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Mum's agonising wait for heart swap op
A BRAVE mum who faces an agonising wait for a heart transplant dreams of seeing her son grow up.
Louisa Mann admits her life is "in limbo" until she receives a life-saving heart from a stranger.
The 33-year-old care worker, from Agincourt, Hebburn Village, put a strain on her heart when she conceived and gave birth to her son
Finlay.
She is determined to be around for 14-month-old Finlay for many years to come, but knows that a heart transplant is her only chance of making her dream come true.
Louisa said: "Finlay is just starting to walk and I want to be around to see him for the rest of his life, but I need a transplant."
Miss Mann and partner, Peter Richardson, 31, who plan to marry, have put their lives on hold until a donor heart becomes available.
"Whenever the phone rings at night, Peter and I jump in case a heart has become available and we have to get ready for a transplant operation at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.
"But if I catch a cold or have an infection, they could have to cancel the surgery. Everything has to be just right.
"It's horrible waiting all the time, not knowing if my condition is going to get worse. But I know I can't get better and I need a heart transplant – and sooner, rather than later.
"Peter and I would love to marry, but not until after my transplant. I feel I cannot get on with my life," Louisa said.
Born with a transposition, or malformed artery, Miss Mann underwent surgery as a small child to correct the problem.
She later lived a normal, healthy life, until health issues developed during and after her pregnancy.
"I had a difficult pregnancy, suffering swelling to my legs and hands and feeling really tired all the time.
"But I was never told not to become pregnant and initially didn't put the problems down to heart disease."
However, her condition took a dramatic turn for the worse after Finlay was born six weeks premature at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, on August 21 last year, weighing 4lb 13oz.
Miss Mann said: "A week after Finlay was born, I couldn't breathe properly and was whipped along to the delivery suite for oxygen.
"I passed out and didn't know anything else until I woke up in the Freeman Hospital two days later, surrounded by nurses.
"The doctors think the strain of the pregnancy damaged a ventricle in my heart. But I also think I would have died, if I hadn't been in hospital."
Miss Mann, who is not well enough to work at the moment, takes daily medication for her heart problems, including blood-thinning tablets.
Both she and her partner say the heart donor programme is "vital" and urged everyone to sign up.
More than 977 lives were saved in the UK between April 1 2008 and March 31 2009 through heart, lung, liver or combined transplant operations.
But more than 7,870 patients are still on the waiting list and three people die every day while waiting for a new organ.
Call the organ Donor Line on 0845 60 60 400 or visit the website here.
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Weather for South Shields
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
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Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
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