div>
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People think that a transplant means you are cured of the issues you had. It is true that you dont need to use oxygen and may not need constant inhalers and I lost my life long asthma.<br />
But there is a cost....<br />
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I have ended up on life long Bipap and daily nebulisers for an infection I had while waiting for my lungs.The drugs have taken their toll on my body and my kidneys are getting damaged by meds.<br />
I have had a skin infection this year which took ages to diagnose and will take 6 months of pills to clear.<br />
I could have been worse as I am also prone to skin cancer because of the medication I take and need to use high factor sun cream (50-60 factor) whenever I am out in the sun.I an in danger of broken bones and mood swings due to the steroids I take. I am also diabetic now.<br />
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But I am doing better than many I know. <br />
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Other people who started this journey have suffered more One person I know has had to have a Kidney transplant another has had complications due to reflux and is now permanently on tube feeding to preserve her lungs.Another friend suffered complications with a preexisting condition and had major abdominal surgery.Finally another friend is now confined to a mobility scooter to get around due to problems with medication side effects. <br />
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To all those people who are struggling with health issues I send my prayers and wishes that things will get better for you soon.Know I will do all I can to help you in any way I can!</div>
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Those who are waiting for transplants I hope your call comes soon.Finally to those who are no longer with us it was a privilege to have known you and been part of your lives rest in peace. </div>
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On a positive note my health has been good except for at the beginning of the year Christmas time I felt rough and my lung function had taken a hit I was worried due to my diagnosis of chronic rejection I was told by Harefield Hospital that they wanted to do a Bronch and get a CT scan this was postponed and when I did get the investigations they showed inflammation but no definite cause. <br />
I was able to slowly improve and I have been able to lose quite a bit of weight which has helped and my last visit saw my lung function improve allowing me the magical six months off clinic<br />
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<i>What is the main point to this post apart from celebration you may ask?</i></div>
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<i>I think the thing I want to share is </i></div>
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<b><i>LIFE GOES ON</i></b></div>
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<i>Not for all - Too quickly at times - it doesn't stop </i></div>
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<i>A New Life is not new it is a precious extension</i></div>
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<i>Transplantation does not change your life but it can change you</i></div>
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<i>It is important that you live that life to the full </i></div>
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<i>Do the things that are important to you.</i></div>
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<i>You are the only one on this journey </i></div>
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<i>You may walk the road with others </i></div>
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<i>But at the end it is a road we walk alone.</i></div>
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<i>Try to make this walk a happy one but be true to yourself</i></div>
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<i>Help those you meet along the way if you can </i></div>
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<i>Share wisdom and happy experiences</i></div>
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<i>Have no regrets you are playing with extra time</i></div>
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<i>Seek joy and love in the world there is plenty if you look</i></div>
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<i>Have fun wherever you can find it :) </i> </div>
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<b><u> </u><i> This next year I hope to be able to do some traveling visit people I know on this journey with me. </i></b></div>
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<b><i>I hope to go abroad and travel England and Scotland and Wales </i></b></div>
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<b><i>We never know what is around the next corner in our lives but I intend to go and take a look!!! </i></b></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-78131715900713435882015-10-05T01:41:00.000+01:002015-10-05T01:41:14.881+01:00 5th year Tx Anniversary - A Few Months of Pain, Another Year of My Life <div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Sorry That it has been a while since I have Blogged.</b></div>
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<b>Quite a few things have happened, not all good, but things have started to improve now :) </b></div>
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<b>So I thought I would fill in the gaps and update everyone with the details..... </b><br />
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First I would like to say there have been some changes in my blog list unfortunately<a href="http://jodiecf.blog.co.uk/"> Jodie Smith</a> who I had followed since her heart and lung transplant. Went into rejection and despite being on the transplant list again, she didn't get her chance and passed away still waiting.I have added her blog to the right hand side column of the blog with others who are no longer with us. </div>
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She is survived by her daughter shown in this lovely picture from her blog back in 2010 She suffered from CF and was in her mid 30s when she passed on! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8QwXrs3ipcY/VcPKuO5L9JI/AAAAAAAAOg8/-RIsYdBcP9Q/s1600/Jodie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8QwXrs3ipcY/VcPKuO5L9JI/AAAAAAAAOg8/-RIsYdBcP9Q/s320/Jodie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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Another person who may have been saved by a transplant that never came :(</div>
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I have added a new lady called<a href="http://mythoughtsonph.blogspot.co.uk/"> Parris </a>who is 17 years and just starting on her journey towards a possible transplant she is finding it hard to deal with the emotions that this change in her life is bringing and would surely like to get some comments and encouragement to help her through!!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">One thing I had hoped is that this blog would be an encouragement to others on the transplant journey Sometimes though it is a record of the fact that, although Transplant can give someone a new chance at life it is not a cure </span></div>
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On a positive note George who writes <b><a href="http://www.thesprogslife.com/">My Journey the Beginning of the end</a> </b>on my blog list has had a transplant and is two weeks out into her new journey please have a read</div>
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So what has been happening with me???</div>
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Back in March I went to visit a friend of mine in Oxford and was on my way home on my 800cc Honda Crossrunner motorbike when I was undercut by a car on a local roundabout. The lady in question had taken the wrong line around the roundabout despite the signs, then decided to cut across my path upon leaving the roundabout by the wrong exit I made a decision to overtake her to avoid a collision but I had not accounted for the pedestrian island just after the roundabout.I was unable to continue the overtake without hitting the island I made a choice to get off the bike and slid down the road on my right side the bike luckily missed me an slid down the road to my left.<br />
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I came to a stop painfully and thought I have really done it now!!! </div>
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I tried to breath but couldn't I was really scared </div>
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The thought came to me - You have damaged yourself so much that you are just going to sit here and suffocate to death now!!!</div>
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I tried to inspire again this time success....</div>
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Thank you God!</div>
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I managed to tell a driver who had stopped to dial 999 and tell the services That I have had a double lung transplant.Then gave her my phone and asked her to phone Liz my Wife and tell her where I was, only two mile from home at the time.The ambulance arrived within a very short time and then so did Liz and my son.I was in agony with 8 broken ribs and a bone exposed where I had lost all the skin from my left knee.</div>
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I spent a month in Hospital on oxygen and loads of pain killers and have been recovering every since even now my knee has not fully healed but I am looking forward and getting better all the time. Another year of my life passed with my birthday in August and I was able to get a holiday to Hastings to visit Liz's family before that, after getting discharged from wound care appointments at the plastic surgery outpatients</div>
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what happened to my Bike? It got sold to the repair firm who made me an offer that I could not turn down £1000 less than I paid for it two years earlier.The money is sitting in my bank now waiting till I can get a new bike.My son has passed his bike test now and is able to get a bigger bike so we hope to be on new machines for the spring! </div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/p/eighth-call.html"><b>Five years ago</b></a> I was sitting in Harefield Hospital waiting to hear if I would receive a new set of Lungs!</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">I am feeling so grateful to the 45yr old man who had signed to Donor register and allowed my dream of a second chance at life to come true.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">It has been a great five yrs but not all plain sailing,I am so grateful to my Donor and to my family</span><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100000797972813" href="https://www.facebook.com/alex.witcher.3" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" wotsearchprocessed="true">Alex</a><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100000577851961" href="https://www.facebook.com/ellie.witcher.1" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.32px; text-decoration: none;" wotsearchprocessed="true">Ellie</a><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 19.32px;">and my Lovely wife Liz for supporting me through all the ups & downs</span><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">At 5am I went into the operation and rec</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 19.32px;">eived a gift I can never repay I came out of theatre at about 11.30am and my life started again:) It is a sobering thought that statistics for survival rates mean that I am one of the 50% that are alive after 5 years </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">I am so grateful !!!</span></div>
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<b>This month I will celebrate my Wedding Anniversary. Six
years since Liz and myself have been married and 28 yrs together <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>My daughter turns 21 at the end of the month while studying
English degree at Manchester <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>My son has started two jobs and is presently in college and
working part time for ALDI<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>me?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b> Thanks to my donor
and the Will of God <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>I am able to have a life I never dreamed would happen<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>I an truly blessed </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I would like to wish all my Tx friends a happy and healthy
time and what every the next years bring lets us all celebrate this great life
we have to live<o:p></o:p></div>
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Please become a organ donor</div>
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<a href="https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-to-donate/register-your-details/" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" wotsearchprocessed="true"><b><span style="color: red;">https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/reg…/register-your-details/</span></b></a></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-31848866705556707922014-12-29T00:54:00.000+00:002015-02-17T04:08:50.555+00:00 Goodbye Emily :( <div style="text-align: center;">
I am writing a post say goodbye to 2014 </div>
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To say goodbye to a inspirational woman in this final part of this year.</div>
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and share good news about another of my Tx friends</div>
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Lots of change has also happened in our family. </div>
We have spent a enjoyable time over Christmas as a family as my daughter Ellie has been back at home from university for the holiday. It was quite a change for all of us when she left to move to Manchester in September, It took a while for us all to adjust to Ellie not being around.<br />
I got a cold not long afterwards which I thought might lead to a hospital admission, and for a couple of days it was touch and go. I was lucky But it bought home to me how quickly things can take a downturn and it left me feeling vulnerable.<br />
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My car went in for its MOT and is due to be returned at the end of january I shall be getting the same car again I hope and I have made a pact with myself to use the new car to do some traveling around in 2015 as this is my fourth year transplanted and I want to visit places from my past while I am able. </div>
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Lets face it no one knows what the future holds but as a lung transplant recipient this is particularly true. On my next anniversary in October I will be one of the 50% who survive 5 years. </div>
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<b>Half the people who have a double lung transplant don't last over five years!</b></div>
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I am so blessed to be living this life and still well despite my diagnosis of chronic rejection that i dont want to waste any more time not doing the things I promised myself. </div>
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This was brought home to me when I heard the very sad news that a inspirational Tx friend has lost her battle with serious complications following a second lung transplant<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTG1gqvs_GEsc6fWEWyi9jzJ82AZF4Lz4nUaDwDeOfXzkaoFTPwCvzaTpQsLf62iAI9A6bCeBuLzXK7yXD7QfJ8LGdOvJ9Umc_dc0AFMhwAyhi8-VmDN6sZS1v9GanACVKWKqfUl8kx1s/s1600/183884_10150109640058498_4438302_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTG1gqvs_GEsc6fWEWyi9jzJ82AZF4Lz4nUaDwDeOfXzkaoFTPwCvzaTpQsLf62iAI9A6bCeBuLzXK7yXD7QfJ8LGdOvJ9Umc_dc0AFMhwAyhi8-VmDN6sZS1v9GanACVKWKqfUl8kx1s/s1600/183884_10150109640058498_4438302_n.jpg" height="320" width="173" /></a></div>
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Emily Thackery</div>
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I have included 15 facts about Emily that she posted in 2011 as part of a 30 day photo challenge with this photo.</div>
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1. I am a natural blonde, in both hair colour and brain.</div>
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2. I have a strong belief in the power of positive thinking; even when you can't change your situation, you can change your perspective.</div>
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3. I have 2 sisters, who I love very much and who are currently too far away for my liking.</div>
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4. Family and friends are the most important things to me.</div>
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5. I've been "officially" written off twice. And I'm still here. Take that, Grim Reaper.</div>
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6. My favourite colour is still pink, although now I'm older and more mature (HA) it's a little more discrete.</div>
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7. I have a very vivid imagination. This can be a good thing, but it can definitely be a bad thing as well.</div>
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8. I love reading and attribute that to my parents and their house, which is full to the brim with books.</div>
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9. I adore pretty shoes but cannot walk in heels to save my life.</div>
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10. I collect little quotes and sayings which put things far more succinctly than I ever could.</div>
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11. I love learning and believe I can learn from everyone I meet. At some point in the future, I'd quite like to take up study of some sort again.</div>
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12. I used to be quite the little grunger - black makeup, baggy jeans, heavy metal music, the works.</div>
