Once in Adelaide, Professor Prash Sanders, the specialist, did some tests and that seemed to be okay, but my fluid level was very high. The surgeon put a drip through my arm into my heart and drained nine litres in three days. Once the fluid was away from the heart then began another problem. After an ultrasound, they found my heart was down below 10%. I was referred to Michael Stokes, the head of Royal Adelaide heart transplant rehabilitation and he had a good look at me and said that I still was well enough to have a heart transplant. I was asked where I'd prefer to go; Melbourne or Sydney. We had some people that we knew in Sydney so when a bed was available, they flew me air ambulance to Sydney.

In Sydney, I was dying. I was that crook. Peter McDonald was the surgeon and was debating on whether to do it, because my kidneys probably would not stand it. I said, “look, we can deal with the kidneys afterwards, if I don't get the heart, we won't be worrying about the kidneys.” They did some more tests over the next six days and in that time a heart came in. They prepped me and within 15 minutes, I'd basically said yes. I knew my heart was failing pretty quick. Then it was a matter of saying our goodbyes as we didn't know how it would go.

It was a hard decision but an easy decision at the time. I was quite excited when one came in. I didn't know anything about it until I came about five days later with a new heart. If I had not gone through with it, I would not have come home. My heart would not have lasted. From when I left here (Cummins), I was thinking we were only going for three days. We didn't get back for nearly five months! I did not expect to be in Sydney for three months. We missed a lot of things in that time. I don't know how I got through. Sharon was a marvel. Sharon stayed with sisters in laws, about an hour out of Sydney. The taxi fare was at peak $150 and off peak is about $100. It didn't take long to work out how to use buses! Once I’d had the heart transplant, Sharon got accommodation outside the hospital, which was only a short walk. It was a nightmare in what you go through, but they must have some bloody good drugs. I was counting rabbits across the ceilings and all sorts of things. I was the sickest person in St. Vincent's for nearly a fortnight until they put me on an echmode machine. That managed to keep me alive and keep my heart going as it acted as a heart until the new one settled in. Then all the fun started. What could go wrong did go wrong. It's definitely been a learning curve. And there's times when you go well, what else can go wrong? But we've managed to go on somehow or other.

In Sydney, when I came out of ICU there would have been 30 to 40 patients in ICU in the room. You didn't get any sleep because of what was coming in. When I moved to a room, even though you have distance and curtains between you, I enjoyed being with others as you've got someone to talk to. When I was in Adelaide in a room by myself, the only people I got to see were the nurses and whoever visits you, it doesn't do a lot to your mental state. I found it very hard. Because of the operational loss of my heart, I lost the use of my kidneys. I was originally having hemodialysis three times a week in Port Lincoln, hooked up to a machine. That's a big process of dialysis. Adelaide decided maybe we would be better off going the peritoneal dialysis, which is the way we went. It saved driving to Lincoln as I was just so tired, I was not gaining anything, and it was wrecking me.

Now I'm doing 24 hours Dialysis at home or what they call peritoneal. I've got a tube that goes into my belly, that I'll hook up to a machine around eight o'clock at night. It does a first drain of the fluid that I've got in me. Then I'll go on to five lots of two litres; it’s left for hour and a half and then pumped back out. In the morning I'll end up with 14 litres of fluid that's been pumped through me overnight. Then I pump another two litres in when I come off in the morning, and that lasts all day. It's an amazing machine. The machine is noisy. Sharon has moved out. She put up with it for about a fortnight and wasn't getting any sleep. The machine has got Wi-Fi and is connected to Adelaide. Every morning, I take my blood pressure sitting and then standing. I measure sugar levels and weight. So, when I start the machine, I punch it all in. Adelaide can keep track of everything. All the results get sent through.

I must be careful with infections on dialysis. I have to check my levels. When we empty the pot out in the morning, we've got a little container and a chart. If you can read the chart numbers, and it's clear, that's good. But when it starts getting cloudy, you've got to let Adelaide know. And that's generally a sign of infection. The house must be clean due to hygiene and to prevent germs and infections. My room is full of boxes and boxes of fluid and medical supplies. Hand sanitizer, hand wash and all the bandages you need. There is a truck that delivers all the supplies. They'll ring up once a month and do a stock take and then about a fortnight later it all comes. All of it is plastic and because of hygiene and discarded after one use. We're trying out gravity dialysis. This is when you hook a bag up and drain the fluid using a bag on the ground. That doesn't need a machine to do it. This needs to be done four times a day and takes about half an hour. Then you are right for probably three and a half hours and then you've got to do it again. This takes over the nighttime machine dialysis. We're trying this so we can do a bit of caravanning and get out of the house. They're talking about getting a kidney for me. I'm on a waiting list. And I'm nearly two years into that now. I expect I've got another two years to wait. It's just the way it goes.

