Going to Kings to talk about being a young mentor.

Hey guys,

So today I am off to Kings to talk about what is going to happen on a young peoples liver disease meeting. Last year I attended this as a participant but this year I am going to be a young mentor because I am nearly 19 and have been through transplant. The day is basically going to be about how liver disease affects young peoples lives and different ways of coping with it, also talking about possible transplantation in the future. I think its great that they have chosen me as a young mentor because I feel like I am giving something back to my donor for giving me the gift of a second chance at life. I am so grateful to still be here and to be able to say that I can now help young people going through the same thing. People need to be more aware of what the power of organ donation can do and I am glad that I can help just that tiny bit :)

Thanks for reading

Grace xx

Update on surgery

Hey blog readers,

So you know I told you I needed a pacemaker for my stomach because it doesn't empty properly? Well. They diagnosed that completely wrong! I went to the hospital a few weeks ago and had a bearium meal. The results showed that I have something called gastric volvulus. It's basically where your stomach has twisted 180 degrees on its side. The symptoms are, a swollen stomach, terrible stomach pain and vomiting....well I have been showing these signs for more than a year and no one has paid any attention to me. So I went for another appointment to discuss surgery. My transplant team are involved now because they no me and no what they done inside me. It's major surgery and I will probably be in hospital five weeks. It's thrown off my college course but if they do it now I should be able to catch up. I'm just really annoyed to be honest. Not at surgery but at my doctor for not picking it up sooner. It can be very dangerous and you can die from it if it's not treated and depending how bad the volvulus is.

Thanks for reading, 

Grace xx

Cf will have to put up a good fight first.

Hey guys, 

So I've been pretty down for quite a while now and I'm really fed up of it, so I thought I needed to snap out of it before it really starts to get me down. I've realised that it wasn't the cf that was making me down, it was my mental attitude. So, it stops now! I have to try and carry on, not just for me but for all the people who have died and didn't need too. I have to be strong and pick myself up because I have so much more fight in me left. I will be wife, mum and grand mum one day, and I have to believe it.

Thanks for reading x 

No sign of getting much better.

Hey guys, 

Well I still haven't heard from the hospital when I'm going to be having my surgery. I know I'm going to have it, I just haven't got a date yet. I'm really down at the moment because of so many things, mainly to do with my stomach but also because another CFer has died. It's so hard and it doesn't get any easier. It just dawns on you more. I hope that he is a peace now and that he didn't die in pain. Things with my lungs are okay at the moment. Going away did them a lot of good! I hate being in such a depressing mood because normally I'm a very positive person but lately I've been really struggling to find the inner strength and to pick myself up of the floor. I just wanna say how much I appreciate my friends always being there for me and also a few CFers that I'm quite close with. Including Martin and Vicki. The most loveliest CFers I've ever spoken too. I hope my mood can change soon because I'm fed up of feeling crap. 

Thanks for reading, 

Grace xx