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13. In many ways I feel quite mature for my age, but in many others I feel hugely out of my depth and think I belong back at school with some of the kids I teach.</div>
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14. I've always been a poser; I was in a dettol advert as a toddler and modelled knitting patterns for a magazine.</div>
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15. I'm quite petite, and I rather like being small. Until my year 7 pupils tower above me that is.</div>
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I meet Emily in January 2012 when I attended the speakers project run by LLTGL a charity Emily started with her friend and <a href="http://livelifethengivelife.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/extraordinary-emily.html">won award for in 2011</a><br />
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She was a great support to me and many many others and will be missed by so many people.<br />
I last saw Emily in clinic before she was admitted to Harefield with a serious deterioration in her lung function that turned out to be something that couldn't be fixed and although she got another transplant it was not successful <br />
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Emily had got her transplant in January 2007 and had many great years of extra life and had a daughter Sophia.</div>
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She passed peacefully on 28 December.2014 </div>
You can read more about Emily at her blog <a href="http://www.pinkandsmiley.blogspot.co.uk/">PinkandSmiley</a> and please visit and support <a href="http://livelifegivelife.org.uk/">LLTGL</a><br />
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<b>Finally Emily's sister Abigal set up a page for donating to Harefield Hospital who looked after Emily at </b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.justgiving.com/Emily-Thackray">Just Giving - Sending Love to Emily</a></b></div>
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<i>I will miss you Emily and you will be missed by so many in the transplant community</i></div>
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<i>Rest in Gods embrace xxx</i></div>
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Emily's favourite quotes on her facebook </div>
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seems very relevant at the moment</div>
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<b><i>"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." </i></b><b style="text-align: left;"><i>- Groucho Marx</i></b></div>
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<b><i>"Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway."</i></b></div>
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The other piece of news I have to share is good I also received news from another friend on facebook and someone I follow on this blog Claire who writes <a href="http://krazyclaire.blogspot.co.uk/">My World</a> has been lucky enough to receive her best christmas present ever of a new Kidney</div>
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She posted </div>
<i>As most of your know. Operation went well and kidney is working. Just had a scan and everything is looking great! Still very sleepy and in pain but apart from im doing well</i>.<br />
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I wish her all the best with her new life and hope her recovery will be quick and uneventful<br />
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<b>As I look forward to the new year what do i want? </b></div>
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<b>All the best things for All my friends may their wishes all come true </b></div>
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<b>Continued Good Health for my transplant Friends and myself</b></div>
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<b>and time to live my life to the fullest </b></div>
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to all my readers and friends</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Have a very happy 2015</b></span> </div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-38532429767009842962014-10-04T23:44:00.001+01:002014-10-05T03:57:37.487+01:00Four year Anniversary<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><b>This time four years ago I was recovering from the biggest change to my life since my birth</b></i></div>
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Thanks to my donor I was able to breath again after five years deteriorating to the state of a respiratory cripple on oxygen constantly to breath. </div>
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It seems like a lifetime ago and in a sense it is!</div>
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It has been a year since my last entry in this blog why is this I here you ask? truth is I have been getting on with daily life. There have been ups and downs in my health but mostly I have been trying to live a normal life and not let my medical conditions rule my life. </div>
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It took a long while to get over the process of transplantation and the changes it brings with it,</div>
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I was told by my doctor that transplantation is not a cure it is swapping one serious condition for a new one.At the time I didn't fully accept what that might mean, I think now I understand! </div>
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<b><i>How have you been?</i></b><br />
a question many people ask when they met you after a long time. For people with a long term medical condition this becomes a very awkward one to answer! This year I have tried to answer in the expected way<br />
<b><i> "I am fine how about you"</i></b></div>
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On the whole people don't want all the details, if you tell them they get scared for you and worry what to say to you. Truth is the only people who know what you are talking about are fellow transplantees.But for the purposes of the blog I shall briefly fill in some details.</div>
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I have had to deal with a few health issues this year not least the issue of chronic rejection! It has not cause me any overt problems as such but the thought of it being present has been hard to deal with. </div>
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It is strange that when I was really unwell I dealt with many more problems and was somehow able to ignore them and get on with life better than the unseen issue of a worsening of the rejection!</div>
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Another issue that has taken some getting used to has been my Diabetes I have struggled with the effect that it has had on my life and the restrictions, but it seems that a the moment it is not causing any of the health issues that come long term my eyesight is okay and peripheral nerves seem good checks through my GP seem to be in the range that is expected.</div>
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I did have a issue with some sore skin areas on my right leg that was worrying me. But after a skin biopsy in the summer it turned out to be Porokeratosis. This a skin condition that can occur due to the medication I take for the transplant. I was happy to find out that it wasn't skin cancer, a risk factor for all transplants, but there doesn't seem to be much that can be done for it, and it does need to be monitored as it can develop into skin cancer in a small amount of cases therefore I will be attending Dermatology dept from now on.</div>
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<b><u>RSV</u> </b> </div>
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The most major issue this year was being admitted to hospital with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_respiratory_syncytial_virus">RSV</a>!</div>
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It started as a cold just before Liz went to Manchester with our daughter to look at accommodation for University then it got rapidly worse over that day to the point were I became breathless a call to Harefield confirmed that a hospital admission would be on the cards and when my son got back from college that night a ambulance was taking me to the local hospital.</div>
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That night I was back on 4 litres of oxygen and quite worried two days later I was back in Harefield on IV antibiotics after a bronchoscopy and a diagnosis of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_respiratory_syncytial_virus">RSV</a> a common respiratory illness in children for a immunosuppressed person it can lead to pneumonia and death so i was glad that I got treatment when I did even though I had to spend the whole of the stay isolated as I was a risk to the all the other transplant patients.</div>
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Finally a couple of months ago just after my holiday I managed to brake my ankle walking down a hill after spending the night waiting for the demolition of the cooling towers of a local landmark didcot power station and spent some time on crutches :(</div>
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It has not all been bad although I hoped to get away a few times this year I was able to go on holiday with the family to Sussex for what would be the last time although we had done most things before we did manage to ride on the new Brighton Big wheel </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bqwd9xMA8Mw/VDCN7EMR5JI/AAAAAAAAMhc/fwlzGII4W08/s1600/Brigton%2BBig%2BWheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bqwd9xMA8Mw/VDCN7EMR5JI/AAAAAAAAMhc/fwlzGII4W08/s1600/Brigton%2BBig%2BWheel.jpg" height="183" width="400" /></a> </div>
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and saw some of the sights before having a nice meal </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brighton Street art</td></tr>
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I also managed to get to Hasting on Mayday to see the largest amount of motorbikes in one place I have ever seen. 41000 attended and filled the town with bikes I was there on my bike with my son Mine is the bike with red luggage on the right of the photo<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxr8u6_hXE30UV8fX4hbI9PKYM-MPM4r_ugB5UNPqfJsB6BUQTVzOvC4GA8vK9oOUb193tFdz0zlBc3YQvTlIKkYja630qBvX6Idb5vHIG3ELNSRI9oEuGUbl5Cz88MVdf0p41JNIeZDY/s1600/May+day+bikes.jpg" height="228" width="400" /></div>
Another interesting event happening on the same day was the local may day celebration "The Jack of the green" where you can find many unusual characters!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERx8KuWOHQWBOQe5FeE1xpemWh4kYiefcj9f8jwxs9coSn-ycHCh2wBpmtbtk24kIttyUjbAJ67qC5X7WlNjc2Cw4iNIGzCEmuRKKkPULN-Pw9aUl2VFxugcVtcmKBaWYC2JSkfjg2qY/s1600/Jack+in+the+green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERx8KuWOHQWBOQe5FeE1xpemWh4kYiefcj9f8jwxs9coSn-ycHCh2wBpmtbtk24kIttyUjbAJ67qC5X7WlNjc2Cw4iNIGzCEmuRKKkPULN-Pw9aUl2VFxugcVtcmKBaWYC2JSkfjg2qY/s1600/Jack+in+the+green.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><u><i> "I am fine it is all the others"</i></u></b> </div>
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This is another stock response to the how are you question. </div>
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In this last year this has been particularly poignant as some of the people I follow on this blog are no longer with us now or are having a bad time of it </div>
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Firstly Kerry who wrote <a href="http://kerryalexxx.blogspot.co.uk/">Come walk in my shoes...</a> did not make it to receive new lungs and passed away peacefully on the 21st March 2014 for those who want to support the new charity set up in her name please see<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thekerryalexthorpetrust"> The Kerry Alex Thorpe Trust </a> you can read more about Kerry on her </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/190577947684605/">FB transplant page</a> </div>
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Another person no longer with us is Hazel who wrote <a href="http://hazelsblog-hazel.blogspot.co.uk/">Hazel's Blog - The road to transplant</a> she was called to transplant and received new lungs but unfortunately died from blood loss on 25th September as you can imagine it has shocked me and all the people who were following her progress:(</div>
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The final person I have found out is having a very bad time is Jodie who writes<a href="http://jodiecf.blog.co.uk/"> Jodiecf Blog</a> she is suffering with very bad chronic rejection of her heart and lungs and is waiting to be put on the transplant list again please if you could offer some support to her and comment on her blog I am sure she would appreciate it.<br />
On a positive note the people I mentioned in my last blog entry last year are dong well <a href="http://kirstie-2ndchanceatlife.blogspot.co.uk/">Kirstie </a> is doing well since her second transplant <a href="http://kimberleyliane.blogspot.co.uk/">Kimberly</a> is getting better after her problems last year. <a href="http://kathstransplantblog.blogspot.co.uk/">Kath</a> has recovered really well and is living life to the full since receiving her new heart and lungs<br />
<a href="http://misskmgammon.blogspot.co.uk/">Katie</a> is doing well since her transplant and is now involved with<a href="http://livelifegivelife.org.uk/"> LLTGL</a> as a advocate<br />
If you want to help this very worthwhile charity please think about buying one of the new<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://transplanttroopers.co.uk/"> Transplant Troopers Calender </a></span></div>
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It contains several people that I follow on this Blog and will help with educating people about transplant and organ donation</div>
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Other things that have happened in our household this year is my son Alex is now a man having reached 18 this summer. I was able to join him and buy him his first pint of beer in the local pub, something I thought I would never be able to do when I was ill.</div>
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My daughter Ellie has left home to go to Manchester Metropolitan University and my wife Liz and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on 23 October after 27 years together.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5a96OxVDHvJDYDwbz4PApKWSAWVvAEYIjegEUgHnOOVnhD9R1GJSYx9Dhul06xgj6hWGHGiOrxxDfmVCI-d9WaO4kUopuvRn1nkUbQf7AhS359ZdspL6gdR2fvA7LcDxtfNTHtqHHvk/s1600/Family+portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs5a96OxVDHvJDYDwbz4PApKWSAWVvAEYIjegEUgHnOOVnhD9R1GJSYx9Dhul06xgj6hWGHGiOrxxDfmVCI-d9WaO4kUopuvRn1nkUbQf7AhS359ZdspL6gdR2fvA7LcDxtfNTHtqHHvk/s1600/Family+portrait.jpg" height="212" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our family 12th September 2014</td></tr>
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All these things would not have happened if it wasn't for my donor leaving me his lungs for that I will be eternally grateful to him and his loved ones who allowed the donation to go ahead </div>
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Please if you haven't signed the donor register please consider doing it now </div>
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and if you do or even if you don't </div>
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please let your loved ones know so they can honor your wishes</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/">Sign The Donor Register </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/">Click Here</a></span> </div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-30347062973109589542013-10-04T01:38:00.000+01:002013-10-04T15:12:11.087+01:00 Three years Anniversary - Rejecting My RejectionHello again,<br />
It has been a while since I posted in this blog six months to be exact!<br />
lots has been happening to me and to others I know and I have done a few things that I have been putting of since my transplant.<br />
Firstly I want to bring you up to speed on my health I know that I said in my last post that there was no evidence of any rejection just inflammation this was an area of focal pneumonia that was treated with six weeks of increased steroids 30mg instead of my normal 10 mg but something else was found<br />
<b> Bronchiolitis Obliterans</b><br />
Transplanted lungs are susceptible to different types of rejection.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Acute cellular rejection </b>– Acute cellular rejection is the predominant type of acute lung allograft rejection and is mediated by T lymphocyte recognition of foreign major histocompatibility complexes (MHC), also known as human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in humans.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Humoral rejection</b> – Humoral rejection, which is less common than acute cellular rejection, is mediated by antibodies directed against donor HLA epitopes. These antibodies may have been present in the recipient at a low level prior to transplant or may develop afterwards. Generally, if HLA antibodies are identified in the potential recipient, the corresponding HLA antigens are avoided in a donor (so-called virtual cross-match). Hyperacute rejection is a rare form of humoral rejection that occurs in the first 24 hours following lung transplantation in recipients who have preformed anti-HLA antibodies.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Bronchiolitis obliterans</b> – Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is the predominant feature of chronic lung transplant rejection and is manifest pathologically as dense fibrous scar tissue affecting the small airways. Clinically, BO is associated with a progressive decline in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). While BO is felt to be largely a manifestation of chronic lung transplant rejection, several other risk factors have been identified. Less commonly, chronic vascular rejection is also present and manifests pathologically as atherosclerosis in the pulmonary vasculature</span></i><br />
