My first Christmas with my new lungs

Tomorrow will be my first Christmas with my new lungs. I've been feeling very emotional in the run-up because of course at Christmas time, you reflect on the lows as well as the highs of the year. I'm only slowly realising quite how ill I was while waiting for transplant. Having to be so frank about my mortality is something that I know will change my outlook on life for the rest of the time I have left on this earth.

And of course I am thinking a lot of those that didn't make it. My wonderful friends that I found via twitter who were going through the same things as me, but unlike me weren't able to get their transplants in time. I can't imagine how this week will feel for their families, as all around people are full of joy while they are full of sorrow. But each person I know who died, lived their life on fast-forward - filling it full of achievements, thoughtfulness and love and it serves as a reminder to me, that however long my new lungs last, that life will always remain purposeful if it can be lived in a similar manner.

And then there is my donor. Only in the last month or so have I felt mentally and physically strong enough following my transplant to truly realise everything my donor has given to me. She was a woman who died young, and yet even in her short life she made the phenomenally generous decision to help a stranger live if the worst was to happen to her. I only hope that as her family face this Christmas without her that they have received some comfort knowing that their daughter saved the lives of others. In my eyes she'll always be an extraordinary woman.

In the last month I've often found my eyes filling with tears when the Slade song 'Merry Christmas everyone' comes on the radio - a strange reaction considering it is so jolly. But I think its because of the line:
"Look to the future now, It's only just begun"

My donor has given me back my future and it is the most incredible and joyous of gifts. My gratitude is immeasurable.

If you believe in organ donation and haven't yet signed up then please do. And do tell your family of your wishes. https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/how_to_become_a_donor/registration/consent.asp

My predictions for the future disintegration of the NHS

Yesterday the health and social care bill was made law. So what are my predictions for the future of our beloved NHS? 

• In the short-term there will be a vacumn of authority as the old system devolves power to GPs who are learning on the job. I predict there will be a flurry of contracts awarded to private companies to take control of local commissioning and health services as GPs struggle with the enormity of the challenge imposed upon them

• In the medium-term integration between departments and hospitals will begin to splinter as hospitals concentrate on pulling punters into their doors in order to 'win' funding from GPs. (For example from my own experience Chelsea & Westminster hospital send their doctors to Brompton hospital to enable joint consultation for CF patients who also have liver disease. I can imagine such arrangements ending due to funding complications.)  

Waiting lists will rise as services try to stick to budgets by rationing care and maximising the number of private patients they treat. The bill allows up to 49% of work at NHS hospitals to be given over to private patients.

More and more obese people and smokers will find themselves denied services as GPs find any excuse to limit care in order to meet spiralling costs. 

National scandals will arise in which private health companies are accussed of patient neglect and care as they cut services in order to make a profit. This has already happened under Bupa.  

• In the longer-term, we'll all get used to paying for some NHS services. I can easily imagine paying for evening and weekend doctors appointments as it'll be billed that you are buying the convenience of the time, not the service. 

It'll become routine to take private healthcare if you can afford it.

• In the very long-term the NHS will become a safety net only for those who have no private healthcare, and people will expect only the most basic care for it. 

As such the life expectancy gap between the rich and poor will continue to widen.

The health and social care bill is the worst thing this Government has done while in power, and Cameron and Clegg will be hated for it by future generations far more than Thatcher ever was for her deindustrialisation drive and war on the miners.