Wow!!

Team Glasgow's hard work paid off and so far we have raised £12,102.27. Thanks to everyone who donated or helped out xx

 

Professional pictures comming soon :) xx

T minus 5 days

The Ball is now less than a week away!! Eeeekkk!!

Tickets are no longer on sale but we are still looking for tumbola prizes, so anything big or small!! We have until friday to get them all in so if you would like to donate anything we would be most grateful!!

Team Glasgow are just working on the final touches to make the night more enjoyable and run smoothly.

Here's hoping it's a good night!! xx

More pictures from LLTGL Advocates Weekend

LLTGL Advocates Weekend

Team Glasgow are just back from attending the Live Life Then Give Life Advocates Training Weekend in London (Croyden). Here are a few pictures, more to come when we are rested. You'll see that with Team Glasgow it's all about the glamour and fun!!

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Looking for male volunteers!!

Hello readers.

Team Glasgow are looking for two hndsome males with nice fit upper bodies to volunteer at the Charity Masquerade Ball we are running on the 29th of October in the Oran Mor, Glasgow.

If ayone is interested or knows of someone who would be interested please contact us on lltgl.glasgow@gmail.com for more details. It's for a really good cause and we would be really thankful for the help. Food and drink will be supplied to those who volunteer as well as that great sense of pride you'll achieve for giving up your precious time!!

Thank you

Victoria
Team Glasgow

About Victoria

Victoria was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 6 months old and although she had a happy and normal childhood hospital visits still played a key role in her life. Victoria’s mum was determined to keep her out of the hospital as long as she could and trained to administer home IV antibiotics very early on in Victoria’s life. When Victoria was twelve she decided she wanted to learn to administer the antibiotics herself allowing her to gain a little bit of independence. During her time on antibiotics Victoria still attended school everyday and if for some reason she was admitted into the hospital she would work with the hospital teacher to complete all the work send in for her. In her earlier years hospital stays only really happened two or three times a year.

After High School Victoria went onto study Community Arts at Strathclyde University gaining herself a BA degree in Community Arts. After University Victoria took a year out to just work and have fun, she moved out of her parents home and out of Glasgow to share with her best friend. Unfortunately after a trip to Hong Kong (totally unrelated) Victoria’s health started to go downhill and her hospital admissions became more frequent. She briefly moved back home for a month or so and then to a flat closer to her parents with another of her University friends. During this time Victoria’s health deteriorated more and transplant was mentioned to her for the first time, as was the introduction of overnight Oxygen. At first Victoria didn’t like the sound of transplant thinking it wasn’t for her but after a frank and honest discussion with her best friend Jay, Victoria decided that she was going to choose to live and work to get herself on that list. Firstly she had to show compliance with her medication (something she had been slacking with and was most likely the main cause of her rapid deterioration), this she found easy to master once she committed herself to it. Next she had to be at a healthy weight for the operation. Recent infections had meant her weight had dropped to 44kg when it needed to be nearer 55kg so she went back onto overnight Nasal Gastric tube feeding to get that weight up. It took her 6 months but slowly that weight went up and when she reached 51kg her CF unit put her forward for transplant assessment at Freeman’s Hospital Newcastle her lung function was sitting at 20%. She went through the four day assessment at the end of July 2008, where the doctors told her she was there at exactly the right time and was a very good candidate for transplant. She went on the active waiting list September 08. Victoria tried her hardest to stay as active as possible remaining at her work (eventhough she eventually had to rely on oxygen 24 hours a day) and socialising as much as she could. She took it upon herself to organise a Charity Cabaret night using dancers and singers from Confidance Musical Theatre School where she volunteered. The night was a major success and raised over £2,500 to buy large televisions with integrated freeview and DVD players for the Cystic Fibrosis ward in Gartnavel General Hospital where Victoria spent most of her time.