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The doctors have also done a impedance test on me as i mentioned in last post, that proved negative, so the reason for my BO is not gastric reflux leading to damage to my lungs. I was relieved about that but obviously concerned about what had caused the rejection.I went into a bit of a decline in my mood and the high levels of prednisone were helping me physically, but mentally I was a mess.It was really hard for my wife and children to be around me due to my moods and irritation.<br />
Gradually my breathing became easier due the steroid treatment and when I returned to my next clinic appointment my FEV 1 had improved to a level near to what it was before the rejection episode. The doctor was happy with this, but when I asked him about the long term prospects for my lung function he was not able to give any guarantees,he just said we will have to wait and see over the next few months. He also told me that the blood test they had done had indicated higher than normal blood sugars and that I would need to get a fasting blood sugar test done when I had reduced my steroids back to a my normal dose as this could be the cause.<br />
Just my luck when I did get my fasting bloods done I was called and admitted into hospital with a blood glucose level of 55mmols/l, not good and requiring urgent treatment.So I have increased my tablets by a few more as I have now been diagnosed as Type 2 Diabetes.<br />
I have now got my blood levels under control again but not before experiencing my first Hypo while I was out on my Birthday drink this resulted in me passing out and cutting my head open in a packed pub in front of the band that was playing how embarrassing was that !!<br />
The one positive effect that has happened is that I was able to lose a bit of weight and it has given my Diet a boost not having any sugar :) As I was leaving hospital I managed to take this picture to post out for Transplant week reminding me how lucky I am !!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyjs6z3ERfEdaPcvtZLBgvvRHqdUOJk_EiHAlTrk9l4PMGlUXXlJAXzL9pUYq8juxb1mW4iDya0PrqeSp10HaVTwE3oFI12UM5kinXgdSTgtSSivs0lGj3XEk8jv3R9XgbhUMJX42bEA/s1600/Transplant+week+profile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyjs6z3ERfEdaPcvtZLBgvvRHqdUOJk_EiHAlTrk9l4PMGlUXXlJAXzL9pUYq8juxb1mW4iDya0PrqeSp10HaVTwE3oFI12UM5kinXgdSTgtSSivs0lGj3XEk8jv3R9XgbhUMJX42bEA/s400/Transplant+week+profile.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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what else has happened ? well quite a lot. I decided to deal with the issue of rejection in a positive way by getting on with life and doing things that I had put on hold.<br />
I went out and bought a motorbike<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M1yr6lkomME/Uk3ntTQHmUI/AAAAAAAACEo/TKYET3nYCBs/s1600/2013-05-11+14.21.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M1yr6lkomME/Uk3ntTQHmUI/AAAAAAAACEo/TKYET3nYCBs/s400/2013-05-11+14.21.44.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honda Crossrunner (VFR 800)</td></tr>
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At the same time I bought my son a bike too<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKlJaiUpbIFeSbLwxkiK8__bU4eWUams9PpTBmLGAXaGiEcgw4BnCU_u_RIOTaX8gQMqmdIL704ZtGqiCW62sid32dZqIN5TZQxMf8DQ2H4F0boyFk9YbohZ87HGUe_1jHZMXFK6MDO0/s1600/Alex+Bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKlJaiUpbIFeSbLwxkiK8__bU4eWUams9PpTBmLGAXaGiEcgw4BnCU_u_RIOTaX8gQMqmdIL704ZtGqiCW62sid32dZqIN5TZQxMf8DQ2H4F0boyFk9YbohZ87HGUe_1jHZMXFK6MDO0/s320/Alex+Bike.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Honda CBF 125</td></tr>
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I was able to get on holiday and had a great time in Hastings with my wife's family although I haven't been able to do all the traveling I was hoping for it was great.I was able to take a picture that I have been waiting to take for a few years while there</div>
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It is a view looking towards beachy head and shows the Seven Sisters cliffs from the Coastguard cottages It was at the bottom of a steep incline and was quite a walk. One I would have been unable to manage before my transplant</div>
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I had a birthday at the end of August and moved into my second half century on this earth. Although much of that night is a loss to me due to Woods Navy rum and an encounter with a PA system ( see above ) I have now got a permanent reminder on my forehead of the nights escapades. </div>
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When we got back from our holiday we started to sort out the house and managed to clear a skips worth out rubbish out of the house and we hope that we will be able to clear a lot more in the near future. Much of which had been left from before I got my transplant and we hope that now we will be able to get a new bed and furniture now we have space and I will also be able to move my mothers furniture I was left in her will from my brothers house.<br />
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I have been pondering my life a lot and realized that I am so lucky. </div>
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My life has been limited by my illness but I have also have been given two gifts, the gift of life from a 45 year old man who gave me his lungs, for which I will be forever grateful.</div>
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My second gift is I know my life will not be as long as many others I know, due to the issues of transplantation. This is such a good thing, so many people go though their life thinking they will live forever, I know that is not going to happen!! Therefore I try to make use of this precious time in the best way I can.People in the transplant community know this, although we don't speak much about it. we don't want to temp fate. this has been brought home to me recently.<br />
A fellow transplantee <b><a href="http://kirstie-2ndchanceatlife.blogspot.co.uk/">Kirstie Tancock</a> </b> whom I have <b><a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/kirsties-big-breathbike-ride.html">wrote about in my blog before</a> </b>has suffered major rejection and needed to be put back on the transplant list after just two years with new lungs. Kirstie is a very healthy fitness pole instructor who had been suffering problems about the same time as I had problems and was admitted for my bronch from them on she had deteriorated we were all worried that she would die. God intervened and with the help of the Harefield Hospital team and a Donor she was able to receive a second set of lungs and is a present doing very well.<br />
My other friend <b><a href="http://kimberleyliane.blogspot.co.uk/">Kimberly Liane Kneil</a> </b>who received her transplant last year has continued to have problems since we met. She is waiting to here about a operation to help with reflux that has been damaging<b> </b>her lungs.I really hope she will be able to get her operation soon so she can get better again.<br />
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Why should this have happened to these young newly transplanted women why not me I had a long life before transplant? They both have their lives yet to live!! These are questions I have asked myself and there is no easy answer as to why, things can change very quickly for any one who has been through a transplant.<br />
Only one thing is sure we need more people to sign up as donors.<br />
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Finally some Great News<br />
One of the people I follow on my blog got her call for a new set of heart and lungs her name is Kath and she got the call after two years on the waiting list<br />
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<a href="http://kathstransplantblog.blogspot.co.uk/">You can read her blog here</a></div>
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And I have included another blog from a 15 year old girl called kate<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzpnMiRnfp3-R37vpCPu0T1oqokqsEZWEThswGze_Rk2mf3isYwDNnsWk8J_usL-ZhJLujbV6pVkw_cx57WY6ZfkZxvVaUE2baEUxgoMJVmEhcKou5Osf1ZTx15l8hflan85vU-0KzuU/s1600/IMG_1754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipzpnMiRnfp3-R37vpCPu0T1oqokqsEZWEThswGze_Rk2mf3isYwDNnsWk8J_usL-ZhJLujbV6pVkw_cx57WY6ZfkZxvVaUE2baEUxgoMJVmEhcKou5Osf1ZTx15l8hflan85vU-0KzuU/s1600/IMG_1754.JPG" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://misskmgammon.blogspot.co.uk/">You can read her blog here</a><br />
She got her new lungs around the same time as Kirstie Tancock got retransplanted<br />
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As I write this It is three years today since I had my lungs transplanted and I was able to live again!<br />
There are no words to adequately explain how grateful I am to my donor!!! He has allowed me to see my children grow up and go to college.I was able to celebrate my mothers 80th birthday with her before she passed.I have been able swim again achieving more distance that when I was younger, see my son ride his first motorbike and will be celebrating my fourth wedding anniversary on 23rd Oct after 26 years together with my lovely wife Liz.<br />
I am hoping for many more transplant anniversaries, but am so happy with what I have had so far, everything after this is a bonus and I will be living it to the full :)<br />
If you would like to help someone else live <br />
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We need more donors please if you haven't signed up as a donor and want to <span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/">Click here</a></b></span></div>
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Then tell your loved ones your wishes so they will know what you want done</div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-45564891668242897702013-04-17T23:10:00.001+01:002013-04-17T23:11:25.590+01:00No Buts Going To Be Bronchoscopy<div style="text-align: center;">
Clinic day arrived and I got there early hoping to get home early, but to no avail :(</div>
Since my last attendance last month my lungs hadn't massively improved. I had still been able to managed 150 lengths of the pool in the previous week , but I had found it harder to do.<br />
I had also been told that my tacro levels (Anti-rejection) were still high at the last blood test and I had been unable to arrange another test so had left this till clinic!<br />
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Got the bloods done without too much trouble and the X ray looked okay, but it was my lung function that let me down it had gone down again.I knew that this was not good and worried what was causing it.<br />
When I saw the Doctor she felt the same and asked me to come into Harefield Hospital for a admission. I was booked for CT scan and a Bronchoscopy the next day I was disappointed but realized that I should find out what was causing this and get some treatment<br />
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I arrived back at Harefield with my wife and son at 2100 and was admitted into Fir Tree ward where I had waited for my transplant to go ahead. We talked about the parallels while we traveled, as it was a similar time of night when we were driving there the night of my transplant.My wife and son then left me quite quickly so they could get home<br />
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I could see that the process was worrying for both of them because rejection was one of the possible reasons for these problems to arise!! It bought up memories in all of us about how it was when I was ill.<br />
Left on my own I started to consider what rejection would mean should it be found, although very treatable with present mediation it holds a great fear for all transplant recipients I decided to put these thoughts away till I needed to worry about such things.<br />
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Throughout the week I had been posting my support for my friend <a href="http://kimberleyliane.blogspot.co.uk/">Kimberley Liane Kneil</a> who's blog I follow and who had been having a really hard admission after having a bug. I had joked that if my lung function was still poor I would join her. Prophetic words that proved correct, except she was on Rowan ward downstairs.I posted a message to her on FB and we arranged to meet up during my time on the ward.<br />
I grabbed a couple of bags of crisps to eat before I went Nill by mouth from midnight and settled down to watch a DVD to pass the time till my Bronchoscopy with some trepidation.<br />
The Bronch and CT scan went well and it was all over by 11am but it left me worn out and sore. I hoped that I might get some results that day, but the Hospital had been busy and nothing came back that day.<br />
I was able to visit Kimberley and spend a bit of time chatting with her:) She is about to celebrate one year transplanted in July and I remember hearing about her call and successful transplant while we were on holiday in Sussex last year.She has been having some problems with her Kidneys since her admission and i really hope that things improve very soon! I would urge you to read her Blog if you want to know more.<br />
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I spent the next day Looking out of my window to a great view</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH-iIZUu3ZoZe4mvreQtpoithA505sqNd4l_T2RWs0CUTf3KsW0OiyEtWutjOdHlA-ZWZaPZYE8U5H_574wXVKrs0AhaEYO5ulVEoyk9PqQmyL1WpZV9b2dxDqnhNR6EkXWOJXABy3kE/s1600/DSC00285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH-iIZUu3ZoZe4mvreQtpoithA505sqNd4l_T2RWs0CUTf3KsW0OiyEtWutjOdHlA-ZWZaPZYE8U5H_574wXVKrs0AhaEYO5ulVEoyk9PqQmyL1WpZV9b2dxDqnhNR6EkXWOJXABy3kE/s320/DSC00285.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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finally I got fed up and went for a walk to pass the time waiting for the results of the tests, eventually results turned up there was no evidence of rejection but they did find some inflammation and suspect acid reflux or viral infection.So I have been put on a couple of tablets and need to come back to clinic next week if things don't improve they will bronch me again and they want to repeat the <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/harefields-for-test-results-of.html">impedance test</a> I had done before to check if acid is coming up from my stomach to my lungs on 1st may what joy!! </div>
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Never mind I am going home for the present so I am happy :-)</div>
<br />Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-77565368860967964142013-04-05T00:55:00.000+01:002013-04-05T01:02:14.511+01:00Sad News - Sam Yates has lost her fight for a new lifeJust a brief post to tell my readers that unfortunately one of the people who's blog I have been following on my Blog list has lost her fight for a new life<br />
Sammie (Sam Yates) who wrote the Blog<a href="http://endofmytether-sammie.blogspot.co.uk/"> "The End of my Tether?"</a> about her wait for new lungs and her struggles with Cystic Fibrosis<br />
she wrote<br />
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<span style="background-color: #9fc5e8; color: #333333; font-family: 'Coming Soon'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The aim of this blog is to perhaps raise awareness of CF and also of life living on ‘the list’. I am a primary school teacher and taught for 2 and a half (ish) years before I had to be dragged away kicking and screaming to concentrate on keeping myself as healthy as possible, so that should a pair of lungs become available, I will be fit enough to undergo the transplant. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-arrnbTVr5Bg/UV4N9CU2GpI/AAAAAAAABbI/OoZuqwib9i0/s1600/DSC00805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-arrnbTVr5Bg/UV4N9CU2GpI/AAAAAAAABbI/OoZuqwib9i0/s1600/DSC00805.JPG" /></a></div>
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She was just 28 years old when God called her to join him</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">(</span><b>I will keep a link to sammie's blog on my site in memory of her)</b></div>
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All the more reason for people to sign the Organ donor register </div>
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If you have not signed up yet please consider doing so you can do so online <a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/"><b>HERE</b></a></div>
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or if you prefer you can ring <b>0300 123 23 23</b> and register </div>
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Finally Text the word <b>SAVE</b> to <b>84118</b></div>
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<b>Please help someone like sam to get a new chance at life </b></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-6488166042282614302013-03-28T23:41:00.001+00:002013-03-28T23:41:14.342+00:00First Clinic of 2013 - Happy EasterWent for my first transplant clinic visit this year on 11th March.<br />
This was going to be a quick check up and a early return home I thought, but fate was conspiring against me and the day took longer that I had anticipated!<br />
The day started poorly with the bloods, my veins were giving the clinic staff some problems and it took a few attempts to get sufficient blood out of me to test,so I left the room with a few holes more than I thought I would!<br />
On a more positive note my blood pressure was good as was my Oxygen saturation, but my weight had gone up slightly despite my efforts.I did have a chance to pass the time with a couple of the people in clinic while waiting and was glad to here about one man who was celebrating 10 years since his Tx he was telling me about how things had changed since he had been coming to Harefield with the new clinic building, the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3077293.stm">Anzac centre</a>, being the centre for transplant outpatients now.One of the great things I find about going to Tx clinic is the chance to meet and talk with others who have gone though the transplant experience.<br />
I had my X-ray done and was booked to see the kidney consultant in the afternoon I just had to complete the dreaded Lung function test. I had very little worries about this as I had got back to swimming regularly and had just completed 60 lengths of the pool on the Sunday before clinic.But when I went to blow it was apparent that my FEV 1 (The amount of air expired in 1 second) had dropped quite a lot from my last reading before Christmas, I tried not worry too much but was disappointed as this could be a indicator of infection or a early sign of rejection.<br />
