Cardiac Cathather

On the 3rd October 2018 I had my cardiac catather in Barts Hospital in London. My amazing sister Jules came with me because mummy was away. So Jules and I journeyed up to St Paul’s. We had to be there early in the morning and made our way to a waiting room. Here we sat and waited until my  name was called. Luckily I did not have to wait too long as I really just wanted to get it over with. I had read about what to expect and was really nervous about having to be awake during the procedure.

Once called through I was shown to my bed. I was in a  long ward with three other people. Luckily I was by the window. Jules and I quickly made ourselves at home, wearing my new hospital socks which only came in one size...XXL which were massive for my tiny size 13 feet!

So back into another hospital gown....they really are sooo becoming. I was really nervous and asked whether Jules could come into the theatre with me, unsurprisingly the answer was no. So off I went alone down to the theatre. The room was full of people. My consultant introduced me to everyone and told me who they were and what their role was. It is all a bit of a blur and seemed to last for hours.
They went into my vein through the top of my leg. They cleaned the area with a cold orange antiseptic before numbing it and then covered the area with a blue cloth that stuck to my body around the area they had just numbed so that I could not see what was happening.
By now I was a little tearful, the enormity of where I was had hit me and I was feeling very alone. The GUCH nurse who had previously promised to stay with me when I had gone previously for my pre op appointment the month before was there to hold my hand while they numbed the area.  After that they made a small opening. I could not feel pain, however I could feel the blood when she made the cut. When my consultant put the tube up my vein it felt weird and uncomfortable but did not hurt.
During the operation I could see which organ they were in ( heart,lung or liver) on the screens above me. There was a lovely chatty lady who kept taking samples of my blood and taking them to a machine over the other side of the room. There was a student whom I was happy to let watch.
When they were in my lungs it became seriously uncomfortable, like a heavy weight on my chest and my breathing became tighter. This was explained to me as heart palpitations. This made me panic and I wished that Jules was there to hold my hand. All the while it was going on, the medics were discussing what they could see. This was worrying because I was unsure whether this was positive or not.
After it had been completed I was wheeled back to my area. Jules was there to greet me and i was in a fair amount of discomfort. I was not allowed to get up so just rested in bed. Jules was amazing in keeping me cheerful, as well as going to find us some yummy food as the hospital could only offer me a rather grey looking cheese sandwich.
My consultant returned to tell us my lungs were fine....amazing, my heart...well we know it’s not in great shape, and my liver...the pressure in my liver was very high so she thought I’d need a heart and liver transplant!!! This was heartbreaking news as she said only 4 of these dual transplants had been done in the U.K.! How was this happening???
Perry then arrived equipped with grapes and a smile, he was an angel. Jules and I had a bit of a cry together before we turned to more cheerful thoughts and Perry was able to make us laugh. He was incredible,
So after the nurses deemed my leg ok, and it had stopped bleeding (I think I had stitches) and was able to walk to the loo I was allowed to go home. I went home with Jules as I was not allowed to go home alone. For the next 48 hours it was agony. My mind was all over the place and all I could think about was that I’d possibly need a heart and liver transplant. That night I lay in bed and cried. For the first time I was really afraid of what I was to face.