Willowbrook Hospice.

A little piece of Heaven here on Earth.

August 2006

Recently my health was so poor that I had to go into hospital. I was so run down and depressed because of all my disappointments, having to come off the transplant list, being told that I now have kidney failure and the death of a very dear friend all added to my other health problems. So after a visit to my GP who contacted the local hospital I was admitted to the usual copd/lung disease ward. Unfortunately within 24 hours I had caught a very nasty bug and was placed on a side ward. This bug ran through my body so quickly and drastically I lost control of my bodily functions with Chronic Diarrhoea which apart from all the embarrassment almost killed me. I remember shaking uncontrollably from head to toe, having to be changed every few minutes and feeling so bad I was not expecting to live.

Fortunately I don't remember very much about my time in this hospital. I do remember my consultant saying that it was about time I started getting some help and better quality of life. The mention of a stay in a hospice came as quite a shock because like most uninformed people I thought hospice's where places people went to die. How Wrong I was. From the moment I arrived at Willowbrook Hospice to the time I went home I was treated to he best care I have ever known. Everybody in the hospice made me feel so welcome, everywhere I looked I saw happy smiling faces of the staff who couldn't do enough for me. The doctors gave me all the care and attention and made me feel that I was in safe, friendly hands. Food was of the best possible quality prepared and served by wonderful people. All in all the best medication I received came not from the drugs and pills but from a wonderful, kind and caring group of professionals who I now count as dear friends.

Donations There are many ways to help the Hospice with a donation. Please follow the links below for further information about making a donation.Please remember, we need your support now. Someday you may know someone who needs ours.

Click Here to Join The Organ Donor Register

31st Jan 2006

This afternoon I received a phone call from Wythenshawe Hospital off the transplant co-ordinator informing me that, after long discussions my consultants and surgeons have decided that I would not be able to undergo a transplant.

Because of long term medication, although needed for my lung condition, my kidney's are starting to fail and the risk of the operation would be to great.

But nothing changes life goes on. I have my wonderful wife and two boys who look after me like royalty. My faith, prayers and prayers of friends and family have kept me going. Strangly enough I feel quite well at the moment and who's to say I won't be stumbling along for many years to come

June 2005
My name is John Churchill I am aged 53, married to AnnMarie and have two sons, Michael and Stephen aged 17 and 13.
After many hours spent searching the internet for information about Lung Transplants I decided to start this site. In November 1994,while working as a postman in my home town of Huyton, about 7 miles from Liverpool, my life was turned upside down. I had just returned to work after a week off sick with a chest infection when I received a phone call from the doctor who would like to see me. I visited the doctor to be told that the hospital wanted me to have some more tests, as they did not like the results of the chest x-ray she had sent me for. I had to go there right away as they would be waiting for me. As I was feeling fine I first went home and told my wife, Ann-Marie, who wanted to come with me, but I asked her to stay at home with our two boys and not to worry as I would phone her as soon as I found anything out.

As soon as I arrived at hospital I was admitted to a ward and told that I had a major clot on my right lung and it was very dangerous but could be treated. That was the start of a long frightening journey that brought me to the Transplant Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital Manchester.

I never recovered properly from that clot and to be told that at the age of 43 I had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ( COPD ) and that the hospital were leaving the treatment in the hands of my G.P. because it cannot be cured, was a body blow . After many chest infections and lots of stays in hospital I was told by a member of the nursing staff that all the times I had been admitted to hospital I had not been seen by a chest consultant and I should find out why. When I asked a doctor if he thought it right that at 46 and married with two young children, I had been in and out of hospital for the past 3 years and not seen a chest consultant he replied " No I don't and I will sort it out."

After seeing lots of chest consultants they agreed that I had a lot of problems with my chest and recommended that I be assessed for a Heart and Lung Transplant. Finally I was referred to Wythenshawe hospital to be assessed for a transplant. At the time my consultant told me that it was my only chance of improving the quality of my life. At this stage I was receiving oxygen therapy 24/7 hardly left the house, so although it was a major decision to make, after a lot of discussion with AnnMarie we decided to go for it. In March 1998 the consultant at Wythenshawe, Dr. Jim Egan told me I needed a Heart and Lung transplant but firstly I had to lose weight and reduce the amount of prednisolone I was taking. It was almost 12 months later before I was put on the list. After being listed for a heart and lung transplant for about four years, I have been reassessed and listed for a double lung transplant instead.

Over seven years after my first visit to The Transplant Unit I am still waiting. Over the time I've spent on the transplant list I have had some setbacks, hospital admissions, I have been taken off the active list for various reasons, but thanks to a lot of prayers by family and friends, I am still here and I know when the time is right I will get my transplant.

Around 7,000 people in the UK are currently waiting for a transplant, but only 3,000 transplants are carried out each year because there are not enough donated organs.