Wow - been absolutely yonks since I last blogged. I'd mainly put this down to not feeling that there's been a lot to blog about! I'm probably wrong there and laziness has it's part to play. But when you know you probably don't have anyone who actually follows your blog it does become quite pointless. I guess I should try and see the writing itself as therapeutic though.
I often see blogs about peoples health stuff. I find many of them really inspiring and wish I had the words to express myself so eloquently. For a while I've wanted to blog about my own health complaints whether it be as a means of venting off or even to offer support for those who may read it and are in a similar situation. However, I have never taken the dive and done this for fear of sharing anything too personal online. But as any of you who may know me personally will know, I have a respiratory condition that has pretty much plagued my life for a number of years now. I have been in and out of hospital more times than I care to remember. And in intensive care over 20 times. So as you can imagine it does become pretty soul destroying. Nevertheless, I have found solace in the knowledge that lots of other people go through these traumas and there's a lot of support out there. Especially in online forums.
Quite recently I joined Twitter. For a couple of years I've been signed up to it but I just couldn't get to grips with it at all. I figure this was because I didn't really understand the premise behind it. But I put a few days work into it and am now totally and utterly ensconced by it. I have found tonnes of links to networks of people with similar conditions to myself and its been amazing.
Having health complications can get you to start thinking your own mortality from an relatively young age. This is what happened to me personally and so I got to thinking - 'What would I want to happen in the event of my death?'. This may sound really morbid, and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon but it was just something I felt I needed to address. I figured I'd rather not just be wasted- but rather 'recycled'. The way I view it is your body isn't really you as a person, it's more of a vehicle that you just use to get around in. Kind of like a rent-a-car. So donating for me personally doesn't feel like a big deal. It's for this reason I decided to sign the organ donor register, so that in the event of my death, a potential 9 other people could benefit from my organs.
So anyway, I had a little search online and found loads of groups and charities etc that get involved in promoting organ donation. I'm unable to work so felt I needed purpose and felt strongly that this was something I particularly wanted to get involved in. So I figured maybe I'd start simple and get involved in some tweeting about organ donors on twitter and facebook. Since then things have spiralled and I've learnt so much about the process. And also been introduced to a number of people on the waiting list as well as living donors themselves. Their stories are truly inspiring. Kirstie is in her early twenties and literally had hours to live when she got her lung transplant. She got married just 2 weeks ago knowing that she didn't have long left. In her final hours someone out there donated their organs to save her life, potentially granting her a future.
Organ donation is tricky, mainly because in many cases someone has to die for someone else to benefit. So its difficult to know how to react, as someones horrendous loss is someone else's humongous gain. However, without that person putting there name on the register, there would be two young lives lost today and not just one. Now Kirstie is thriving and just a week after her donation she is on a general ward and improving hugely day by day. Kirstie now has a future to look forward to and will never forget what a great gift she was given.
I hope to be able to continue getting involved in the promotion of organ donation. I need to do a little bit more homework though to see how best to do this. Fingers crossed next time I blog I'll have a few more ideas.
I often see blogs about peoples health stuff. I find many of them really inspiring and wish I had the words to express myself so eloquently. For a while I've wanted to blog about my own health complaints whether it be as a means of venting off or even to offer support for those who may read it and are in a similar situation. However, I have never taken the dive and done this for fear of sharing anything too personal online. But as any of you who may know me personally will know, I have a respiratory condition that has pretty much plagued my life for a number of years now. I have been in and out of hospital more times than I care to remember. And in intensive care over 20 times. So as you can imagine it does become pretty soul destroying. Nevertheless, I have found solace in the knowledge that lots of other people go through these traumas and there's a lot of support out there. Especially in online forums.
Quite recently I joined Twitter. For a couple of years I've been signed up to it but I just couldn't get to grips with it at all. I figure this was because I didn't really understand the premise behind it. But I put a few days work into it and am now totally and utterly ensconced by it. I have found tonnes of links to networks of people with similar conditions to myself and its been amazing.
Having health complications can get you to start thinking your own mortality from an relatively young age. This is what happened to me personally and so I got to thinking - 'What would I want to happen in the event of my death?'. This may sound really morbid, and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon but it was just something I felt I needed to address. I figured I'd rather not just be wasted- but rather 'recycled'. The way I view it is your body isn't really you as a person, it's more of a vehicle that you just use to get around in. Kind of like a rent-a-car. So donating for me personally doesn't feel like a big deal. It's for this reason I decided to sign the organ donor register, so that in the event of my death, a potential 9 other people could benefit from my organs.
So anyway, I had a little search online and found loads of groups and charities etc that get involved in promoting organ donation. I'm unable to work so felt I needed purpose and felt strongly that this was something I particularly wanted to get involved in. So I figured maybe I'd start simple and get involved in some tweeting about organ donors on twitter and facebook. Since then things have spiralled and I've learnt so much about the process. And also been introduced to a number of people on the waiting list as well as living donors themselves. Their stories are truly inspiring. Kirstie is in her early twenties and literally had hours to live when she got her lung transplant. She got married just 2 weeks ago knowing that she didn't have long left. In her final hours someone out there donated their organs to save her life, potentially granting her a future.
Organ donation is tricky, mainly because in many cases someone has to die for someone else to benefit. So its difficult to know how to react, as someones horrendous loss is someone else's humongous gain. However, without that person putting there name on the register, there would be two young lives lost today and not just one. Now Kirstie is thriving and just a week after her donation she is on a general ward and improving hugely day by day. Kirstie now has a future to look forward to and will never forget what a great gift she was given.
I hope to be able to continue getting involved in the promotion of organ donation. I need to do a little bit more homework though to see how best to do this. Fingers crossed next time I blog I'll have a few more ideas.
