Diana Sanders - Recipient

I was born with a congenital heart condition, Eisenmenger Syndrome (transposed great vessels, VSD and pulmonary hypertension). I was not expected to survive beyond my teens, but one way or another managed to keep going until my 40s. I’d never been able to breathe properly, becoming blue on exertion and generally getting exhausted easily. Walking was always a problem, particularly managing hills and stairs, and there were lots of things I could not do, including, sadly, having children.

Luckily, I also inherited a fairly stubborn personality, coupled with a determination not to take any notice of medical advice, and decided to have a go at most things in life despite not being able to breathe.

my book – Will I still be me? A journey through a transplant – launches in July 07

I trained as a psychologist and worked in the NHS in clinical work, along with writing books on cognitive therapy, until I was too ill to cope with work. At this stage I needed to be on oxygen 24 hours a day, used a wheelchair to get out, and was given a very short life expectation. At this stage I was assessed for a heart-lung transplant. Although my quality of life was very poor, I found it difficult to make the decision as to whether to allow nature to take its course or to go ahead with a transplant and all the uncertainty entailed. Again luckily, I chose the latter.

In June 2002, after waiting for 8 months and having one ‘false alarm’, I had a successful transplant. The recovery time was tough, and I relied totally on all the help and support from my husband and family and friends. My new heart and lungs have transformed my life. I have now been able to do all the things ‘normal’, at least fit, people take for granted – walking, swimming, cycling, dancing, even running upstairs, without gasping for breath. I’m back to work as a psychologist in the NHS, and am trying to give back a tiny part of all the help I’ve received. None of this would have been possible without my donor and her family agreeing for her organs to be used after her death. I think about her often, especially when I’ve been able to do something that would have been impossible before. This weekend we went walking in Devon, and when I was standing on top of the cliffs enjoying the view after a long climb, I remembered her and her family with sadness and enormous gratitude.

I wrote my book, Will I still be me? A journey through a transplant partly to help others going through the transplant experience, and partly to publicise the good that organ donation can do. I hope it will reach a wide audience, and that it could be of value for transplant organizations. It will be published in early July by Day Books, and I’m planning to get as much media coverage as possible. The website for the book, www.dianasanders.net will be on line in July to coincide with publication.

I’m a psychologist, now 50 (although much younger inside), living with my husband, Mo Chandler, an environmentalist, in Oxford.