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health. THE HOUSE OF wellness “Without a donor heart, I wouldn't be here today. Penny Hamilton, a 65-year-old artist received a donor heart in late 2021, several months after getting on the transplant list. She shares her journey — and her gratitude — with Dilvin Yasa hearing the words that you have ne to two years to live!.or that your choices are to ‘go on an organ transplant list or just fade out, but that's exactly the situation | found myself in early 2021. Seven years prior, | had been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy— a condition that means that the heart chamber responsible for pushing reoxygenated blood around my body was compromised Arecent collapse revealed that one of the valves in my heart had come away completely and that I'd gone into cardiogenic shock (an official way of saying my body was shutting down because my heart had failed). Did | want to go on the list? They didn't have to.ask me twice. Getting on the transplant list during Covid lockdowns was a tricky beast. Even without a pandemic raging. you have to undergo a raft of medical tests; they check for cancer, osteoporosis — even things like syphilis — to make sure the only thing that's faulty with ab | don't know that you ever forget your body is the organ that needs replacing Covid added extra complications such as a shortage of organs because (and | know this sounds terrible) people werent out and about — and even those going into hospital for major surgery had to arrive and endure it alone. had one false alarm three months after Iwas placed on the list — by the time | was prepped for surgery, they discovered that the donor heart was no longer viable. Iwas disappointed but | understood: right from the beginning, DonateLife staff had made it clear that this was not uncommon, ‘A few weeks later, | got The Call. Rushing to the hospital on the moming of the surgery. Iremember how quiet my husband and | were, and how relieved | felt when | saw my usual cardio team because by that stage they felt like family. | was terrified, but | also knew with every atom of my being that this was, essentially. the gift of life. | don't remember much after that: I was in an induced coma for a week and then in the cardiac ward for another two weeks. It took three to four months to recover and start feeling normal and | used this time to not only build my strength but reflect on. my journey, and of course, the donor and their family. Six months after the transplant you're able to send a letter to the donor's family (this is all done anonymously and facilitated. by DonateLife) and writing to them was incredibly cathartic. How do you thank someone for saving your life? How do you let someone know ‘what their donation has meant? It really is the greatest gift anyone could give and instead of only leaving the sentiment on the card, it makes sense to do their memory justice and live that gratitude every single day. There isn't a day that goes past where | don't think about them, and thank them. Today | feel ike a different person to the ‘one that got wheeled into surgery. Obviously there's the ” the fols Peete ie eee Perorncusushety PEt Ror Peetex- oat Merten piss Fr eterna Leet elena teeta url ourle Pehl oselattouke mrt Reed ocuss cu) Peeves Oa eel eicl sos Cerrone crores Peden eect uetla] 16-plus who are eligible to Reese crear ach cat Crag eta als Cee Wael ocKon a ca oes (e a) up at donatelife.gov.au, or j Ciel clr aaa ecg tts physical aspect (although | am still trying to build up my strength), but it’s the emotional change that's really floored me. For so long | had lost my mojo and now | want to jump into everything and give it my all. 've reimmersed myself into my art and \ revelin my relationships with family and friends and rather than make a big bucket list of items to tick off, | really value how monumental the small things are. There's nothing | love more than pottering around the house with my husband and watching the birds in the garden. The fact that m able to get up and appreciate this long after | should have been dead never ceases to amaze me and | have my organ donor to thank for that. ‘Sometimes people say | should buy a lottery ticket and | think ‘Why? I've already had all the luck in the world” DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DONATE. ‘ORGANS
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