Cystic Fibrosis, Transplant and Me (GP)

I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when I was just 3 weeks old. I was diagnosed with Pseudomonas when I was just two, this was the start of endless treatments and IV antibiotics. It was also the time that I refused to eat and needed to have a tube put down my nose to feed me. This was my life for many many years (the tube was changed and I had a permanent one placed in my stomach when I was 5). 

I didn't know anything different other than taking tablets, doing physio and having IVs every 8-12 weeks. It was my normal.

I stayed pretty stable for quite a few years. My Lung Function sat around 40%. It was low but I carried on living. It wasn't until I was 16 when my lung collapsed that everything changed. In April 2010 my left lung collapsed, I stayed in hospital for 3 weeks with a chest drain in. The day I was discharged (I got all the way home from London) my lung collapsed again. This time I had to have surgery to try and stop it from going again. By the time I was discharged my referral for a double lung transplant had been sent to Harefield Hospital. My lungs were damaged beyond repair due to the constant bugs and chest infections. By the September I had my first appointment at Harefield where I was told I look like a good candidate for transplant. I needed to go back for a 4-day assessment in November to do various tests for them to decide 100% if I could go on the list. It took an extra month for a few results to come back and then on the 23rd December 2010 I was put on the active Transplant list. 

I knew the wait would be hard. You have to try and keep yourself as well as possible as the call could come at any point. I waited 10 months for my call. On the 17th of October 2011 at just 17 years old, I went down to theatre for my life-saving operation. 

It's now been 7 1/2 years since my operation. I have done so much with my life including going to University, going on so many holidays and jumping from a plane. 

I am not cured of CF. I still have to have a nebulizer to protect my lungs. I still take a lot of tablets for rejection, vitamins for CF and enzymes for when I eat. I suffer from weak bones called osteoporosis, I have hearing issues due to IVs being toxic to my body, I now have chronic kidney disease due to the medication that keeps me from rejecting my lungs and I also came out of surgery diabetic so also have that to contend with. 

All these things I have to balance with everyday life. However, all of this has made me who I am. It's allowed me to meet all types of people and to live for today. I have fitted more into my 25 years of life than some do in a lifetime. I understand how precious life is. 

I wouldn't be here today without my Organ Donor who had signed up to the organ donor register. Please sign up and tell your loved ones of your wishes.

Charlotte Davies