TAKE A BREATH AND SAY 99: Life Gets Better and Better

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Life Gets Better and Better

Life is getting better for me after my hiccup over Christmas with the missing bloods!! My body seems to have settled down again and the swelling in my legs has almost gone away.

It was cold, there was snow on the ground and it was very early when I went to clinic!!
I attended Harefield Hospital again on Monday and visited the kidney consultant.
He was very happy with my kidney function and told me that things had improved since the dip in January he told me that I didn't need any increase in my blood pressure tablet at present and was happy to leave it 6 months for my next appointment which will be in early August.

This was great to hear and a real boost for me as I had been worried my kidneys were feeling the strain of the anti rejection meds.

While I was there I also had a Heart Echo done (a type of ultrasound of the heart) This was something that my transplant consultant had suggested to discount any heart problems that would lead to my legs swelling.
It is a very disconcerting experience seeing your heart beating on the screen in front of you while measurements and reading of blood flow are taken by the operator.
The result of the echo - it seems is that my heart was in good condition and no cause for concern which was also reassuring , so I have a good healthy heart, good kidneys no blockages in my leg veins and the levels in my blood are all within normal range for me!!!

I had not had a echo done since my transplant assessment back in January 2009 and it bought back memories about how I felt then and of some of the great people I met then . I wondered if they had been lucky and received their transplants or had they become statistics, one of the three people who die waiting on the list every day.I live in hope that I will bump into them one day in clinic.

One of the good things about the visit was that I was able to meet up with some great people who were up for their clinic appointments that day
The first was Justine Laymond who was up for a check prior to her latest refresher session for the Clipper round the world Yacht Race that she will be joining soon.She will be sailing the last Leg 8, she will cross the Atlantic and log over 3,750 miles. to Southampton from New York, finishing in July.
She admitted to being excited and at the same time a bit terrified of the prospect of the race, and being the first double lung transplant recipient to take part in the history of the race i am not surprised!!
She is joined by Holly Cocker who underwent a kidney transplant in 2008 three years on she will take on the challenge of a lifetime. Signed up for Leg 7 she will log over 5,000 miles during the races from California to Panama and then on to New York, just before Justine's leg.
I so respect them both for doing it and wish them all the best :-) you can learn more at the website
Clipper Round The World Yacht Race

The next was Richard Burbedge with whom I attended the speakers project run by LLTGL I talked about him in a previous post he was up for a routine check and looking forward to his upcoming run carrying the Olympic torch!! he is now 18months on from his lung transplant and doing well.
I also met up with another lung transplant patient I had met before at Harefield, Dawn Bostock who is active in campaigning against the NHS reforms being put forward by the government at present.
She was also happy healthy and doing well.

Finally I was able to meet Kerry Maletroit who was up for a clinic appointment after her very recent (11 weeks yesterday) life saving transplant.She has been attending weekly while she recovers. Kerry was looking great! healthy and happy and recovering very well considering how ill she was, I was so happy:-)

I had a chat with another very new lung transplant patient who had just received his new lungs 4 weeks previous to his clinic visit and was able to support him with some reassurance about the future and what to expect with meds, side effects and other issues.
I also made a new transplant friend when I met Andy Healy, one of justine's friends he is 10 year on from his lung transplant for CF and it was nice that we were of similar age.
I didn't feel so bad being surrounded by young athletic transplantees like Justine and Richard.It was one of the best clinics I have been to in a while :-)

I will not be back at Harefield till march now, I hope then my frequency of visits will then decrease

This Thursday I have another competition at the camera club the" letter X".
The previous one was an open subject competition and I put in the following pictures. I have include the scores for the first two but you will have to wait and see what score I am awarded for the two in this weeks competition for the letter X?
Watch this space.......