4th Lungaversary

This Sunday (5th March) marks 4 whole years since I received my 2 beautiful lungs! 

Why 2016 doesn't suck!

Let's face it, the world seems to have had a pretty rough 2016 and a lot of people have also had a bad year in their personal capacities. My year was by no means perfect but I can't say it was awful. It's actually quite hard for me to have a bad year now that I can actually breathe! Pre-transplant my life really wasn't ideal and now that I have working lungs, I am the happiest of bumble bees.

If you and your loved ones are healthy, you have everything! Yes, we all need money to survive and that can be very stressful, but too often do people forget the difference between NEED and WANT. If you have everything you NEED then you are far more blessed than the majority of the world. Whenever you are feeling down or that it's been a bad year, look at what you have, not what you don't have.

I have seen so much suffering this year in the lung transplant community. In the last 2 weeks, 3 friends have passed away. First was Lorraine, whom I got to know whilst I was waiting for a donor. She had her double lung transplant just after me and unfortunately had quite a few medical issues which she eventually succumbed to recently. Next was Kirstie Tancock who I have been following on social media for years and is someone I truly looked up to. She has a really incredible story, having had a double lung transplant and then beginning a career of pole fitness only to then need another double lung transplant! She then went back to pole fitness for a few years but sadly she has passed away from rejection. You can read more about her amazing life and last words here - 2nd Chance At Life. Last but not least was Odette who I never got to meet but she is in a whatsapp group with a few of us and I got to know her through that. She had been in hospital for about 10 months and had gone through so much pain and suffering before she passed away. Heart breaking :(

Odette, Lorraine, Kirstie

For these girls, 2016 was their last year in this world and for their families left behind it is most certainly a tragic year that they will never forget.

The thing about pain and tragedy is that it's all relative. When you have experienced so much pain and suffering, your tolerance becomes a lot higher and it takes a lot more to hurt you. Not everyone has had the 'opportunity' to experience true suffering so I understand that my tolerance of what a bad year encompasses of is very different to the average person.  However, everyone has experienced pain or loss of some sort, so I encourage you to revisit those feelings and then compare 2016 to that. If you had financial, romantic or personal troubles this year that has lead you to believe it's been a bad year then remember - you are alive and that's a better year than others have had.

Losing these special ladies has been hard, but I also know of some deserving humans that have finally had their transplants this year and for them, 2016 will be one of the best years of their lives!

2016 doesn't suck. There have been tragedies but there have also been miracles. Don't get caught up focusing on the negative.

My 2016 has been amazing. I have had incredible work opportunities which have not only grown my skill set and confidence but also my network of friends. Travis and I moved in together and we have been so happy living together. I love our little home, it's small and nothing fancy but it's ours and it's filled with love and happiness. I finally got a cat, after wanting one for so long and Dooku is just the most handsome of cats (*In South Africa) and he really does fill the last bit of my heart with joy. 

I know that my good health isn't guaranteed and that life can change in an instant so I try and make the most of every single day. My wish for all of you in 2017 is that you have a great year and where there is darkness you see only light xx

Pre Lungaversary

So next month my amazing lungs will be '3'... as in I would have had them for 3 years, I have no idea how old they actually are.

Goodbye 2015

As we draw near to the end of another year, it's time to reflect on 2015, the good, the bad and the unexpected....

Sasha and I at our epic birthday party in June

Your Family April 2015

People Magazine October 2015

So for the past 2 weeks I have been a guniea-pig with this glucose monitoring device in my arm. Initially my endocrinologist wanted to put the casino token sized 'button' into my arm just before my lungaversary but I explained that I had planned to wear a cute dress to my party and couldn't possibly have it in my arm. So, I went back on the Monday and had it inserted. 

Life Expectancy

Before my transplant, no one really asked me what my life expectancy was. It was just a socially unacceptable question to ask someone who was dying. My doctors also didn't discuss it with me as we all knew the answer all too well. The answer was "any day".

Lungaversary week

On Thursday the 5th of March it will be 2 years since I recieved my new lungs and my whole life changed.