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When I got to see the kidney consultant I was glad to hear that he was happy with my progress and told me that my kidney function was good at about 66% and that I shouldn't worry about problems with my kidneys he said he was happy to see me in another years time, good result!<br />
The Transplant doctor was less happy she was concerned about the drop in Lung function as there were no infection markers in my blood to indicate why.She also told me that my Tacrolimus level (Anti rejection drug) was high and would require a dose reduction, this was good as these tablets upset my body a bit and lead to problems with the kidney, but I was a bit worried why the levels were up after so long stable.I was told to get a repeat blood test in a week for levels at the GP, and come back to clinic in a month.<br />
On the way out I sorted out some 0.5 mg tablets for the reduction in the dose levels through the pharmacy and got on the road home. Little did I know that the day had a little more in store for me before I would pull up outside my house that evening.<br />
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The journey home was going well and I was quite tried so I wasn't hanging around I was nearly at High Wycombe when the car started to loose power then loose speed I moved from the fast lane across to the first lane and found that I couldn't get anymore than 40mph out of the car!! I was just approaching a junction so I decided to exit the motorway and just as I pulled off I saw a large Tesco store and managed to pull in<br />
and park. I rang the RAC to attend and luckily they turned out quite quickly, the guy was great, the car was running so he decided to take it for a drive to see what the problem was.while I was waiting I went for a Costa in the Tesco as I was parked outside.When he returned he said the car was okay and that the diagnostic computer had shown up no faults. He suggested that a sensor in the car engine had put the car into" Limp Home Mode" and had most likely reset its self while I had been parked, the cause was uncertain but he felt that it was better again and shouldn't give me anymore problems.<br />
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I took him at his word and set off again and had nearly go to my turn off when it happened again!!! I decided that this time I would just head for home and keep going but my luck was not good and as I left the motorway I found that my route home was blocked, the road was closed by the police for a accident !!! so right at the end of my reason I returned to the motorway and went to the next turn off at 40 mph :( Drivers on the motorway were not impressed, after another extra 15 miles travelling at similar speed blocking all the traffic on the way I made it home.<br />
When I turned on the engine again it ran fine but as I was pulling out my hair about the break down on the way home.So I called out the RAC who took it to the garage where it has stayed for the last two weeks. It had some work doing that was left form when it was serviced, but try as they might they were unable to find the fault so it has now been returned to me with the hope that it will not go wrong again!!<br />
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Finally home and with my car returned I have felt a bit under the weather and a bit breathless at times but I have continued to go swimming to maintain my lung function my Tacrolimus level (Anti rejection drug) results came back still at the same level as it was at clinic so I have had another does reduction to 2 mg daily and I will get a blood taken after Easter with the hope that thing will have settled down by then.Then I will be returning in mid April to clinic<br />
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To all you waiting for organs I hope you get the new life you wish for:) </div>
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To those who have had a transplant wish you all the best of health! </div>
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To those of you who have yet to sign up to the Donor register click <a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/">HERE</a></div>
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Hope everyone has a Great Easter</div>
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Enjoy your Easter eggs</div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-84427741875007715562013-02-28T01:21:00.002+00:002013-03-24T00:50:28.143+00:00Moving on towards SpringHi I am glad to say the weather has been improving, and the snowdrops have started to bloom which can only mean one thing. Winter is nearly over and spring is just around the corner:) <br />
I always dreaded winter when I was unwell.<br />
It was the time when I had more of my chest infections than usual and also Flu time! It has taken a while to lose that dread but this winter I have been okay and am looking forward to my next visit to Harefield Hospital in March with minimal concern.<br />
My eyes are better than they were but it seems that eye drops will be a constant companion in my life from now on.I had a recent visit to the local chest hospital to get my equipment checked and serviced I was provided with a new mask and tube and it seems that my Bi pap is working well.<br />
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Now my eyes are better I have returned to swimming regularly and provided <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SouthDevoniliveigive">ILIVE IGIVE</a> a photo after they sent me a great T Shirt to wear to promote organ donation<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-b0aF1fHP4/US6R7HJNbhI/AAAAAAAABYM/FlMKFf6PZq4/s1600/Mark+Wicher+I+Live+I+Give.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-b0aF1fHP4/US6R7HJNbhI/AAAAAAAABYM/FlMKFf6PZq4/s320/Mark+Wicher+I+Live+I+Give.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My local pool where I am swimming a mile every session </div>
I was also able to go to a great fundraiser and birthday party for my friend and transplant superstar <br />
<a href="http://www.justinedoublelungs.blogspot.co.uk/">Justine Laymond</a> it was held at Chelmsford at a local hotel and because of the distance I stayed the night.<br />
It was a chance to meet many lovely people including Justine's mum and dad and have a great meal with great company and help Justine raise the money she needs to attend the World Transplant Games in Durban South Africa, where she will again be representing United Kingdom if you would like to know more click this link<br />
<a href="http://www.wtg2013.com/">World Transplant Games in Durban South Africa 28th July - 4th August</a><br />
I was able to take my new camera and take some pictures but because of the lighting in the venue I found it a bit of a challenge to get many really good shots but I have posted a few which I liked<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyxranZ0Qb8/US6c2mtJuLI/AAAAAAAABYg/aKivup4165s/s1600/venue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wyxranZ0Qb8/US6c2mtJuLI/AAAAAAAABYg/aKivup4165s/s400/venue.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">The venue</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySiy-YOZJ-h51QykZhyphenhypheng5lbd0vnCxmZCp1NiK5euE_MHfA0PE03_CGIwSKCEHLXXXl3DBeR-dXtiXDGPQ34-72497MNjZsig9_9bWiLw8NGd-TDLRAc7oJVEFp2TNhpk2sW-ekC4Ypy8/s1600/Justine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySiy-YOZJ-h51QykZhyphenhypheng5lbd0vnCxmZCp1NiK5euE_MHfA0PE03_CGIwSKCEHLXXXl3DBeR-dXtiXDGPQ34-72497MNjZsig9_9bWiLw8NGd-TDLRAc7oJVEFp2TNhpk2sW-ekC4Ypy8/s400/Justine.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justine </td></tr>
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There was singing and dancing</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrLG_MaZklMyrvR-PWoDfWUIcqrfb2OoQLnv9F8QY6ATRCViKsAxRrEmf7GXurRbuVOZWi7vVneD9NywpO-9tlkBebj-gcK2Pmn3i7Bpon0rPikzQnbS5n8D5P_UXF49EXidpAC3u58A/s1600/singing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrLG_MaZklMyrvR-PWoDfWUIcqrfb2OoQLnv9F8QY6ATRCViKsAxRrEmf7GXurRbuVOZWi7vVneD9NywpO-9tlkBebj-gcK2Pmn3i7Bpon0rPikzQnbS5n8D5P_UXF49EXidpAC3u58A/s320/singing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDccRM3P_9023AKOexxucTyFHKDN9C9hYagtB-dLhLayzPQkjPDF0460Fkighk2j55NtCrg2kfc6RmwmBJ3dvHF3Q9dWTHu26oGq9OpBkY3myiAT6QSgZAjeQDZgWqSEoY34nN6Y_D7BY/s1600/Dancing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDccRM3P_9023AKOexxucTyFHKDN9C9hYagtB-dLhLayzPQkjPDF0460Fkighk2j55NtCrg2kfc6RmwmBJ3dvHF3Q9dWTHu26oGq9OpBkY3myiAT6QSgZAjeQDZgWqSEoY34nN6Y_D7BY/s320/Dancing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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and even an impromptu band appeared</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh78RC8_SFLxmzv9d84KNS3ifhHLhdlXQzdoQgdqzliCiEr-0iSDilfjPQQeaovZoNmjwaaSytULQYELbXosp8ih5nU_Elp3BwLxvGcACoRiu2TpyIBNZqbyRjQJFwvwm1hIFmgn4GQWY/s1600/The+band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh78RC8_SFLxmzv9d84KNS3ifhHLhdlXQzdoQgdqzliCiEr-0iSDilfjPQQeaovZoNmjwaaSytULQYELbXosp8ih5nU_Elp3BwLxvGcACoRiu2TpyIBNZqbyRjQJFwvwm1hIFmgn4GQWY/s320/The+band.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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they had a nice bar </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FwI71tVPqg/US6fPlPwy7I/AAAAAAAABZI/EGo6jnT_ZLs/s1600/Bar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FwI71tVPqg/US6fPlPwy7I/AAAAAAAABZI/EGo6jnT_ZLs/s400/Bar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And so....... I got a bit drunk and had a great evening</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjmAhQkrKvJJ05_tN2-ue_zTrx0nms1VvBPV5lMxfWvlEjqfcjJoQ3PmMUnJYtZV4LCbUms_CVYMm05Z80zLCn6N8oGsoDLcJhyDcTG3gj90Ca7ZoSK-hs4xJssRcOQUEg2Ga0ZwdP9w/s1600/Justine+Laymond+Fundraiser+and+40th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOjmAhQkrKvJJ05_tN2-ue_zTrx0nms1VvBPV5lMxfWvlEjqfcjJoQ3PmMUnJYtZV4LCbUms_CVYMm05Z80zLCn6N8oGsoDLcJhyDcTG3gj90Ca7ZoSK-hs4xJssRcOQUEg2Ga0ZwdP9w/s320/Justine+Laymond+Fundraiser+and+40th.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you want to help Justine raise the money she needs to get to the world transplant games please click the following link </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.justgiving.com/JUSTINE-LAYMOND2/eurl.axd/54e9d5f8f419a249b771986a7110adea#">Justine Laymond Just giving</a></span></b></div>
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<b>the other thing that happened since I last posted ITV had a series of programs about Organ donation and some of the people who's blogs are on my blog roll appeared so I have included some links</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2013-02-12/from-the-heart-life-on-the-transplant-waiting-list-kathryn-graham/">Kathryn Graham - Waiting for heart and lungs</a> ( Kath's Transplant blog)</div>
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<a href="http://www.itv.com/daybreak/health/from-the-heart-giving-consent/#.URwXVCkGXzA.facebook">Stacie Pridden - Waiting for heart and lungs</a> (life is worth the fight)</div>
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<a href="http://www.itv.com/thismorning/health/from-the-heart-organ-donation-sophie-clarke/">Sophie Clarke who received a Double lung transplant </a> ( Friend on Facebook)</div>
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<a href="http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2013-02-11/from-the-heart-a-mothers-story/">Sally Hart - Donated her sons organs after a tragic accident</a> (Tobysgift's Blog)</div>
Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-76275727251108079092013-02-04T01:40:00.004+00:002013-02-04T01:40:28.590+00:00 2013 Here I ComeThe new year has started. <br />
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I thought I would do a review of the year that just passed,and some of the plans for the new one</div>
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It has been a interesting one, and for some people life changing, but for me quite sad.The loss of my mother mid summer has been a shock to me and has reminded me how fragile life is.</div>
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I am finally on my own now, both of my parents have gone, just me and my younger brother.</div>
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It has been a time of change that has seen my children move from secondary education on to college, my daughter studying A levels and my son learning furniture making.This change will continue in 2013 with my daughter moving on to University and leaving home and I feel that life has been on hold for the last two years and that this year is the year for me to get on with living again.</div>
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As you know if you have been reading my blog for a while I have been able to start swimming again and getting fit and trying to loose weight.I hope that I will continue to loose more and will be able to do more fitness activities to help me.<br />
I also hope to do some travelling during 2013 and hope to get a motorbike.If the weather is good I will be getting out and about on my own more. I have found the start to this year has not gone as well as I hoped I had a minor crash in the car when leaving a parking space outside the doctors and ended up damaging the wing and bumper on my car this has annoyed me as I had to make a claim on my insurance to get it repaired which will impact on bike insurance in the future but it can't be helped :( The car still needs some work doing so in the near future I will have to return it to the garage to get this done but for the moment I am just happy to have it back after a couple of weeks of courtesy cars, an experience I am not willing to repeat just yet.<br />
The main reason I have been remiss about updating my blog is I have been having some problems with my vision for about a month.I have been having great problems with blurring and lack of focus with my vision deteriorating as the day progresses. I attended the doctors as I was having problems with seeing the photos on the screen at camera club and she referred me to the local eye hospital. I was very worried that I may have developed some condition due to the medication I have been taking.I was reassured when I attended as the problem I suspected - glaucoma was checked and found to be unlikely.I had to wait to attend again with Liz so she could drive so that they could conduct a full eye exam using atropine drops to enable them to see the retina and the back of my eye this all proved that nothing untoward was evident.But it seems that my suspicions were correct, I have developed dry eyes due to my use of Bi pad overnight and long term steroids I have been given eye drops I will need to use from now on. Although they are better than they were I still have problems and need to rest my eyes much more often now and add another medication to my daily regime!<br />
One of the good things that has happened since the new year started is I have bought myself an new tablet a Nexus 7 from Asus :) It has been fun and has encouraged me to learn more about Android operating system with the thought about learning more about creating apps in the future.<br />
To this end you may have noticed that I now have a <a href="http://www.appsgeyser.com/355599">Android app</a> for this blog so people can read my blog on their android phone or tablet you can download it or use the QR code on the blog.I hope that people find this useful.<br />
I have also removed the message board widget that was on the blog as it had collected a lot of spam messages.I am hoping to have a revamp of the blog in the near future and have some ideas about making some changes.I would love to know what people think about this and what they would like to see in the future. Personally I would like to make more information about transplantation available. A more comprehensive list of some of the blogs people are writing about transplantation and more places to seek help and advice across the internet. <br />
The other thing I have bought myself is a new camera it is smaller than my DSLR and made by Olympus and has image stabilization in the camera body to help with the shaking that I suffer from with my meds. If you are interested it is <a href="http://www.olympus.co.uk/site/en/c/cameras/om_d_system_cameras/om_d_system_cameras_home.html">OMD EM5 Olympus</a> and it came with a extra 45mm portrait lens. As it is splashproof I will be able to use it when weather is poor so keep an eyes out for new pictures from it in the near future. </div>
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Finally I thought I would include some pictures from the most recent competition we had a the camera club the subject was quite hard "The letter Y " so I included the following two pictures<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSswK_Zi0x5V7X-T17xF6IzMFLmN3rabqD-YZXyI7Adf0hj7T_1MKv7FgFMFpAcrgaP8HeXkPzHvyAPNL5-o0SecUJZRYN3N_eh_8ZLxeWUmznrZeVe62yvS9x3cnVtUfxc8r3U-u6Cvc/s1600/Yellow+sky+over+Didcot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSswK_Zi0x5V7X-T17xF6IzMFLmN3rabqD-YZXyI7Adf0hj7T_1MKv7FgFMFpAcrgaP8HeXkPzHvyAPNL5-o0SecUJZRYN3N_eh_8ZLxeWUmznrZeVe62yvS9x3cnVtUfxc8r3U-u6Cvc/s400/Yellow+sky+over+Didcot.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Sky over Didcot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeuJh0aq_pMfy3gQJ7jKXd0loRSQlFQDmuRRnGU9rahkqPechNeKyT6w6Rq0iDO66c9R3JebZ7h0M7-MSj3Flwlc0KWak-t6jhNCugMP-lvAU5xs_1tz-UqiwepbFz3aou-OIViWV-IQ/s1600/Yellow+Aqualegia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeuJh0aq_pMfy3gQJ7jKXd0loRSQlFQDmuRRnGU9rahkqPechNeKyT6w6Rq0iDO66c9R3JebZ7h0M7-MSj3Flwlc0KWak-t6jhNCugMP-lvAU5xs_1tz-UqiwepbFz3aou-OIViWV-IQ/s400/Yellow+Aqualegia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Aqualegia</td></tr>
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The first picture taken with a small compact on the way back from Harefield scored 15/20. The yellow Aqualegia taken with my Canon DSLR did a more respectable 17/20. I am hoping that my new camera will be scoring well in competition in the next few months watch this space!<br />
