Waiting One Year On

7th September is the Birthday of Google search engine. It also is significant date for me that marks one year since I was placed on the transplant list. 
How has it been? A roller-coaster ride with several stops along the way!

I had been dreading this day and now it is here I feel quite calm.
I was told that 18months to two years was a expected time to wait. So it is not unusual that I would still be waiting. Despite the great problems with infection that delayed my listing in the first place I am still here.I have survived Bird flu and the awful winter last year and all in all I am feeling quite good physically for a respiratory cripple.

The problem with the wait is the mental effects. I have felt a bit down now that my holiday is over, and with my birthday coming just afterwards it was a reminder of the passage of time.I am aware that I am much less confident now,and the family is finding things hard. We argue a lot and I am aware that the strain of my illness is wearing us all out,I sigh a lot and cry a bit when it gets too much. But the day to day can be a real effort. The things that annoy the most are the little things.Carrying things up and down the stairs so that when I am unable to deal with the stairs in the evening, I have things in the bedroom that I need. Bath day knowing that this will add two hours to the day.The evening tied to an oxygen mask are the worst. 

It is now autumn and just today I have noticed that the trees are starting to show the effects.
This is a good thing for my photography, a bad thing for my health. For those who know about lung disease the worse sort of weather for breathing problems is cold and damp.This is something that we are about to have a lot more of now.

In years gone by I as a fisherman.I would be dusting off my pike gear this time of the year and looking forward to sessions on a cold misty riverbank, watching a large red float hoping to see it disappear below the water.Or casting a plug into the slow flowing waters hoping for a pull on the line that would indicate a fish.This is something I will have to put on hold for the present.   
I would also have spent time walking in the country side collecting conkers for my son or collecting blackberries and apples for a pie maybe sweet chestnuts to roast.These are things that I would have problems with now.
I was talking with someone on twitter the other day who told me to focus on the future and what I would do when I get my new lungs.So for the next few sentences I will do just  that.
What do I want to do when I get new lungs:

A walk in the Countryside

• Walk in the countryside-I love walking and this is one thing I really miss I would love to walk out into the countryside and up and down hills without problems.I would love to take my camera into the fields and take pictures of animals and landscapes I can only glimpse from my car al the moment.  

• Go swimming - I loved to swim before I was unwell and did it all the time. I really miss that,I have been told that swimming in a pool is okay. Swimming in a lake or river on the other hand would not be advisable as that would present a risk of infection.  

Go Fishing

• Go fishing-I would love to take my fishing tackle to a quiet lake sit and fish and watch the world pass by or maybe go to the coast and go out on a boat and fish for my dinner then cook the fish fresh on the shore when I get back

•  Glastonbury tor- I did quite a lot of festivals in years past and went to Stonehenge free festival a few times and Glastonbury on several occasions I saw the tor but never walked up and had a proper look. 

Ride a bike

• Ride a Motorbike- when I was young.I was a biker, I had many bikes including a Triumph Tiger cub 350 and a Yamaha 650 and I regularly see many bikes pulled up by a local cafe nearby I had to sell my last bike when I got unwell and really regretted it I swore that I would ride another bike one day. 

Hopefully I will do all of these things but if I don't it was nice to think about them. I still have a bit more stamina left in me yet.
So Year two, here we go. Bring it on!