Forever In My Heart

As Movember comes to an end, something made me think of this picture:

Caleigh (left) Dominique (right)

Discovery Medical Miracles

Discovery went a bit crazy with my story this month and they did an article on me in their magazine as well as online and also a video. The following artcle is from their website - Medical Miracles

I lived

One Republic have released the music video for ‘I Lived,’ the sixth single off their 2013 ‘Native’ album. The video is dedicated to a 15-year-old teen named Bryan Warnecke who lives with Cystic Fibrosis.

Discovery Magazine Article

The Saturday Star 26.07.2014

Finesse August Issue 2014

Somehow I was asked to do an interview for an afrikaans magazine, Finesse. I can't speak a work of Afrikaas so I did the interview in english and it was translated. For all of those who, like me, can't understand what the article says, here is the english translation (Or so I was told - hopefully it's correct)

Nathan Charles - Cystic Fibrosis Rugby Player

Melbourne - Wallaby hooker Nathan Charles says he wants to be judged on his performance rather than a genetic disease he has defied to make the national team.

Story taken from The Australian

So here are the facts:

When Charles was three months old, he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, for which there currently is no cure. People with cystic fibrosis develop an abnormal amount of excessively thick, sticky mucus within their lungs, airways and digestive systems. As a consequence, lung failure is the major cause of death.

Charles relies on his lungs more than most. He is a professional rugby player and on Saturday at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, his lungs will be swelled to busting point when he sings the national anthem, because he will sing it with his arms locked around his Wallabies teammates. And then he is going to really need his lungs when he comes off the bench to make his Test debut against France.

All of this is way more than he is comfortable with. There was a time, only a few years ago, when he kept his condition a secret because he didn’t want to be discriminated against, didn’t want to be known as “that person”. When he joined the Western Force in 2010, he even kept his coach, John Mitchell, in the dark about it. The first time he found the courage to speak openly to his teammates about it, he didn’t get past the opening sentence before breaking down in tears.

Over time, he has learned to speak more freely about it and come to accept his story can have a powerful effect on the lives of young people with cystic fibrosis.

“It’s very humbling to know it does inspire people to achieve more,” the 25-year-old hooker said.

But the problem is that each burst of publicity takes him further away from who he wants to be and how he wants to be seen. His hope is to one day be recognised as a great rugby player, not as a great rugby player who had cystic fibrosis.

“I guess there is always stigma attached,” Charles said. “Every interview you do, there is a question or questions about it. The thing I want to be judged on is my performance on a weekend rather than the disease I carry or rather be judged on how I’ve overcome it rather than it weighing me down and people saying you can’t do that because, excuse my French, that’s bullshit. The only limitations on yourself should be placed by yourself, not by anyone else.

“I want to look back and know that I did this on my own accord because I’ve worked hard to get here, rather than just being a sob story, because that’s not what I’m about. Some people see me as that and that’s absolute rubbish.”

Ask him how cystic fibrosis affects his life as an athlete and he answers, honestly, that he doesn’t know.

“The way I’ve been brought up and the way I live my life to me is normal. I manage this outside of playing, outside of training, outside of rugby. It’s just a matter of taking a few extra pills each day than the other guys, and hygiene.

For a “few extra pills”, envisage a cereal bowl full of them, taken every day. For “hygiene”, think unceasing vigilance. If a teammate has the sniffles, Charles unobtrusively will remove himself to the other side of the room.

“A simple cold can turn into quite a complicated chest infection, so I’m just quite cautious.”

This is a man, remember, who on Saturday night will pack down in the middle of the Wallabies front row, 786kg of Australian beef behind him, 900kg of French muscle opposed to him. His lungs will be bursting, but so will the lungs of the other 15 players in the scrum.

Judge him by what happens next.

Read more about Nathan on Sport24.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Punctured Lungs

So, after a lifetime of being ill I finally got my lung transplant and could start my second chance at life. No.... first I had to deal with an incompetent "doctor" who nearly killed me.

Transplant

Day after my transplant.

On the 5th of March 2013 I finally had my transplant.

Life Before Transplant