My New Vlog Journey

Dear Readers,

Tomorrow I am starting a new online venture... I am becoming a Vlogger!!!

Due to receiving messages asking if I've ever thought about taking my awareness campaign of #PHWednesdays onto YouTube, I thought, why not?! Let's give it a go!

So here we are, my first video drops tomorrow at 13.00GMT.

Each week a video will be uploaded about Pulmonary Hypertension every Wednesday at 13:00GMT. I really hope this will be a success and I'm looking forward to my new vlogging journey! 

I would love it if you would support me and subscribe to my new PH YouTube channel and join me on this journey!

Thank you! 

#NoCureAlwaysHope


Follow the link to subscribe now - PHighter Tess



Mental Health Awareness Week



Dear Readers,


This week is Mental Health Awareness week. 


What is Mental Health? (Extracted MentalHealth)

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:
  • Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
  • Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
  • Family history of mental health problems
Mental health can be a big issue with those who have Pulmonary Hypertension because it changes your life! From diagnosis to having to live with it every day. Emotions of grief of the loss of life you used to have, the anger of not being able to do the things you used to, the anger of having PH, the sadness, and the list goes on. That is only some of the emotions we deal with and yes living with PH is difficult!!

To help PH'ers with this, we are very lucky to have our wonderful charity PHA UK and fortunately they have partnered up with the charity Anxiety UK.


So if you are in need of support, help or someone to chat to then please SPEAK OUT!! Do Not be afraid for you are NOT alone!! This goes for anyone, PH diagnosis or not! 


PH'ers, for more information, click to enlarge photo or visit Anxiety/PHA




PHight Another Day

Dear Readers,


As you all know I was admitted to hospital last week due to decline of my PH. I'm doing ok and now I'm resting at home. I can not fault the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Specialist Care - the PH team there have been amazing with me and their help and swift actions are helping me through this tough time.

If I'm doing ok, I go to clinic every 3 months. When I go to hospital just for the day for clinic, people don't understand the journey, tests and clinic that I go through every time. It requires a lot of advanced transport planning due to difficulty of walking, breathlessness and chronic pain! Terry and I decided to put a video together to give people an insight of it all. Hope it gives you an understanding of clinic life for a PH'er!
Please share to continue to raise awareness. Thank you for your continuous support!

Facebook - Tess and PH
Twitter - @maritess_mt 
Instagram - @maritess_mt



#NoCureAlwaysHope 

World PH Day 2018

Dear Readers,

Today is May 5th 2018 - World PH Day!! A day where all Pulmonary Hypertension Associations and PH'ers from across the world get together to raise awareness for PH!

Over the years I have continued to raise awareness for this incurable condition and one day I will receive my double lung transplant! Until that day I will forever raise awareness until people understand what us PH'ers go through.

What is Pulmonary Hypertension?
"To understand what PH is, it first helps to understand a bit about the circulatory system. As shown in the figure, the heart pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs so the blood can take up oxygen. Blood that is oxygen-poor is normally shown on diagrams as blue, whereas oxygen-rich blood returning from the lungs is normally shown in red. During periods of exercise, the heart beats more quickly to get more oxygen to the muscles. At the same time, the blood vessels carrying blood to the lungs (the pulmonary arteries) expand to allow more blood through. The pulmonary arteries do this by stretching slightly. In a person with PH, the walls of the pulmonary arteries are thicker, so are less able to stretch. In a person with PH, because the pulmonary arteries are less able to stretch, the heart has to work harder to pump blood to the lungs. If the heart has to work harder than usual over a long period of time (months or years), it begins to work less effectively." (Extract from PHA UK website)

Click on "About Me" page to read more about my PH journey and please continue to like my Facebook Page, Tess and PH and follow me on Twitter @maritess_mt

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog and PH journey. 

#NoCureAlwaysHope

My video with PHA UK



My 10th PH Anniversary video.