Charlotte's Heart Transplant

21.04.18 Off to London again!! The last time I was in London was just before my transplant and it took soooo long for me to get from the platform into the station, I had to stop several times and it was reslly painful. It was so incredible to walk up the platform and feel no pain just over a month later! Saturday We arrived on Saturday and I spent the day on Oxford street with Victoria, but we got off the bus at the wrong end! So instead of being near Selfridges we were right up the other end. But it was too hot to shop anyway, we sat in a nice park for lunch and then Victoria headed off to meet the rest of my family. Because my immune system is so weak, the tube is not the best place for me, so luckily I have family that live in Paddington and I got the bus to stay with them. It took me forever to get to the bus because it was right down the other end of Oxford street, for anyone who doesn't know, Oxford street is 1.2 miles long! Although my legs were shattered I was...

So this weekend I'm very excited for my plans! Saturday night Emily, Jayne and Victoria are coming round for facials and to have our hair done and have a girly night in! And then on Sunday Ciaran's boss has arranged for us to go to the Manchester United game in a hospitality suite which is so kind! I love going to Old Trafford and the weekend before my op me and Ciaran went to the United v Chelsea game and I did mention to Ciaran that I'd love to be able to sit down (because our tickets are in Stretford end we stand up all game). However, on Saturday I woke up at 4am with an intense pain in my rib underneath my boob on the left hand side. I've been having stabbing pains from the pacing wires as I've mentioned but this was far more intense and more of a dull pain. I couldn't breath because it hurt so much when I breathed in and I couldn't get back to sleep. So I phoned the Jim Quick ward at 8am when the day staff start and spoke to one of the sisters and sh...

WARNING: This blog contains photos of scars and bruises at the end. Wednesday 4th April I went for my first echo today since transplant! So I was at the clinic for 9am, you can't take your medicine in the morning when you go to clinic because they do your bloods and they test the level of anti rejections in your blood so they ask what time you took my medicine the night before and then once you've had bloods done you can take your morning medicines. They were running behind with biopsies so after having my bloods done I went to echo, echos are done in the heart failure clinic, not the transplant clinic, its just in the next building. Very strange walking back into the heart failure clinic, this is where I first met Steve Shaw a year ago and he said 'we'll see you in 6 months' until he changed his mind and sent me for another exercise test. I'm a bit nervous about having an echo because the pacing wires in my chest have been really hurting me recently so ...

Friday 30th March I've found that I've been quite tired while I've been home, not really more than the hospital but I think it's just because I want to do more at home and I keep being stopped by having to have a nap whereas in the hospital I had nothing to do other than sleep! I had plans this weekend to have my cousin and her boyfriend over, Em and Gidd and I didn't cancel because I hoped I'd be home! So they came over on saturday and we just had some sandwiches at home and it was lovely to catch up! I hadn't seen Emily since my first day on the ward so I think there was definitely some difference in me! My aunties and uncles came over too after seeing my mum's new house Jenny, Darryl, Paul and Sam so it was a busy day but it was lovely to see everyone and I just had to nap after they'd been! My other aunty Annette came over from Ireland this week too with my cousin Megan so I got to see them a couple of times and my cousin Shannon too! It mu...

Tuesday 27th March 2018 So they reduced my Prograf level and I felt so much better really quickly! Prograf is one of my anti rejection drugs and its extremely toxic, it works by effecting the production and function of your T cells which are your cells that fight infection (essential part of your immune system). The levels need to be between 8 and 10 and mine were 14.5 when I went back onto the ward, so it's no wonder I didn't feel well! Before going home I spoke to the occupational therapist and went through things at home, the main thing we talked about conserving energy when I go home. She explained that I'll be way more tired at home than in the hospital because I'll be doing so much more, so I need to sit down when cooking and she suggested a bench for the shower as well. I also spoke to the dietician about food safety, so I am more likely to get food poisining but also if I get food poisining it's very dangerous for me to be sick because I wouldn't abs...