Victoria’s time on the list was not what you could call uneventful. She met her boyfriend Gregg who soon became her biggest support system and rock throughout the long wait. Her first false alarm call was in the early hours of the morning just 3 hours after she had returned home from celebrating her birthday with friends on Halloween, the next was the day before New Years Eve and this was the closest Victoria would get to the operating theatre for over a year. Another 7 phone calls and 5 more trips down to Newcastle each time resulting in the lungs not being good, Victoria being backup or not being well enough. Finally after 1 year and 7 months on the list Victoria got the call that would change her life.

Since having her transplant Victoria has started taking evening classes in Photography while trying to get her career back on track and live her life the way she has always wanted, dancing through life!!

About Kirsty

Kirsty was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at nine months old. 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 IV’s 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). 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. Kirsty’s operation took seven hours and she woke up some ten hours later. 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. Kirsty simply says that she always wanted to be busy and not let CF get in the way of her life.

Places to get masks for the ball

Cyber

Unit 3 King's Court
107 King Street
Glasgow
G1 5RB

This shop has quite a large stock of masks and only contains one of each style so it's not very likely you will end up with the same mask as someone else. Get them as soon as possible because with Halloween comming up stock won't last.

Pictures

Hello

I have a big favour to ask!! We are looking for pictures to use in a slideshow that will be shown on the night of the Masquerade Ball.

• Pictures of those waiting on a transplant - lungs, liver, kidney etc please email with your name, a picture, what organ you are waiting for and how long you have been on the list.
• Pictures of those who have had a transplant - again any organ. Email us with your name, a picture before the op and one after showing a significant change, please state the organ or organs transplanted, how long you waited on the list and what month and year you received the transplant.
• Pictures of those who have passed away while on the list. Email us with the name, a picture, the organ they were waiting for, month and year they died and how long they were waiting.
• Pictures of those who have donated organs. Email with name, picture and if possible which organs were used to save lifes.

We are seriously lacking pictures of those who have dies waiting and those who have donated. I know it's hard but we need these pictures to get the message accross. Please help!!

If you could send them to us before the 15th of October that would be amazing!!

Victoria
Team Glasgow

About Jacqueline

Jacqueline is 31 years old and lives with her husband Andrew and her little dog Seb.

Jacqueline was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a baby due to her older sister Claire being affected by the disease. Jacqueline also had a younger sister, Frances Ann, who was also diagnosed with the condition. Sadly both her sisters died at a young age; Claire when she was only six, and Frances Ann when she was 19. Frances Ann had been on the transplant list waiting for new lungs for two-and-a-half years.

Jacqueline describes herself as having a happy childhood despite needing frequent hospital admissions. She enjoyed school and following her exams managed to secure a place at Glasgow medical school. She graduated with a medical degree in 2002 and is now working as a doctor in Psychiatry.

Jacqueline was in her early twenties when her younger sister died, and following this her own health started to rapidly decline. She was placed on the transplant waiting list in 2006, being given an estimate of two years to live. She waited two years but that call finally came in April 2008 and she successfully underwent a double lung transplant. Since this day Jacqueline has not looked back. She clearly has experience of transplant – from her own need but also from the perspective of losing someone who was waiting. She therefore is keen to help raise awareness of organ donation issues and hopes to use her role as an advocate for LLTGL to pursue this.

Jacqueline is an extremely focused and determined lady. She has helped with media work in the past but her preference is to speak publicly on LLTGL’s behalf. She spoke at Scottish parliament a few years ago and held her biggest fundraising event last year - the Team Jac event where 160 participants walked 10 miles of the Fife coast, raising over £26,000 for Live Life Then Give Life.

Jacqueline hopes that she can go on to help others who are in the same situation and to honour the memory of her donor who has given her this second chance in life.

Final Ticket Sales

Just to let everyone know that payment for ball tickets need to be made by Saturday the 9th of October. Final numbers and payment have to be given to the Oran Mor a couple days later, so we will be stopping tickets sales on the saturday.

You can pay by cheque or bank transfer. Please email us for the details at lltgl.glasgow@gmail.com

Thank you very much

Love Team Glasow

Venue - Oran Mor

For those of you out there who haven't seen what the venue is like then take a look here - The Auditorium

Here are a couple pictures I took a while ago of the room (sorry they're a bit blurry)