Sponsored by
HELEN'S DIARY: My family is feeling the pain
Helen Miller, of South Anston, is waiting for a lung transplant and is keeping a weekly diary to support The Star's Gift of Life campaign.
The 38-year-old mum of two wants readers to know what life is really like on the waiting list.
Helen, who was a training manager before she fell ill, now has so little energy that brushing her hair and cleaning her teeth are exhausting. Here she explains how her condition affected her last week.
Monday
THIS illness has caused trauma to my family. It not only has caused me pain and agony but my family have gone through the same. I think people forget what happens to the family in times like this. My son needs stability and me going backwards and forwards to mum's is not helping him.
Tuesday
NOT slept well. The headaches have been increasing lately and last night I tried one of the stick-on patches, which seemed to help.
Mum came round and cuddled me. I can't stop crying again, it's all getting too much for me to handle at the moment. I don't look ill with my make-up on and hair done, when I can manage it. In a warped sense I think I'm OK, even though I have oxygen tubes all the time and only 18 per cent lung capacity left. I went for a short trip to Meadowhall and cried again.
Wednesday
DIDN'T sleep at all last night, felt very hot and uncomfortable. I'm trying to make a stew but it's proved too much for me. I'm waiting for mum to come and do it. I try to sit in the kitchen and push the stool with my feet to get about, but I still get out of breath.
Thursday
THE weather has turned now and the wind and cold took my breath away. I am going to have to be careful and take a scarf with me to cover my face in future as I easily panic if the wind hits my face. Went out for my friend Sue's birthday in the evening - difficult when you have two oxygen cylinders, wheelchairs, bags and the restaurants are small and have steps. Most shops and restaurants do cater for the disabled but some still don't, which is surprising after all the publicity. I had a lovely meal but did then suffer from heartburn. Got to bed quite late, and had a bad headache. But it was worth it.
Friday
I AM now at mum's and feel relaxed now my headache's gone. My beautiful niece is coming tonight. I had an email from a gentleman who I worked with six years ago which was lovely - he said he reads the paper each week. My friend Ann also told me her mother-in-law always reads the diary. I can't believe how many people are reading this. I've asked dad if when I get the call for the transplant he will do the diary so readers will know exactly what it's like living through the first weeks of a transplant, and realise how fortunate I am to have had one and how thoughtful the donor's family has been. I hope it's my time soon.
Just had a call from Dianne's husband - she had a transplant last Wednesday, but then she was taken ill and is on a ventilator.
- The Star's Gift of Life campaign has added the names of 25,000 readers to the Organ Donor Register.
Currently 8,000 people in the UK are waiting for a new kidney, liver, lung or heart. But a shortage of organ donors means hundreds people are dying on the waiting list each year.
Click here to go to the Organ Donor Register
What do you think? Add your comment below.
READ MORE
Main news index
Your letters.
Features
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Check out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic section
Latest sport. She is extremely ill and I’m praying for her but also thinking about her husband who is having to watch it alll.
n The Star’s Gift of Life campaign has already recruited 25,000 readers to the Organ Donor Register. Currently, 8,000 people in the UK are waiting for a new kidney, liver, lung or heart, but a shortage of organ donors means hundreds people are dying on the waiting list. To sign up as an organ donor, visit www.thestar.co.uk/donor and click on the link to Organ Donor Register.
Email to a friend
Print this page- SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: ‘Anything possible’ for promoted Wednesday
- Queues overnight for Sheffield United Wembley tickets
- Breaking: Son accused of killing his mum in Sheffield appears at court
- SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: Owls withdraw interest in Joel Ward
- Sheffield grandmother ‘brought so much joy to our lives’
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Tuesday 22 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