I am now able to go swimming again and am going to be attending a fund raiser for my good friend Justine Laymond in february as she will be attending the World Transplant games in South Africa to represent UK again if you wish to help her you can find out more here - <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/JUSTINE-LAYMOND2/eurl.axd/54e9d5f8f419a249b771986a7110adea">Justine Laymond just giving</a><br />
I hope for my next blog I will have some pictures of the event to share:) till next time stay well and if you still haven't signed the donor register you can <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/">here</a></span></div>
Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-44038718415431666242012-12-02T03:26:00.000+00:002012-12-02T03:26:57.152+00:00Good Results At Tx Clinic Despite my negative view about the cause of my pain in my last post it seems that the doctor was right about the cause. It was a case of muscular pain which can be worse after you have had shingles he informed me.<br />
Therefore I have decided that I will restrict myself to just I mile (64 lengths) per session of swimming and a max of three times a week for the present. I aim to build up my stamina by adding more crawl in each session.This allows me to do my sessions in about 1.5 hours.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This last week I attended Harefield Hospital for a check up and was seen by Dr Carby. </div>
I had the usual blood tests,lung function, X-Ray and an additional ECG done. I am now over two years transplanted this was to check my heart was functioning well.<br />
<br />
He was very happy to hear about my progress with the swimming and I asked him about holidays, his advise about long haul flying and destinations that I might need to avoid should I travel.He was very supportive and said as I was doing well he had no problems with most places.Food poisoning would be the biggest risk I might face due to my immunity being reduced. He advised me that good travel insurance that would fly me home quickly if things went wrong would be a must.In Europe most people had no problems and some don't bother with insurance. But my thoughts are for far distant lands, America, Japan and Australia so I will have to plan well.The staff at clinic provided me with advice about vaccination and provided a list of travel insurance firms that others had use in the past which was great :) <br />
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<br />
How did I do?<br />
My <b>Blood pressure</b> was normal which is good as it had been high.<br />
My <b>Weight</b> had gone down by another 2 kg<br />
My <b>Blood tests</b> showed normal levels and were stable.<br />
My <b>Tracrolimus</b> levels were 5.0 ng/mL an ideal range.<br />
My <b>ECG </b>was normal<br />
My <b>Lung function</b> was up (due to the swimming I'm sure)<br />
My <b>Xray</b> was normal<br />
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I was given four months off clinic and am due to return in March:) The only thing that didn't go well was the weather which was lousy there and back raining constantly, the whole process left me worn out but happy!!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjveJpIVFlMAFdc7wM7VBKJJWQHsBAGd4Pl8fuQXCWfnvNXf3DfdkA5xbYBDwPWvWd096gNK8gIx_Dw3xHKl2o8A2J7SdEAt5LM_NIH-OZga5juW21gh9j8GaQoOh94o43vqVRKCR9KKlk/s1600/After+The+Storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjveJpIVFlMAFdc7wM7VBKJJWQHsBAGd4Pl8fuQXCWfnvNXf3DfdkA5xbYBDwPWvWd096gNK8gIx_Dw3xHKl2o8A2J7SdEAt5LM_NIH-OZga5juW21gh9j8GaQoOh94o43vqVRKCR9KKlk/s400/After+The+Storm.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the Storm</td></tr>
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Talking about that we had another competition at the camera club this month. </div>
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The subject was "Weather"</div>
I put a couple of pictures in as digital entries, but they failed to gain many marks due to the high level of some of the entries. The highest score was 14 for the picture above taken from Glyne Gap looking toward Beachy Head Eastbourne . This was taken during the summer when we had our holiday in Sussex.<br />
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This is a picture that represents for me the end of a storm in my life that was my illness and then my transplant.</div>
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I am finally now feeling like life is settled again. </div>
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I am looking forward to a great new year and what it may bring</div>
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Finally things have been sorted out with my mother's estate and my brother is in the process of sorting out her house to rent. The financial issues have completed and I will be moving into the new year with less money worries. It will be so hard to spend my first Christmas without her this year and we are both feeling the loss now that everything is over with.<br />
I just know that she will be with us watching over us and our families this festive season and although financially things will be easier now we will still be missing her a lot and I will be attending church to light a candle in her memory over Christmas.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QrlxynOZueM/ULrDtjljrSI/AAAAAAAABSc/-UAhO5rGzOc/s1600/lamp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QrlxynOZueM/ULrDtjljrSI/AAAAAAAABSc/-UAhO5rGzOc/s1600/lamp.gif" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I will also light a candle for my donor without whom this festive season would not have been possible for me or my family. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Stuck, don't know what present to give this year </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Give the gift of life </span></div>
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Sign up as a organ donor <a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Here</span></a></div>
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<br />Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-11782242963570201832012-11-04T03:17:00.001+00:002012-11-04T03:20:34.944+00:00Good News and Bad?<div style="text-align: center;">
As promised </div>
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I thought I would update people about how the first competition went at the camera club</div>
As you will remember I had put in a couple of digital pictures. Despite my intention to do some prints for this time life has been hectic and therefore I was unable to get round to printing and mounting up some in time.<br />
I am happy to report although one of my pictures did a moderate 16/20 the other picture I entered scored a respectable 19/20<br />
The picture that did so well was "Red Arrows at Hastings Seafront"<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xc19uqr9W4/UJXCAMAhNLI/AAAAAAAABRw/0G_qfeGpeSI/s1600/Red+Arrows+at+Hastings+Seafront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4xc19uqr9W4/UJXCAMAhNLI/AAAAAAAABRw/0G_qfeGpeSI/s400/Red+Arrows+at+Hastings+Seafront.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I was really happy as it reminded me of my holiday and encompassed the feel of summer and <a href="http://hastingspirateday.org.uk/">Pirate Day</a> on Hastings seafront when it was taken </div>
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We have been quit busy as the kids have been off college for half term this week. </div>
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Due to the influx of children off school I have been finding it harder to swim lengths in the pool.There is a wave machine in the pool and during the holidays it is switched on regularly causing me to have to stop every half an hour.But as there are more public sessions there is some compensation.I went out and got a hair cut to cut down on time taken for my hair dry after swimming and I like to keep my hair short anyway.</div>
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Both of the children have been occupied over the half term </div>
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Alex went off to the Excel center with his mates to <a href="http://www.londonexpo.com/">MCM London Comic Con</a> and had a great time. </div>
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While Ellie who reached her 18th birthday at the end of October went off to Berlin! </div>
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She organised the trip for the Student Union and did a great job:) The only hiccup was a delay with her passport application. Due to new rules being applied by the government she was required to attend a interview which nearly stopped her going as we weren't sure she would get her passport in time!</div>
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The week has been a bit stressful for me and Liz sorting all this out and during this I started to get a pain develop in my right shoulder I had hoped that it was a muscle strain or that I had slept badly but now I suspect that it maybe the start of something else as this is how it felt when I had shingles in September last year. I have been to the doctors and he has given me some Tramadol to use and now it is just a matter of waiting to see if I develop the characteristic rash. That will doubtless lead to a stay in Harefield Hospital on IV anti viral drugs for a while.I am keeping all my fingers crossed that the doctor is correct that it is muscular but I won't hold my breath on that one!!</div>
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Finally I have some good news to share regarding the camera club</div>
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we have a new president of the camera club it is </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"><b><span style="color: red;">Brain Tufano BSC</span></b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16.766666412353516px;">Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, Billy </span></span><span style="line-height: 16.75px;">Elliot and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16.766666412353516px;"> Quadrophenia</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">If you want to know more about him see the following links</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"><a href="http://www.fujifilmexposure.com/interviews/72/the-life-of-brian">Life of Brian</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 16.78333282470703px;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005909/">Brian Tufano IMDb </a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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It is so great that he will be part of the club and able to support and encourage us with his years of expert knowledge and experience</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Also this week we had a excellent presentation by one of the top Audio Visual photographer </div>
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Ian Bateman LLB,FRPS,MPAGB </div>
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who showed this slideshow presentation which I have posted here</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/yRNLRxKjCfA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-62996575852794266102012-10-23T23:31:00.001+01:002012-10-23T23:31:06.566+01:00Three Year Wedding Anniversary<div style="text-align: center;">
Time is moving on quickly of late with lots happening in a the space of a short time. Today was my third wedding anniversary, remembering the day I married is hard. </div>
I had to use my oxygen before I was able to get out of my car and walk the short distance in to the Oxford registry office from the disabled spot outside. Our simple ceremony with just our our two witnesses was over quickly and there was no party.I needed to use my Oxygen all the way home afterwards.<br />
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It marked a turning point in my life. </div>
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I had just gone on the list and had received two calls within one month of being listed </div>
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<a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/p/first-call.html">First call</a> <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/p/second-call.html">Second call</a> </div>
I had realized that I might not survive the process of transplant or the wait and wanted to put my affairs in order and on those first couple of calls I was very worried about outstanding issues with my pension, tenancy and provision for Liz and my children.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Three years on and life is totally different </div>
I am so much better and looking forward with hope, thanks to the donor who has given me this chance to live a new life and honor his memory.I am now able to do things with my wife and children and support them like a husband should.<br />
Liz and I met 25 years ago and always said that we would get married, but just didn't get round to it.Life moved on, we had kids and still ,despite me going down on bended knee years ago in the middle of the staff social club at my old hospital,it hadn't happened.<br />
I was staring death in the face when we finally said "I Do" and it all became clear, Love , friendship and happy experiences are the things that matter.<br />
I really hope that I will be able to give my beautiful wife many more years of all of these things<br />
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<h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I love you so much Liz and I'm so glad that you have been there with me though all these 25 years. </div>
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You are my rock and I hope that the years yet to come will be even happier</div>
</h3>
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Since my transplant lots has changed and just last week we finally placed my mums ashes in her final resting place in the local church garden of remembrance in St Mary the Virgin, Kidlington. It overlooks the open countryside and I finally felt a sense of peace for her since her passing. I draw comfort in the fact that there will be a space for my ashes with my mums should I wish it when the time comes.</div>
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</div>
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I was forced to think again about my mortality as transplant is extra time not a total cure.Because of the medication I take and risks with immusupression my time will shorter that it may have been.</div>
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I hope that I have many more years ahead, but I have resolved that the next few years I will going forward firing on all cylinders and making the most of the health I have got now.</div>
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I will be looking at holidays for next year and some travelling that I have put of for a while.I missed out on Glastonbury tickets this year:( But I am looking into more transport and Christmas will be a big one this year as Liz will be off. New year I am going to try to have a proper night out if I can, Liz will be working on 1st.But before that my daughter will be turning 18 (this month) and Liz has a birthday in November so I will be looking forward to spoiling them both.</div>
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finally I have entered my first competition at the camera club this month and so I thought I would include the two pictures that I have entered</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGjWeEkbenRqAXAOpkAJf0SdyvtE7ISVdWYUxZ87ml5-XHDklsrRWBq5y81EV8iaABh8ob75QyaLKubOJGIAYp1V-DvUa5tdVxNf4NBrKvjlBfi-l9yuE67XyJPMuX1Tjj6-V5tGeWgc/s1600/Hang+On+A+Minute+Lads,+I've+Got+A+Great+Idea....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGjWeEkbenRqAXAOpkAJf0SdyvtE7ISVdWYUxZ87ml5-XHDklsrRWBq5y81EV8iaABh8ob75QyaLKubOJGIAYp1V-DvUa5tdVxNf4NBrKvjlBfi-l9yuE67XyJPMuX1Tjj6-V5tGeWgc/s400/Hang+On+A+Minute+Lads,+I've+Got+A+Great+Idea....jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hang On A Minute Lads, I've Got A Great Idea....</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXvcNAncr2I/UIcW4cUYtYI/AAAAAAAABRQ/iTlqFGgXGEg/s1600/Red+Arrows+Hastings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXvcNAncr2I/UIcW4cUYtYI/AAAAAAAABRQ/iTlqFGgXGEg/s400/Red+Arrows+Hastings.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Arrows over Hastings seafront </td></tr>
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They were both taken in Hastings in the summer fingers crossed they do well, I will tell you how they do in my next post. </div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-66828686228222723512012-10-04T01:40:00.004+01:002012-10-04T01:40:57.704+01:00Two Year Lung Transplant Anniversary!!!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Two Year Ago a Stranger Saved My Life</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am humbled and very grateful that 24 months ago a stranger gave me a precious gift. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now that gift lives within me and has given me a new life.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5am on Monday 4 October 2010 I was given a new set of lungs from a 45yr old man a heart beating donor and my life changed forever.</span></div>
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I remember the day vividly, the long day waiting to see if it was a yes or no, the tearful goodbye to my family outside the operating theater, but it also feels like a lifetime ago at the same time - in a sense it is!</div>
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I was dying, my old life was coming to a end and I wasn't sure if I would see Christmas that year. My lungs were down to the volume of a coke can and oxygen was my constant companion. If you want to read how bad things had got have a look at <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/waiting-one-year-on.html">Waiting One Year On</a></div>
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How are things now?</div>
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It took a while for me to recover and for the first year things were <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/where-did-it-all-go-wrong.html">up and down</a> it took me 18 months to feel like myself again but now things are good. I have been able to start to work through my list of things to do when I got my new lungs </div>
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<b><u>Walk in the countryside</u></b></div>
