The trick to life is to just keep breathing.

Thanks for visiting my Fundraising Page for Be Breathless for Pulmonary Hypertension!
On November 6th 2018, I was lying on a hotel floor in another country, believing that I was having my last breath. Suffering massive pulmonary emboli, I was then hospitalised for two weeks to ensure that my unborn child was ok.
Roll on a few years and my breathlessness did not ease, and follow-up tests resulted in the beginning of pulmonary hypertension, a disease which for most, is incurable. The expectation from the specialists was that if I did not have surgery, I would be highly unlikely to see my daughter get to intermediate and my son graduate high school.

In June 2020, I was the 71st patient at the Alfred Hospital who had Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy (PTE). This surgery is an 8- to 10-hour procedure that involves opening the chest and attaching the patient to a heart-lung bypass machine, then cooling the patient’s body to about 17-20 degrees (Celsius). The cold temperature reduces the body's need for oxygen and provides organ protection during this unique surgery. For the critical parts of the surgery, the surgeons turn off the heart-lung machine, stopping circulation for up to 20 minutes, to create a bloodless surgical field. Then the surgeons open the arteries blocked by chronic clots and scar tissue. They repeat the on-off process with the heart-lung bypass machine until all of the obstructing material is removed. In total, they stopped and restarted my heart four times.

Over the past two years, the PHA of Australia have been my support line, offering advice, including recommending the specialists that I now have. So now, I want to return the favour.

Being breathless for Pulmonary Hypertension is now a little more simple (as I am still in recovery), my goal for the next 14 days is to walk 3km everyday, totaling up to 42km to raise awareness for Pulmonary Hypertension.

You can sponsor me and leave a message by selecting the donate button above.

Thanks for supporting our efforts in raising money for this cause!