Health update

A break from the New York posts (trying to catch up on that!) to share a quick update.

On Wednesday I had a lung check-up (and all that goes with the lungs/transplant obviously). I could not have asked for a better day. When I had my bloods done it was almost painless, I was basically the only person at radiology so had my x-ray taken immediately. I bumped into all my favourite Drs/ medical people and they were all full of compliments about how fit and healthy I look. The transplant surgeon (one of the Drs I bumped into) even showed me off to one of his colleagues.

My lung function was up there with my best performance by these lungies. My kidney function was fine (not perfect, but not bad). Other bloods were fine. There was literally nothing that was an issue. X-ray looked completely normal. Lungs sound perfect. To say I’m happy doesn’t even begin to describe how elated and blessed I feel. I have been so lucky, and am so grateful. 

A year ago this time I was terribly sick with a cold/ low lung function combo. I needed a wheelchair at the hospital, because I couln’t walk at all due to shortness of breath, and my portable O2 on 5 litres wasn’t enough to sustain that amount of exercise for a short distance. It was horrible. I kept on thinking that if the dry run for lungs wasn’t a dry run I wouldn’t have been in that situation. While I was admitted someone else received their lungs, and I remember wishing that it was me, even though being that sick is not a good way to start off a transplant. I was feeling desperate and anxious. 

Fast forward a year... I have provisionally qualified for the 2019 World Transplant Games in squash, I have just spent 2 weeks in New York walking up flights of stairs from the subways to the streets, walking up to 25,000 steps on a few days, breathing easily in crazy humidity, having the energy of an energizer bunny (or so it feels), going on crazy rides at Coney Island and screaming my lungs out. I’ve done snorkelling in Mauritius, we’ve hiked at Storms River, doing up to 100 flights of stairs the one day. My body is feeling alive again, for the first time jn a few years.

With all this also comes a little bit of fear... how long will this last? Surely it can’t last “forever”? Will these lungs reject as well? Luckily I take an amazing tablet for anxiety, so I don’t dwell on this for too long, but I’m definitely feeling so good that it scares me!! The past 9 months have been nothing but a miracle, and I think of this new donor every day. There is a special place in heaven for organ donors.... of that I’m sure.