WHEN Helen Miller celebrates her 38th birthday this Sunday she wants just one gift - the precious gift of life.The mum-of-two has spent almost a year on a waiting list for a lung transplant, and her health is steadily growing worse.Helen, from South Anston, is one of 10 people in the region needing new lungs - but a desperate shortage of donor organs means none of them know if they will get a second chance at life."I can hardly wash my hair or brush my teeth, but if someone saw me they'd think I'm alright," said Helen, whose smart clothes and careful make-up disguise the seriousness of her illness.The reality of life on the waiting list is far more extreme than can be imagined.Helen's experience highlights the fact that anyone, even people in the prime of their lives, can suddenly find themselves in need of lifesaving surgery.A few years ago Helen was like many women her age - a busy working mum climbing the career ladder, making plans and enjoying life. Now Helen needs oxygen 24 hours a day to help her breathe, and much of her life is spent at home on the sofa because simple everyday tasks -making a cup of tea, washing her hair, brushing her teeth - are so exhausting."I will not let this get to me. If I do die waiting on the transplant list then I need people to know what it's like," said Helen.She needs someone with her at all times and her mum Pat, aged 57, is her daytime carer, while husband John, 43, and kids Abbie, 18, and Daniel, 14, care for her in the evening and at the weekends.But even though her body is fragile Helen, a witty, confident and intelligent woman, has many hopes and dreams for the future.She wants to enjoy life with her family and get back to a successful career of training managers."My brain is whirling with ideas and thoughts and there is so much I want to do," said Helen. "I've so much to give. But it's like I have my brain but my mum's become my body."Helen knows first-hand how frustrating it is to go from being an independent person with energy, to having so little strength th
at getting up, getting dressed, and eating breakfast takes as long as two hours.Making her bed and cleaning is impossible for Helen. Getting up and down the stairs at home is so draining she can only do it once a day. She can't walk about and is reliant on a wheelchair outside, and has to taken portable oxygen cylinders with her.She's even had to change her eating habits - food that needs a lot of chewing requires too much effort.Helen now eats soft food like shepherd's pie and creamy soups. She has to ensure her weight - which has already dropped by a stone-and-a-half - does not falls too low or she will not be healthy enough for any transplant.Helen's health problems started as a teenager when she developed an auto-immune disease and nearly died.
She recovered and her problems were kept under control by medication until five years ago when she suddenly developed breathing problems.Doctors discovered she had emphysema, a serious lung condition, which may or may not be connected.“They told me I had the lungs of an 80-year-old woman,” said Helen. “I could’t believe it - I didn’t feel that bad at the time.”At first Helen managed to continue with her job but her lungs gradually deteriorated and she was told almost a year ago she needed to join the waiting list as a transplant was her only hope of survival.She dreams of resuming a no
rmal life - returning to work and being able to enjoy things like walking, and shopping trips to London with her family.“They are very, very supportive, they do so much for me, and this affects the whole family,” she said.Life is geared around waiting and hoping for that vital phone call. The family carry mobile phones with them everywhere they go so a transplant coordinator can contact them day or night. Helen says life at the moment is limbo.“I have so many plans and ideas for when I’m better - I want to go and see a show in London, I want to go for a walk, I want to be able to get up and walk down to the shops.”Not knowing what the future holds is, she says, a horrendous thing to face every day.“It’s not knowing if you’re going to live or die,” she said. “If I can get five years’ it would mean the world. There are people who have had another 20 and I live in hope.”