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I am able to walk in the countryside and take photos again:) I am not able to walk all day like when I was younger but I don't have to worry about parking next to somewhere I want to go to. I was able to go on a photowalk at <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/onwards-upwards-to-new-season.html">Rutherford Appleton Lab</a> which I found challenging but I was able to keep up with others.</div>
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<b><u>Swimming</u></b> </div>
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I am able to swim again and am doing quite well. </div>
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After 7 weeks since I started swimming again after nearly ten years, I have improved from not being able to swim a length of the 25m pool without stopping because I was out of breath to my present level.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">I am now able to swim three miles each week.</span></b> </div>
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I do at least a mile each session and it now takes me about a hour and half to do 64 lengths. I am able to swim the whole mile without stopping now. I was told by the one of the lifeguard I am swimming further weekly than any of their lifeguards do.</div>
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I have gained so much confidence from doing this and feel much fitter now.</div>
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This is something I had found this hard since I found out after a MRI, that a previous back injury has deteriorated since my transplant and is now leading to a bit of sciatic discomfort upon walking and running is a non starter</div>
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This last week I managed to do 70 lengths but as long as I manage a mile each time I am happy I am only able to do breast stroke at present but I am aiming to improve my use of the crawl and increase the distance I can swim using it, then maybe I will be able to do more lengths as I can swim faster using the crawl. </div>
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<b><u>Fishing</u></b></div>
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This is something that I have get to sort out. I hope that my son and I will be able to get out over the winter and do a bit of pike fishing and maybe next year it will possible to get out on a boat and do some sea fishing.</div>
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<b><u>Glastonbury Tor</u></b></div>
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I had hope that I would be able to attend Glastonbury festival this year but unfortunately I was unable to do this.I still use overnight Bi-Pap and this means that I would need to have access to power to use this and my nebuliser and unfortunately this is not possible as camping is the order of the day when you attend the festival.I hope in the future it might be possible but not just yet.</div>
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I would still like to go to Glastonbury town and walk up the tor and will hopefully do this soon. </div>
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<b><u>Motorbike</u></b></div>
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those of you who have read the blog for a while will know that my mother recently passed away suddenly in June at the age of 80 yrs thanks to my donor i was able to celebrate her birthday with her and the family but sadly she was unable to celebrate my birthday with me in August. </div>
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But her legacy has allowed me to consider a personal goal that I set myself before my transplant to ride a motorbike again before I die. I hope that I will be able to realize this goal in the near future maybe even go to the TT on the Isle of man.</div>
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<b>Day to Day </b></div>
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Things are good I recently went to Harefield Hospital for a overnight stay to get my abdominal CT scan done. This was to check the reason for intermittent swelling in my right leg. </div>
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They put me on a drip to protect my kidneys from the contrast dye they use in the scan.</div>
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Made a few holes in my arms and found nothing to indicate why my leg has been swelling.</div>
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The positive is they also found nothing untoward that would cause concern so I was pleased about that.</div>
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I have continued to lose weight and have been using the pedometer to encourage me to walk more. </div>
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I will now be going onto monthly meetings for the next nine months at my weight loss group and will be meeting up with the group on Friday to arrange some meetings for weekly support.</div>
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The final duty to my mum will be happening this month on the 19th when we lay her ashes to rest at the local village church </div>
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St Mary the Virgin in Kidlington</div>
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I have fond memories of this church and my brother had his wedding blessed there. It is a lovely place for the children to visit and I hope that mum will be happy there I hope that I will be able to make her proud with my continued improving health and fitness. </div>
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The new season has started at the camera club and we have our first members evening tonight.I will be putting some pictures into a completion from my recent photowalk at RAL,</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pe_aNXsRezc/UGzSAQ-77_I/AAAAAAAABQs/Saui8YAMKt0/s1600/Model.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pe_aNXsRezc/UGzSAQ-77_I/AAAAAAAABQs/Saui8YAMKt0/s320/Model.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Model of telescope in visitors center at RAL</td></tr>
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I have also done a few night pictures and am hoping to learn more about my most recent purchase, a new 430 Canon Flash gun.</div>
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With the new committee in place and the new website up and running <a href="http://www.wallingford-photographic-club.org.uk/">Wallingford photographic Club</a> </div>
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It all feels very positive, there are still some of my pictures on the site if you look in the competition galleries. I hope that I will be able to have my own gallery in the near future in the members area watch this space.... </div>
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Hope you have enjoyed reading this blog and if you haven't signed the donor register yet you can by clicking </div>
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<a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/default.asp">HERE</a> </div>
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Help someone else have new life after you are gone </div>
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But please let your loved ones know your wishes so they will know what you wanted to happen :)</div>
Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-62607232475502582292012-09-14T01:42:00.002+01:002012-09-14T01:49:48.867+01:00Onwards & Upwards To The New SeasonI have been continuing with my healthy living and lifestyle and my swimming has been getting better all the time I am now doing 50 lengths per session and am now aiming at improving my stamina.<br />
On my last swim I was able to swim 30 lengths without stopping and am hoping I will be able to get better with time. I am still not swimming the crawl much, the odd length or two during the course of a couple of hours but this is something for the future when I get more strength.I seem to be stuck with 50ish lengths at the moment as sessions last about 2 hours and it is hard to do more in the time. But as I have been told that a mile is approx 65 lengths I hope I will be able to get to this distance soon as my speed increases.<br />
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I am still doing well with my diet and it is apparent now that due to my weight loss I will be adding a hole in my belt as I am finding it hard to keep my jeans up now and I'm in danger of losing my modesty if I don't tighten my belt up soon.<br />
The healthy eating (low fat ,low calorie and high fibre) combined with the use of a pedometer has allowed me to up my daily walking and monitor by how much it is increasing. I have yet to to embark on a gym regime at present because an old spinal injury that I found out had got worse again after a recent MRI is playing up. I am hoping that the swimming will help it improve it and then I shall start to use a static bike and some weights to train with rather than the treadmill.<br />
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There is one outstanding issue that I an hoping will get sorted this month that is the persistent intermittent swelling of my right lower leg.This was a slight problem since before the transplant but has got worse since. My Doctor at Harefield feels this would benefit from a abdominal CT scan to see if there is any reason for it happening,therefore I will be going into hospital for a overnight stay to get this done at the end of September. I will need some hydration and medication overnight before the scan to protect my Kidneys as they will be using contrast dye for the scan and this may affect my kidney function.Hopefully this will provide more info as to the cause and possible treatment for this annoying issue.<br />
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Finally it is next week when the new season of my my Camera Club starts on 20th September, and I have been getting some practice in with a photo-walk around the <strong style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #364780; font-family: arial, verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="http://www.stfc.ac.uk/About+STFC/5877.aspx" target="_blank">Rutherford Appleton Laboratory</a></strong><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #364780; font-family: arial, verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJLgG6e-kUVmo_9viw0Ki5lLAO8J6ahqUq2jIZy6bI9ClzPLCZaYT3_gAxj-bI470ui_L_HkGvt6qecgVPm1Yhaoez0N4Fs6OxDY8PIy92R9RLhUBXDXd-lsqTliQBy8TayRyWlMw3HE/s1600/Rutherford+Appleton+Laboratory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJLgG6e-kUVmo_9viw0Ki5lLAO8J6ahqUq2jIZy6bI9ClzPLCZaYT3_gAxj-bI470ui_L_HkGvt6qecgVPm1Yhaoez0N4Fs6OxDY8PIy92R9RLhUBXDXd-lsqTliQBy8TayRyWlMw3HE/s400/Rutherford+Appleton+Laboratory.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">STFC Rutherford Appleton laboratory</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is the second year that it has been run and it was a chance to walk around the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">facilities,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> learn about the work they do there and take photos there is a </span>chance<span style="font-family: inherit;"> to enter the photos into a competition and have them published. If you are interested you can see last years winning </span>entries<span style="font-family: inherit;"> at this page </span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #364780; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.stfc.ac.uk/37355.aspx" target="_blank">STFC Photowalk competition</a></span></span></td></tr>
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I will try to post some pictures that I took there on my next blog post</div>
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Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-10018640679081359762012-09-10T01:20:00.002+01:002012-09-10T16:22:16.701+01:00Kirstie's Big Breath Bike Ride <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixG_oSc38YlBT9jWk7ivX9p3vyMS4pah7lCHgJXSmgvyzkWcb8An1mwOAQI6le3On6u5jUfB-gqDs4okSkPQ_nK-q7KzvIJAgjuM7e7EHUwX3iWIANe38eyBPAviimkO9jI-Q9rDf-W8E/s1600/big+breath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixG_oSc38YlBT9jWk7ivX9p3vyMS4pah7lCHgJXSmgvyzkWcb8An1mwOAQI6le3On6u5jUfB-gqDs4okSkPQ_nK-q7KzvIJAgjuM7e7EHUwX3iWIANe38eyBPAviimkO9jI-Q9rDf-W8E/s200/big+breath.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I have just returned from Harefield Hospital where I was happy to see a friend of mine Kirstie Tancock complete a epic 180 mile bike journey from Exeter near where she lives to Harefield Hospital where she received her life saving double lung transplant.<br />
She completed the ride with a team of supporters including her husband and they arrived in Harefield at just before 17.00 after three days of cycling!! You can read her blog <a href="http://kirstie-2ndchanceatlife.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">"2nd Chance @ life" </a> it is on my blog roll<br />
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I thought That I would share some of the photos that I managed to take while I was there. I will be sending some of these to the <a href="http://www.lltgl.org.uk/" target="_blank">LLTGL website </a> and to Kirstie <a href="http://www.lltgl.org.uk/Content/Kirstie-Tancock" target="_blank">Kirstie is a advocate for LLTGL</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKr-pQrYjgOa9y0cO3JBAgXAq2o8eTfWmRkLQHS80-SK0mEY2pm-37R4F4h3QpMjMwjXDJZuHudg_rQJTJyycNEdvbIA9125TrbWJjhKKid6AgifzFuplFzFRa-E6DNhC2wOz8BAXGUBk/s1600/The+end+of+the+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKr-pQrYjgOa9y0cO3JBAgXAq2o8eTfWmRkLQHS80-SK0mEY2pm-37R4F4h3QpMjMwjXDJZuHudg_rQJTJyycNEdvbIA9125TrbWJjhKKid6AgifzFuplFzFRa-E6DNhC2wOz8BAXGUBk/s400/The+end+of+the+road.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end of a very long road as Kirstie arrives at Harefield Hospital</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWrDOqoRpBE6Rt9m289zOZFyKKNCtDrSIhhUuhUzv1xvv88q5u9l0PdobxllbI0cOUXUpbCDdNiL62XhmFhjNGm8n6AX4t1ljO5quYVkQ2AxGmi-w22CBwqVM0NutlVUXc8xAJ4_Iypc/s1600/Kirstie+celebrating+180+mile+cycle+ride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRWrDOqoRpBE6Rt9m289zOZFyKKNCtDrSIhhUuhUzv1xvv88q5u9l0PdobxllbI0cOUXUpbCDdNiL62XhmFhjNGm8n6AX4t1ljO5quYVkQ2AxGmi-w22CBwqVM0NutlVUXc8xAJ4_Iypc/s320/Kirstie+celebrating+180+mile+cycle+ride.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirstie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5iXznHDRvPH-zEvNNCFSUbD1KLmIGH9VKMKZ7DQEx6VhdwLeSBy4Gbsgef2Bn7Z4yYgy4ISSZuEcKRp7-AzJyCUSCeAdblX5ebwSVgNYEvWEntzZxdIOP-p283Qb7Ryxm9Qm7jTJ1NA/s1600/Champagne+flows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5iXznHDRvPH-zEvNNCFSUbD1KLmIGH9VKMKZ7DQEx6VhdwLeSBy4Gbsgef2Bn7Z4yYgy4ISSZuEcKRp7-AzJyCUSCeAdblX5ebwSVgNYEvWEntzZxdIOP-p283Qb7Ryxm9Qm7jTJ1NA/s320/Champagne+flows.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kirstie & Stu her husband in blue LLTGL vests</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUy6eu7vv9L8Zo78oC5z4dd57VC2FzsM3LTQO_Su7yYjA6XcqnsyKs4D7whZiRTKLNQmemSJaroedmHxGWZBA8gCzLUQKDAnvFDnPIX5nslcF4Xw_Hmuat8NVd4-rR_cr0e38o089KQQ/s1600/All+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUy6eu7vv9L8Zo78oC5z4dd57VC2FzsM3LTQO_Su7yYjA6XcqnsyKs4D7whZiRTKLNQmemSJaroedmHxGWZBA8gCzLUQKDAnvFDnPIX5nslcF4Xw_Hmuat8NVd4-rR_cr0e38o089KQQ/s400/All+together.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole team who competed the ride<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"> I would like to congratulate Krstie and all the people who joined her on her ride raising money for a great set of charities including </span>Harefield charitable fund, Live life then give life, CF trust and East Devon cystic fibrosis quality of life fund.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">One thing I would like to add is if you would like to help there is still time to make a donation. S</span><span style="text-align: center;">ponsor</span><span style="text-align: center;"> Kirstie and the team so they can achieve their target of £3000</span><br />
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<a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/kirstiesbigbreathbikeride" target="_blank">Kirstie's Big Breath Bike Ride</a></h1>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> If you have been inspired by This blog post to join the organ donation register <a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/default.asp" target="_blank">Click here</a> and help someone live a new life after your death, please tell your loved ones about your wishes so they don't have to guess! you may regret it later if you don't </span>Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-15523345705163089662012-09-03T01:08:00.000+01:002012-09-03T01:08:21.937+01:00Seaside Memories and New Beginnings<div style="text-align: center;">
I have been away for a while but I am back now.</div>
My mums death was still in my mind but I resolved to leave the issues of the estate and sorting out that will still needing doing until I returned to Oxfordshire.<br />
Managed to get a couple of weeks by the sea with Liz's mum in Hastings. The weather was kind to us,but although things conspired to disrupt our holiday, like my Bi-pap machine braking down just before we left!<br />
We managed to get some much needed rest bite from events that had been happening before we left.But I found myself remembering past holidays with my family in Devon and the Isle of White now that both of my parents have gone and I felt a bit lost and alone.<br />
With the Olympics happening at the end of the holiday I thought I might get a picture of the Olympic torch relay in Hastings, but unfortunately we were travelling the night when the torch came into the town so we missed it. I managed to watch it go through my local area but more importantly a friend of mine who had a double lung transplant just before mine was nominated and carried the torch though Reading<br />
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<a href="https://en.twitter.com/AwoogaBurbs" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Richard Burbedge</span></a> </div>
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Also competed in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-British-Transplant-Games/224409654275834" target="_blank">British Transplant Games</a> and got Gold an inspiration to all those who have been transplanted </div>
