Kirsty Geddes • Advocates • LLTGL

26-year-old Kirsty Geddes and lives in Glenboig, Glasgow. She waited 8 months for her double lung transplant.

Kirsty  was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at nine months old.  She says she has her parents to thank for her attitude as they never wrapped her in cotton wool or treated her differently to her siblings. Kirsty knew that she needed treatments such as tablets every time she ate and three lots of 15 minute physiotherapy sessions daily but these treatments became part of her life.

 It wasn’t until Kirsty was 13 that her condition started to deteriorate. She began having hospital admissions for Intravenous antibiotics which would mean a two week stay.  At first this was two to three times a year but as time progressed it became more often and eventually by the age of 16 she was able to administer her IVs from home.

Kirsty went to university at 18 but ended up becoming extremely ill and at 19 had to drop out.  At this time, her Doctor and CF team warned her that if she didn’t stop work and pay attention to her health, she wouldn’t be here in a year’s time. This was a life changing moment and Kirsty gave up work and started focusing on her health. Unfortunately the damage had been done and her lung function had dropped to 35% - just a third of a normal lung capacity of someone else her age.

In February 2008, Kirsty suffered a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). She describes this as one of the scariest moments of her life. An ambulance was called and Kirsty was taken to hospital where the collapsed lung was confirmed and a chest drain inserted. Kirsty had a further two collapses and it was around this point that transplant was becoming a reality. Following the pneumothoraces, her lung function was now sitting at just 25% and Kirsty was told that if her lungs continued to collapse there would be very little the doctors could do for her; her only hope was to get onto the transplant list.

Kirsty’s transplant assessment was done at Freeman’s Hospital, Newcastle, and took place in February 2009. After three days of rigorous tests Kirsty was told that she was an appropriate candidate for transplant, and put on the active waiting list.

Life waiting for transplant wasn’t easy but Kirsty took every day as a gift and pushed herself to live, studying hairdressing in Coatbridge College where she was awarded an A. During her attendance at College Kirsty required 24hr oxygen, a non-invasive ventilator, four nebulisers a day, three sessions of physio and around 60 pills a day.

Kirsty waited for eight months but then in November 2009, she got the call from the Transplant Co-ordinator at Freeman’s Hospital to let her know that they had some suitable lungs. Testing took place on the lungs to ensure they were suitable to use and it wasn’t until 2am that Kirsty found out the lungs were good and strong and she would be going straight into theatre.

Kirsty’s operation took seven hours and she woke up some ten hours later.  Kirsty says she felt huge relief at having come through the operation and made such remarkable progress that only three days later she was cycling for 50 minutes on the exercise bike—something that she could never have dreamed about previously. Exactly three weeks after her transplant, Kirsty was strong enough to go home and says she hasn’t looked back since.

Kirsty is a vibrant and headstrong lady, with a love of dancing and glamour, and a fiery attitude towards life and its obstacles. Whilst waiting for her new lungs, she kept herself occupied by studying Beauty therapy HND, despite being desperately ill. Over the years, Kirsty has helped raise awareness and funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust by carrying out events and other activities and has raised over £3,500 in five years. Kirsty simply says that she always wanted to be busy and not let CF get in the way of her life.

Kirsty says she is hugely grateful to her family for the strength they have given her both pre and post transplant.  She is very excited about joining the LLTGL team, and feels a duty to try and make this gift of life possible for so many others who are in the position that she was, less than a year ago.

Kirsty recently took part in the women’s 10k; she never dreamt she would be given a real second chance at life.  Kirsty says she will be forever immensely grateful to her donor and their family; “they have given me the greatest gift I could have ever asked for.”