00:00My name is Julia Butterworth and I live in Leeds.
00:03In 2022 I had a double heart valve replacement, which initially I had done in 2007.
00:11They also tried to repair my tricuspid valve, which they couldn't do.
00:18So from then on I've been monitored.
00:22I also have a kidney transplant, so between my heart and my kidney
00:27I kept being fluid overloaded and it put a strain on my organs.
00:33Last year, last summer, I was admitted again into hospital with fluid overload
00:40and after about four weeks I was told that there was nothing else that could really help me with
00:47and my life expectancy was about six months.
00:53At that point, they quickly got end-of-life support in
01:01and we talked about auspices and things like that.
01:06And then a week or so later, the doctors came back and said,
01:11we've been doing some research and we've sent scans and things to other surgeons around the world
01:19and we've got a reply from somebody in Denmark who feels that he could do a procedure on his tricuspid valve.
01:28So I had gone from one stage of being told I could be dead by Christmas
01:38to being told that there was a chance that I could survive.
01:42It was a high-risk procedure, but to me there was no other alternative.
01:47So since then I've been doing quite well and it means that I can play with my grandchildren now
02:00and do everyday things basically.
02:04And I just want to say a thank you to the NHS and particularly my surgeons
02:11and all the staff that looked after me while I was going through this emotional rollercoaster.
02:20One day I was planning my funeral and then the next week I was thinking about the future
02:25if I came through this operation.
02:28And I think what I find, I still find it quite overwhelming that today,
02:37you know, I've gone past certain episodes where in Mother's Day
02:42and I never thought I'd get to see that on my granddaughter's birthday last week
02:47and just to be there for them milestones overwhelms me
02:52because I didn't think I'd be here for that.
02:54I'm good at the moment, yes, heart-wise I feel lots better.
03:01I can walk further, I can do bits and bobs in and around the home.
03:08I just do more and I can, I just have more energy to do things
03:15and yeah, I feel, I feel well.
03:21It initially was just to replace, repair the heart valve.
03:28The heart valve came from India
03:30and when they tried to do it, I had a, my initial, my original heart valve had a gap in the circle
03:42and they had to, there were nowhere to sew the heart valve onto
03:49so, so, they, they worked their magic and, um, and it was a success.
03:58Um, and then when I came round in intensive care
04:01and Dr. Gatenby came to see me,
04:04she told me that it was, um, the first time it had been done in the world
04:08which was a shock and I felt overwhelmed by it all
04:13and I still kind of can't get it in my head that, you know,
04:19there went so much trouble to, to, um, to do this for me.
04:25Massive thanks, yeah, to, to everybody, the ICU staff, the surgeons,
04:30is the surgeons teams, um, the staff on Ward 18, um, just everybody,
04:39they're just so supportive of not just myself but my husband and my family.
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