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While away I was happy to find out that that the <a href="http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/" target="_blank">Red Arrows</a> were to fly in Hastings as part of the town's <a href="http://hastingspirateday.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/pirate-day-programme.pdf" target="_blank">Pirates Day</a> This was an attempt to break the world record for the most pirates in one place. They were successful with 14,231 pirates gathered on the beach, dwarfing the Cornish town of Penzance's previous figure of 8,734, allowing Hastings to reclaim the title it previously held in August 2010.<br />
I was really happy I was able to use my new camera to get some shots of the Red Arrows when the performed over the sea and have included a photo for your enjoyment.<br />
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I was also able to get to the pub on a couple of nights while I was in Hastings it is not something I do much and haven't had a drink for a long while prior to this but I spent a lot of time in a pub called the "pig in paradise" on Hastings seafront while in there I was happy to find out about a friend of mine on facebook who had been called for her transplant at Harefield Hospital <a href="http://kimberleyliane.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kimberley Liane Kneil</a><br />
who writes "Being Kimberly" in my blog list. Thursday 26th July 2012 she went to theatre to start a new life thanks to a selfless donor and their family and is now doing really well as this photo taken yesterday shows<br />
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Just shows how a transplant can transform lives </div>
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Other good things have been happening... </div>
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Since I have have been back from my holiday I have started a weight loss group that is supervised by dietitian and psychology and will run for a year. During my first couple of weeks I didn't lose any weight but I did committed myself to go swimming as one of my activity goals.This is something I haven't done in over ten years. I was a bit apprehensive at first, being overweight and having all the scars from various chest drains I had before and after the transplant I felt self concious.But as one of my goal post transplant was to swim again <span style="background-color: red;"><a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/waiting-one-year-on.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">"</span><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">What do I want to do when I get new lungs"</span></a></span> </div>
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I went with my son and did it.</div>
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It was a bit hard at first as I was still not confident with my new lungs in the water but although at first I couldn't do a full length, after a while I was able to swim using breast stroke and did a few lengths although I had to rest after each 25m.</div>
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Things have improved since then and I am now losing weight slowly and swimming twice a week I am one doing <b>One Kilometre</b> per session (40 lengths) not bad after my first month and only 8 sessions :-) I am able to do 2-3 lengths before resting I am doing the crawl a bit, but this is something I will have to work on as I find this hard on my lungs at present and have to rest after one 25m.</div>
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I had a good visit to Harefield and was seen by kidney consultant who told me my renal function was solid my blood pressure was great and told me to come back in 6 months I was also given a clean bill of health by transplant doctor and three months off clinic.While I was there I had the chance to meet Kimberley whom i spoke about earlier who was waiting to be discharged and I also meet another Lung transplantee called Dave Southam I follow on Facebook. It is always good to connect with fellow Tx ers and meet them in person.</div>
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My brother and I have been continuing to sort out the aftermath of my mothers death and one thing that brought it all back was my birthday on the 30th August. I wished that she had been there to celebrate it with us. But I am sure that she was present and watching over us as I spent a quiet night in with the family. </div>
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We had a Chinese take away and everyone enjoyed themselves.I will be going out at a future date with my wife for a hot Indian or Thai meal and a drink as the kids don't care for very spicy food.</div>
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One other person I thought about was my donor a 45 year old who changed my life and allowed me to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday with her before she died, see my children complete there secondary education and move onto college and start to live the next 50 years of my life healthy and happy.</div>
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I will always be eternally grateful to him and his loved ones for allowing the donation of his lungs to help me live a new life! </div>
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If you would like to help someone live after your death and you haven't already done so, please</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt/default.asp" target="_blank">Sign the donor register</a></span> </div>
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Then let your loved ones know what your wishes are so that they will know what to do. </div>
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Spare them the uncertainty you may regret later it if you don't do it </div>
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I have resolved to to spend the next year of my life on revisiting my life again going to places that I went as a child with my parents,now they are no longer with us:(<br />
I particularly want to visit Brixham,Paignton,Totnes where I holidayed as a child.Visit my family, cousins in Bournemouth and up north and my Uncle in the Isle of White.I really hope that I will also be able to go to Glastonbury festival next June but there are some logistical obstacles to overcome to achieve that!<br />
But I do intend to fulfil my <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/waiting-one-year-on.html" target="_blank">list of things to do with new lungs</a> and hope that I will be fit enough to do some fund raising and find some voluntary work or employment.Then I hope that I can set myself new challenges to push me forward to greater achevements.<br />
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Watch this space because great things are coming I feel sure!!!</div>
Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-41701614636816199642012-07-08T01:01:00.000+01:002012-07-08T01:01:12.447+01:00Transplant Week Is Here Again<br />
I am so sad and feel so alone now,since I lost my mum. she had been my rock when I was gong though my transplant and afterwards when I suffered Co2 problems and ended up in ITU.<br />
I just take comfort that she got to see me recover and get well again and she knew, before she died, that I was recovered from my transplant and getting better and fitter day by day.<br />
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<b>Thanks to my Donor I was able to celebrate her 80th birthday in April with her and all the family </b><br />
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My lung health is good and my last trip to Harefield Hospital I was happy to find out that all the blood results were good and I was given another three months before I needed to return. I will be back in early August because of another appointment I need to attend with the kidney consultant but my next visit after that will be for my 2 year check up with any luck.<br />
I have had some other appointments indirectly relating to my lungs,<br />
The first was a return visit to the local chest hospital to check how I was on my Bi-Pap I had hoped that I would be able to come off using it and was given the okay to try but after two days of not using it I was suffering CO2 headaches and I decided I would not chance leaving it, given what had happened last time I had <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2011_02_01_archive.html" target="_blank">CO2 Problems</a> <br />
It was quite upsetting to find out that my body hadn't been able to make adjustments to my new lungs and I had been told that I would probably need to use the Bi-Pap permanently if I couldn't get off it successfully. My dreams of being free of the mask I wear every night were dashed along with the chance to stay overnight without taking a machine with me to prevent problems with CO2 poisoning.<br />
One a more positive note I have been accepted to a weight loss program being run to help those with health issues. It offers a year of support and a group locally I can attend weekly the weight has been a issue because I have developed a back problem preventing me from exercising this is still being investigated at the moment. I hope that I will be able to get some treatment for this when the results of my MRI are reported.<br />
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Just before my mother passing I had helped with the camera clubs annual exhibition at the town hall as part of the town's carnival celebrations I had prepared prints to be exhibited. For the first time my pictures were shown and were well received by all<br />
I put in three pictures<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8s9qvUA7MtGtMyXwL9IQHxJ0rnsE6NYLj1bAeutSRgsvr7mvvGBmNOWEdpK-ANtr0vSwlf49Xn8V28Dk2lxxoTWZdsk5c1QVp-NyHByg63LFwIPurL9wOgI9i3DhnwPNbRNxDhQonBk/s1600/Eagle+Eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh8s9qvUA7MtGtMyXwL9IQHxJ0rnsE6NYLj1bAeutSRgsvr7mvvGBmNOWEdpK-ANtr0vSwlf49Xn8V28Dk2lxxoTWZdsk5c1QVp-NyHByg63LFwIPurL9wOgI9i3DhnwPNbRNxDhQonBk/s320/Eagle+Eye.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUhZ_Ft-QF4/T_ic1Al1wJI/AAAAAAAABKY/c4p_kD9ufZA/s1600/Red+kite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUhZ_Ft-QF4/T_ic1Al1wJI/AAAAAAAABKY/c4p_kD9ufZA/s320/Red+kite.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXn2yjENu4fWqpSYX6rWlYFApL0INxmlEcu67L8Pf744cCmziiQSMWy-zqL8ylcSlvo7MFkYpIc9X_8zSXz1Yca_oqPPqR7Yr4x5qWn6RhwJLnfGv9JrmojQsG4hoDXn01R6T90bTeI4/s1600/Winging+it0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXn2yjENu4fWqpSYX6rWlYFApL0INxmlEcu67L8Pf744cCmziiQSMWy-zqL8ylcSlvo7MFkYpIc9X_8zSXz1Yca_oqPPqR7Yr4x5qWn6RhwJLnfGv9JrmojQsG4hoDXn01R6T90bTeI4/s320/Winging+it0000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Finally as I mentioned in my last post I received a cup for the annual portfolio competition this season it now takes pride of place in my front room and will be with me till next years AGM I thought I would include it for you to see!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MsUrNdkxeFVYS2PIeH1d9X3Y1vaYYJgYCvTu15Wl7yXxdhVGpV0YwQeFtmlyzu5RtzYy61xwvEIl9d_qvKg59g5EVDrGMfH5astU9ws2HvaZ38_-jet3KJDIviYeYWIJaJ7ndVF8z6E/s1600/11-12+Jubilee+Goblet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4MsUrNdkxeFVYS2PIeH1d9X3Y1vaYYJgYCvTu15Wl7yXxdhVGpV0YwQeFtmlyzu5RtzYy61xwvEIl9d_qvKg59g5EVDrGMfH5astU9ws2HvaZ38_-jet3KJDIviYeYWIJaJ7ndVF8z6E/s320/11-12+Jubilee+Goblet.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
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I am worn out with all the issues in my life at the present and will be going on holiday to my inlaws at the seaside in mid July till The beginning of August, to get a break.I am not looking forward to the aftermath of my mothers death and the practical issues of sorting out her belongings over the next few weeks. </div>
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One thing it has done is encouraged me to grab life with both hands and live it to the fullest as a tribute to my mum and the 45 year old man who gave me a new life by donating his lungs to me :-)<br />
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I just want to finish this blog with a reminder that next week is National Transplant Week I will be on twitter and other social networks throughout the week encouraging people to sign up as organ donors and sharing my story to honour my donor<br />
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If you want to support the week go to <a href="http://www.transplantweek.co.uk/" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Transplant week site</a><b> </b><br />
You can download a pack to help raise awareness of organ donation and donor registration.<br />
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<b><i>The numbers of people registering is increasing but is still only 30% of the population it would be great to raise it to 40% what do you think?</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0P4TtVI92XeG76D7rnuppaqe0xEeDA6OwdAiciYql57EITjFuJ7SGDxSeif05AtK3Wm7ZSXoN7GgnY97LP4BzFpg19SlxXWyHutEomoxDENqKkhr0ssfagUGe2y4ddgGWAck8K6-4BbU/s1600/logo_facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0P4TtVI92XeG76D7rnuppaqe0xEeDA6OwdAiciYql57EITjFuJ7SGDxSeif05AtK3Wm7ZSXoN7GgnY97LP4BzFpg19SlxXWyHutEomoxDENqKkhr0ssfagUGe2y4ddgGWAck8K6-4BbU/s200/logo_facebook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>If you are on Facebook or Twitter you can share any stories about successful transplants like mine and the people who's blogs I follow like</b></div>
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<b><i> </i><a href="http://kirstie-2ndchanceatlife.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><i>Kirstie</i></a><i>, <a href="http://tor-pastthepointofnoreturn.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Victoria T</a>, <a href="http://victoriaglen.co.uk/" target="_blank">Victoria G</a>, <a href="http://davidkallin.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">David</a> and <a href="http://kerrym82.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Kerry</a></i></b><br />
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<b></b><br />
<b>But lets not forget those still waiting like </b><br />
<b><i><a href="http://kimberleyliane.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kimberley</a>, <a href="http://kerryalexxx.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kerry</a> ,<a href="http://thesprogslife.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">George</a> and <a href="http://krazyclaire.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Claire</a></i> </b><br />
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<b>If you are on Twitter Try adding #Organdonation and #Transplantweek to your tweets and retweet any you see relating to organ donation and Donor registration.You can also follow</b><br />
<b><a href="https://twitter.com/NHSBT" target="_blank">@NHSBT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/LLTGL" target="_blank">@LLTGL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RBandH" target="_blank">@RBandH</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DonnasDream" target="_blank">@DonnasDream</a></b><br />
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<b>Facebook pages you could like include</b><br />
<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LLTGL" style="background-color: white;">https://www.facebook.com/LLTGL</a><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/donnasdreamcampaign">https://www.facebook.com/donnasdreamcampaign</a>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/organdonationuk" style="background-color: white;">https://www.facebook.com/organdonationuk</a></b><b><br /><br />
</b><br />
<b>Finally some Videos to share and watch</b><br />
<b><br /><a href="http://www.rbht.nhs.uk/about/our-work/trust-video-2010/" target="_blank">Royal Brompton and Harefield</a><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TransplantWeek" target="_blank">Transplant week</a></b></div>
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</div>Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-52339704294409520392012-07-07T02:00:00.000+01:002012-07-07T02:00:45.613+01:00R.I.P. Who Knows What Life Will Bring?<div style="text-align: center;">
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I am now 21 months on from my transplant and life has dealt some hard cards to me since my last post. Quite a lot has happened and I have been finding it all quite hard to cope with.<br />
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My worst news happened on 20th June when my mother of 80yrs died suddenly!!<br />
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She had been fit and healthy and had no health problems that would indicate this was going to happen, but was found by my younger brother when he went to visit her home.<br />
She had died from a bleed in her brain it was quick and we feel merciful as survival could have led to disability that I know she would not have wanted, nor coped well with.<br />
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Despite this I was shocked and distraught and couldn't believe it had happened :(<br />
We had her funeral on 29th June</div>
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Barbara<br />
R.I.P.- Mum<br />
29th April 1932 - 20th June 2012<br />
Miss you so much<br />
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As the post title says "Who knows what the future will bring?" we never know, so make sure that you fill your life with happiness live your life to the max and tell those you care about that you love them often<br />
<br /></div>Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-77610545369370492722012-04-12T01:23:00.000+01:002012-04-21T20:35:11.680+01:0018 Months Of New Life With New Lungs<div style="text-align: center;">
I have now been transplanted <b>18 months</b> and time has rushed by!!</div>
It doesn't seem that long ago that I was kissing my wife and children goodbye at the operating theatre doors not knowing if I would be saying goodbye for the last time.... and then waking up to a new life.<br />
