Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Monday 15th January 2018, not a very memorable date, no special significance, but for me it is a day that I will never forget. It was the day that my life changed forever.

I was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy - my heart was functioning at only 10%, they found a blood clot within my heart and an arrhythmia (odd heartbeat). If this wasn’t bad enough as a long term diagnosis they were unable to begin treatment as I had a large amount of fluid in my chest and more seriously a very bad case of sepsis  in my lungs. After a week long touch and go fight in intensive care we managed to get the sepsis under control, so moved onto reducing fluid from my chest and then the delicate balance of getting me onto the right combination and dosage of drugs!

I am lucky to be alive and indeed experienced a feeling of rebirth in intensive care, both from the literal need to put yourself in others hands to see to all your requirements, but also in the sense that I had been given a second chance to live and to appreciate even the smallest of experiences, sensations and I feel grateful for the opportunity to do so!

A huge part of my positive experience and quite frankly my survival  was down to the amazing team of nurses and doctors who looked after me. From the exceptional medical care, to the extraordinary care that was taken of me as an individual, the reassurance and time taken to see to my emotional needs as well as medical. I am left in awe of the remarkable work these people do and I want to try and give back in anyway I can.

The teams in particular that I would like to acknowledge and thank are those working in ICU, HAC and Ward A7 who looked after me so well and of course the cardiac team, particularly my HF nurse Alice and the lovely Dr Adam who both seemed to know when I was struggling and appeared to assure and give me a boost, whether I was in ICU or on a ward they tracked me down to check up on me.

So here we are after a month in hospital I’m home, slowly adjusting to my new life, hoping the medication will do its work and help my heart to function better and therefore hopefully avoid anymore intrusive action. I am doing what I can with diet and eventually through cardiac rehabilitation exercise, but it is a long road ahead. Knowing I have the team at Hammersmith behind me is a big help.

So what am I asking! If you are able to make a donation or had planned to get me a card, flowers, present for my big 40! Firstly THANK YOU, but can I ask that instead you make a donation to this amazing charity, which helps provide invaluable equipment/resources to the hospital. This place literally saved my life and without I would not have had the chance to celebrate this milestone!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.