After many more hospital visits and a lot of re-thinking on the part of my consultant, it was decided that my only real option was to be considered for a lung transplant: I had reached the stage in my illness where I was virtually housebound and was on oxygen 24 hours a day:  On the 5th March 2000 I was admitted to Derriford Hospital for a pre-assessment to see if I would be a suitable candidate: the tests took 9 days to complete and the assessment was forwarded to

Harefield Hospital in Middlesex for their approval.

 

I arrived at Harefield 25th September 2000 for my final assessment which took a further 3 days 0n 29th September 2000 I was accepted on the ‘active’ list and was now awaiting a suitable donor.

It was Sunday 10th December 2000 I remember it well I had driven down to the Barbican and Mary  bought me a bag of chips (which I ate in the car): It was approximately 8.00pm that evening I received a call from Harefield to say that they had a suitable pair lungs for me and could I get to the hospital before midnight? I said “yes” but immediately panic set in, I had to phone for an ambulance, and let all my family and friends know what was happening to me!

By about 8.45pm the ambulance had arrived ( along with all my family) it took me a further 20 minutes or so to get into the ambulance ,I was filled with all kinds of different emotions as I waved goodbye to my children and grandchildren not knowing for certain that I would ever see them again.

The ambulance sped on its way to Harefield reaching speeds of 146 mph: We arrived at the hospital shortly before midnight.

With no time to spare I had to prepare for major surgery, my mind was in a turmoil, I was scared … was I doing the right thing? Was I going to survive? Still I have always had this positive attitude to life and wasn’t going to give up on that right now!

After duly signing my consent form and saying my goodbyes to Mary I was wheeled down to the operating theatre.

I remember talking to the anaesthetist and having my pre-med and general anaesthetic.

The next thing I remember is hearing voices in the distance and wondering where I was and what was happening to me, I was having all kinds of hallucinations as I was on morphine, I really thought that I had been abducted by aliens and that they were all trying to kill me ! If only I could wake up!

It was around 8 days after surgery that I finally started to come round, only to find that I was still in intensive care , hooked up to all kinds of pipe work and instruments, I was also still on a ventilator which was quite uncomfortable as I was unable to talk.

Within days the ventilator was removed and my recovery well on the way.

I was unaware until Mary told me that I had to go back to theatre for more surgery about 12 hours after transplant, and that I had suffered renal failure, 2 brain haemorrhages, and there was difficulties getting my new lungs to work, aside this I had internal bleeding , I had a blood transfusion that was infected with toxoplasmosis.

I now had to get used to the new medication and suffered quite a bout of sickness for several weeks, the brain haemorrhages had caused paralysis to the whole of my right side, but the good side of this was I couldn’t feel any of the needles that they were inserting into me!

 

Where I had been cut open on the second operation the nerves had been severed causing the wasting of several of the shoulder muscles to my right arm including anterior serratus : but I wasn’t going to let that bother me too much , after all I had just survived a double lung transplant .

Four weeks after transplant I am recovering in leaps and bounds the progress is faster and I see improvement on a daily basis and by 16th January 2001 I am allowed home, the day before my birthday no less, what a birthday present!

I had to return to clinic at Harefield 2 weeks later only to be kept in for a further 3 weeks as I had acute rejection, this happened to me on a further two subsequent visits.: but since then I have managed to stay out of Harefield as an in-patient !

In September 2001 I joined other transplant patients in the annual Harefield Jog, I managed to walk   10½ miles and won the cup that year for the furthest distance of any transplant patient, I had sore feet and lost two toenails but I managed to raise over £800 in sponsorship, it was a great sense of achievement for me as pre-transplant I couldn’t walk a hundred yards!

My clinics are now six monthly, but I can go to clinic at any time should I need to do so.

I am in my eighth year post transplant and doing quite well I am still very positive in my attitude and hope to survive a good many years yet I take regular exercise by way of walking and try to do exercise by taking  daily walks.

I also have a strict regimen for taking my medication which is documented daily along with my weight, temperature, and spirometry, and regularly attend my GP’s surgery to review my drugs: frequent blood tests are required to check the levels of my  immune-suppressants to make sure that I stay at the therapeutic level, all part of a routine that I am used to living with.