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This last week I have been spending time with my children as they are on half term If it wasn't for my donor I would never have made it to this point. I have been able to see them through to the finish of their education at school and I am able to watch them move on to further education, my daughter is now half way through her A levels and looking forward to university. While my son is has a offer to start a course in furniture making at the local further education college in September and is really looking forward to it.<br />
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I have also had the pleasure this week of celebrating 25 years since my wife and I first met.</div>
She was a general nurse student on her placement in my hospital, I was a third year student looking towards my final exams. It was her last night at the hospital before returning to Eastbourne where she was training when fate brought us together. We spent that evening in the hospital social club getting to know each other, it was love at first sight.<br />
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We have been seeing each other ever since and I love her more with each day we are together</div>
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We married while I was waiting for my lung transplant and will celebrate our third anniversary in October, just after my second lung transplant anniversary </div>
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I cant say that it has all been a easy ride I had some <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/where-did-it-all-go-wrong.html" target="_blank">problems early on</a> and then got <a href="http://takeabreathandsay99.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/late-birthday-present-pain-in-arm.html" target="_blank">shingles last year</a> and it has taken a while for me to feel myself again and get my confidence back after a long period of chronic illness. I had a long list of things I would do,some of which I have done some are yet to come. </div>
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The most important have been the little things like; </div>
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<li>Walking up stairs without worrying about breathlessness.</li>
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<li>Not needing inhalers for my asthma that I suffered from for most of my life.</li>
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<li>Being able to go to events and activities with my children,without them being embarrassed about my oxygen tanks and breathlessness,</li>
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<li>Cooking food on a barbecue or even being around a barbecue without choking and coughing.</li>
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<li>Having confidence in my abilities to look after myself again </li>
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<li>Being able to have a bath without help</li>
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<li> last but not least, being alive and not scared that I will die </li>
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All these things are the result of a courageous man who thought about others and his love ones who consented to his wishes..A 45 year old man who I will always be eternally grateful to, signed the donor register and decided that that someone should live after his death.</div>
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I am one of those people!!</div>
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Other good things that have happened this last week is that I entered the annual portfolio competition with the following pictures </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4D5Xahh-NM/T4YMvIHxIzI/AAAAAAAABFI/lffryb6hjrc/s1600/Fun+at+the+Fair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4D5Xahh-NM/T4YMvIHxIzI/AAAAAAAABFI/lffryb6hjrc/s400/Fun+at+the+Fair.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun at the Fair</td></tr>
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It was judged the best digital entry and won first place!!! </div>
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I was so happy this is the second time in four seasons that I have won first place in the digital portfolio:) </div>
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First time I won was my first year in the camera club I have included the pictures that won "my village" in 16.4 2009 before my transplant <span id="goog_1516790165"></span><span id="goog_1516790166"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcuKLKfi0LZtwluaVdlpnHLeVCxoJV6fy_UA7gUGzJU5HxxEMiwVW69u67Nc91Yqibiz_XJkUIZ0rSb0lOrYUFUN-t532RiyI_7X0FFdVQbeQwLx6gprdyhBbFG_KkuLKJTTyuB1JTpg/s1600/My+Village+%28Portfolio%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFcuKLKfi0LZtwluaVdlpnHLeVCxoJV6fy_UA7gUGzJU5HxxEMiwVW69u67Nc91Yqibiz_XJkUIZ0rSb0lOrYUFUN-t532RiyI_7X0FFdVQbeQwLx6gprdyhBbFG_KkuLKJTTyuB1JTpg/s400/My+Village+%28Portfolio%29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The girl in yellow dancing around the maypole on the right of the picture is my daughter when she was much younger at a school fete at her primary school</div>
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I would also urge you to check out the<b> "Transplant People Daily" </b>available by scrolling to bottom of these blog posts now, where you will find an embedded widget.<br />
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If you like it please feel free to subscribe:) </div>
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Finally I would like you to consider Organ donation if you have not already.help someone like myself or one of the great people I follow on this blog to live a happier and more productive life </div>
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You can click the heart here and register now in the UK</div>
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<br /></div>Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-89654096559980448962012-03-18T01:30:00.002+00:002012-03-18T01:30:34.729+00:00March on To SpringWent to my clinic appointment this week and despite my cold leaving me gasping for breath , I have succeed, with my reduced immune system in overcoming it. My lung function has returned to a stable level and I am feeling more confident that I will not have any more problems now.<br />
I saw Dr Carby who was happy with my progress I had lost a small amount of weight since my last visit and although my lung function was a bit reduced he was happy for me to leave Three months till the end of June until my next clinic visit!!<br />
The only slight issue that arose was my kidney function once again was a concern.<br />
I am back on the 26th for some advice from the dietitian, so he requested that I do another blood sample then to check my <a href="http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/creatinine-and-creatinine-clearance"><span itemprop="headline">Creatinine</span></a> levels then decide what must be done. He suggested that medication change might be on the cards, but I am hoping that things will have settled by then with any luck.<br />
When I questioned him about the cold he said it could take up to six weeks to get over completely and I should carry on with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salbutamol">Ventolin</a> till I was sure I was better. <br />
This was the first bad cold that I have had since having my transplant and I must admit it scared me,it brought back memories of what it felt like when I was breathless before transplant and having nebulisers of ventolin reminded me of my asthma attacks in the past.<br />
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The statistics that you are quoted before transplant are not encouraging 80% 1 year survival 50% 5 year survival and my consultant said something that stuck in my mind "If you get seven years from a lung transplant we would consider that a success." People think that a transplant is a cure, it is not you are swapping one condition for a new one one that needs constant vigilance, monitoring, medication and positive attitude to manage.Add a large dose of humour and faith in your God and your transplant hospital and you can help the stats in your favour. You can never beat the odds completely but I hope to have a good go!!!<br />
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I read a story this week about a woman who has become the longest surviving single lung transplant patient. She celebrates the 20th anniversary of what was the first ever operation
of its kind. On May 18th, 1988, With only days to live, Vera Dwyer,
Carrowcrory, Keash, had the history-making surgery in Harefield
Hospital, London.<br />
You can read the article<span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.sligochampion.ie/news/lung-transplant-survivor-vera-sets-a-medical-world-record-1380035.html">here </a> </span> <br />
Transplant can be such a tightrope to walk at times and some of my
friends have slipped and fallen! This illness reminded me of this,
how grateful I am to still be doing well.<br />
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Even though I was not feeling well I have enrolled in a gym. One of the trainers is a physiotherapist trained in cardiac rehab and I had my first meeting just before my Harefields appointment. I will start my attendance when my cold is completely gone.<br />
The other thing that I have done is to get a new appointment with the Churchill to find out about my Bi Pap and if I still need to use it.That will be coming up in April and I am hopeful that I may stop using the mask each night if my CO2 levels are stable now.<br />
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<span class="profileName fn ginormousProfileName fwb">While I was in clinic I was lucky to bump into <a href="http://kerrym82.wordpress.com/my-blog/">Kerry Maletroit</a> who was looking good and still recovering well after her trip back to Jersey for a family reunion recently. She had a successful day at clinic and her lung function continues to improve.</span><br />
<span class="profileName fn ginormousProfileName fwb">One of my other friends was also in clinic, Dawn Bostock she was hoping for a bed to sort out some problems she had been having. She is now getting sorted out in Harefield, but due to the amout of people with colds and bugs she had to wait for a while for a bed. I am sending out all my best wishes to her for a quick resolution of her problems and a swift return home :-)</span><br />
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<span class="profileName fn ginormousProfileName fwb">Finally I had another competition at the camera club and although the picture didn't score well I thought I would include for your veiws it it is a local landmark and one my contributions to the "Industrial landscapes" competition,please let me know what you think of it. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset over Didcot B</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span class="profileName fn ginormousProfileName fwb"> You can also see another of my winning pictures at the website for the club now that has been posted, it scored 20/20.</span></div>
<span class="profileName fn ginormousProfileName fwb">It is a typical Oxford picture looking out on Magdalen College bridge where the <a href="http://www.demotix.com/news/317279/oxford-may-day-celebrations">Oxford May Morning Celebrations</a> happen. The view is taken from the <a href="http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/oxford_botanic_garden">Oxford University Botanic garden</a>. </span><br />
<span class="profileName fn ginormousProfileName fwb">If you what to see the photo it is <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.wallingford-photographic-club.org.uk/content/gateway-oxford-life">Here</a></span></span><br />Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2021576953753381656.post-25699684868209608712012-02-23T02:01:00.001+00:002012-02-23T02:03:40.770+00:00Competition Results & A New NHS?February is nearly over and next month I will be back to Harefield hospital again for a couple of visits.<br />
I have now received my referral for the dietitian appointment ordered by my consultant, I am a bit worried about my weight and it will give me an opportunity to find out about things that might help me with weight loss and diets to avoid. I will also be back to clinic on the 12th March for a check up.I hope before then I will be able to find out about a follow up appointment to get a review of my Bi-pap that I am still using at night and finding a bit of a pain now!!<br />
Since I have finished my pulmonary rehab, I have not been to the gym. Unfortunately the gym I was attending went into receivership just after I finished the course.I am presently looking into a recommended gym locally that I might join and have a meeting Monday next to find out more.<br />
If that proves unsatisfactory there is a gym in Oxford that I have used in the past that offers cheap session rates, but will cost petrol to travel to.I am still intending to start swimming soon as a extra to help with the pains I get when walking.At present I have a bit of a cold so will wait till I am 100% as I don't want to undo the good work I have done so far.<br />
The camera club competition went okay but my pictures didn't score very high but did relatively well<span id="goog_947571673"></span><span id="goog_947571674"></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">X wing fighter 16/20<span id="goog_947571697"></span><span id="goog_947571698"></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">X is where we cross 17/20</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I was happy that the judge thought the Red arrows picture showed good movement </div>
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We had a session the week following the competition from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005909/">Brian Tufano</a> who showed us his tips for still life photography and showed us how lighting and hand cut reflectors could be used in product shots and advertising to enhance the object being photographed.I am always impressed by his talks I have attended three now and he is such a nice bloke and so interesting to listen to.If you dont know the name he is the cinematographer who was responsible for films like "<i>Trainspotting</i>", "<i>Shallow grave</i>", "<span class="st"><i>Quadrophenia</i></span>", "<i>Billy Elliot</i>",and most recently the biopic of the life of Ian Durry,"<i>Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll</i>" He has even contributed extra photography to the film "<i>Blade Runner</i>". I learnt a great deal and I am encouaged to try some still life photos myself in the future. I have added some of my photos to the blog in the right hand column and will change these periodically<br />
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I have also added some more people who are waiting for transplants to my blog list. The first is a lovely lady called George 21yrs she says " Small happy cheeky person...I have Cystic Fibrosis and
have been Waiting for a Double Lung Transplant as of 22nd December 2011" her blog is <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://thesprogslife.blogspot.com/">"My Journey- The Beginning Of The End!" </a>The second person I am now following is the lovely Claire who is also 21yrs and is presently on the kidney transplant waiting list her blog is <a href="http://krazyclaire.blogspot.com/">"My world"</a> Clare has also started a page on Facebook for others in similar position as herself <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Helping-Hand/337987636241806">"A Helping Hand" </a> she would love some more people to "like" this great page and share their experiences</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">They are both finding the process very hard and would love some support and encouragement</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Finally I would like to include a request that you thinks about the government's health reforms that are presently going though parliament. As a retired nurse and a transplant recipient I feel what is being proposed is not good for the NHS and its staff (my wife) and patients (Me & You). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Before I retired I had a experience of another scheme called <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_finance_initiative">PFI</a></span> that was used to build the unit I worked in My experience of private firms in the NHS was very poor The unit was not built to accommodate the patients with the specialist equipment and conditions they required ,but built to a standard plan to maximise profit. The catering and cleaning supplied by the company was very poor and couldn't be changed and faults with the building were numerous.The price to fix faults was taken out of patient care funds and charged at well above market rates but was also fixed by contract so no one but the company with the contract could be used. The company was based in Scotland had contractors that were not local ,so many faults waited months to fix including those which compromised patients safety.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What the government is proposing is worse than PFI and it intends to offer private firms access to the NHS to run services I am suggesting this is a bad move for the NHS and all patients that rely on it if you feel the same as me please sign the following petition </span><br />
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<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/goog_854117718"><span id="goog_854117712"></span><span id="goog_854117713"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>e-petition</b>
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<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/goog_854117718">“Drop the Health Bill”</a></h1>
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<a href="http://draft.blogger.com/goog_854117718">Responsible department: Department of Health</a></div>
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<a href="https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670">“Calls on the Government to drop its Health and Social Care Bill.”</a></div>
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Let us all tell the government what we what </div>
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NHS not Private Healthcare </div>
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</div>Mark Witcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01769722733115940880noreply@blogger.com0