I've also got a big blood clot in my leg and on blood thinners. The doctor said I’ll probably be on them for the rest of my life. My anti-rejection drugs are taken twice a day. We need to be a pharmacist, doctor, or nurse to keep track. It's a job to get the medications I am on. A lot still come through Sydney, and we must give the chemist a week's notice to get it here. You must learn quickly because you can't get medications wrong. We work through a list. It's quite the routine. Sharon sorts the tablets out; I take my blood pressure and fill out my paperwork. It's a team effort. I need to have lots of tests. Blood tests to check on the anti-rejection medications. The kidney people need blood tests results as well, just to check hemoglobin levels. It's busy. I also need many other checks. Skin cancer, dentist and bone density tests most people don't have to think about. It's because of all the medications I am on, it makes you feel rather interesting. I am still here.

With what we had to deal with through Kirsty. I've found that's been a help. We enjoyed celebrating her Birthday this year with Michael, Ebs and the kids and Tegan coming around. I don't know whether that's a determination I've got. I don't know. I think it's more so that I've got grandkids here to enjoy. I know they can be frustrating at times, but I still want to be around for some of their lives. Tegan has been an immense help with lots of things. She has booked all our flights, sorting paperwork and lots of emails that need replying too. All the emotional support while being a wife and mother to her kids has been amazing. I am reasonably tolerant of pain. But then some other pain probably not. It scares me every time I go to Adelaide. I've been lucky to get away with what I have and the chance of it going wrong is getting greater. The anxiety side of things makes your body do funny things.

Weve been back to Adelaide a lot of times since. Lucky I've got a very good lady, Diane, in Adelaide that helps. Every time that we need to go to Adelaide now, I will ring her and tell her where my appointments are and what needs to be done and where and she finds accommodation.

I Like going to the men's shed when I'm feeling up to it. I have found a couple times that I've been down there. I must watch what I eat. If I eat cooked meat off of the barbecue, I tend to get an infection or end up in Adelaide. So, I don't go down as often. Or if I do, I don't eat down there and take a couple of drinks and have a bite to eat before I go. I must try and avoid lots of people and that's something we really struggle with because we've got grandchildren, and you want to see your grandkids. I've got no immune system. We are quite careful even around people. When we fly, we wear masks, when the kids are sick, we avoid them. I mean, you can't shut yourself up. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't, you want to still be able to get on with your life, but then you have to be so careful with things as well, it does get to be a bit tricky.

Probably the most I have learned about this is to ask for help. I have also learnt how to ask questions. A psychiatrist taught me to write down a list of questions that I want to ask. Start at the top and if you don't get that answered to your satisfaction, ask again in the same tone of voice until you understand.

I wanted to retire at 60 and was working on and putting enough money away in my superannuation to do that. All that turned to shit. It's taken 3 years to organise, I was lucky that we had some money put away and we've been living on that. Sharon's on a carers pension and I'm on a disability pension. So, if it wasn't for those two, I don't know where we would be because Sharon has had to give up work. It's a fair bit to go through. I was told not to drive. That was hard as well. I quite enjoy Sharon driving now. We'd probably share it 50% depending on how I'm feeling. I'm still quite capable of driving but it's also nice looking out the window you actually see!

If it wasn't for heart donations I would not have got as far as I've got. Lots of things go through your head. I'm keen to push for organ donors. I'm living proof that when they brought the ultrasound machine into the room, and they ran it over my chest and there was this brand-new beating heart. It was just such an emotional moment. We both cried like babies! You get told nothing about the donor. We tried to ask but it was shut down. Twelve months after we can write a letter to the donor's family. There is quite a bit of protocol when writing it. It gets edited and sent on to the appropriate people. It's up to them if they want to get in touch. We are just thankful. It would be nice to let the family know that the heart is still going.

It's probably in the last few months, I've managed to get enough energy to do things. I enjoy being out pruning the grapevine and outside in the garden. It doesn't take much to actually knock a bit of skin off and not even realise and i bruise really easily. I am not meant to breathe in dust, so I must be careful spraying things. I have learnt to ask for help as I can't mow lawns and the son in laws or friends come and do that. We are lucky we live in the community we do as people are very friendly and happy to put their hands up and come and help out.