It feel as though I’ve ‘known’ Stacie for such a long time now, and I’m so glad to be introducing her to you today. Every time I visit her blog I find myself humbled by her experiences, inspired by her courage, warmed by her sweetness, and in awe of her honesty. Stacie’s been waiting for a heart and lung transplant for two years and seven months, and has been sharing her experiences of life on a waiting list via her blog since 2012. Life is Worth the Fight is unlike any other blog I read, and reminds me time and again how incredible the connections we can make via this community are. This week, lovely Stacie took a little time to answer some questions for me, and I’m so glad to be sharing her answers here! So without further ado, let’s get to this interview!

1. What prompted you to start writing Life is Worth the Fight? And what’s been the best change or difference blogging has made to your life?

Life is Worth the Fight was born not long after transplant week of 2012, I had just been put on the transplant list and was discovering all these new people in a community that I wasn’t all that familiar with. I noticed that a few of these people were writing blogs. I checked them out and thought “you know I think this might help me.” So I decided that I was going blog this weird, wonderful and sometimes scary journey. I would say the best change it has brought to my life is that I’m more open with people now, I was very closed off and didn’t want to open up about how I was feeling which is understandable for anyone in my position but I knew there was no way I was going to get through this without my friends and family and they can only help if they know what’s going on with me. It has also been a platform from which I have really been able to promote my condition and Organ Donation and that can only be a good thing.

2. What three words would you use to describe Life is Worth the Fight?

Positive (mainly), roller-coaster, emotion filled [not really 3 words is it?] ;)

3. What do you find inspires you most to create content for your blog? I love how honest your posts about living with Pulmonary Hypertension are- they’re so incredibly inspiring.

My PH friends and transplant friends mostly. It’s a hard subject to write about but I get messages from newly diagnosed Pulmonary Hypertension patients or newly listed transplant patients who are scared and worried about what lies ahead and they say that a particular post helped them to see it from a different viewpoint and that definitely helps me write so openly and honestly because those people need to know what they are feeling and going through is okay and the rest of us are feeling the exact same way. Then there’s the blogging community they inspire me to write and keep doing what I do because I get messages from people saying they signed up to the Donor register because of me and my blog and that’s amazing and something I always hoped would happen but never was entirely sure would.

4. Do you have any goals you’d like to achieve with your blog during the year ahead?

My ultimate goal I suppose would be that it becomes “a post transplant blog” and that has always be my end game with Life is Worth the Fight. Ultimately though Life is Worth the Fight is for me and I want it to always be there when I need it and if it helps people in the process that is always a massive bonus.

5. You wrote recently about how much you rate audiobooks- me too! What’s been the best book you’ve listened to during the past year?

I really do love audiobooks! I really think everyone should try them at least once. I’m going to have to be a bit biased though. My favourite book of all time is “Kommandant’s Girl” by Pam Jenoff and this year when I fell back in love Audiobooks I brought Kommandant’s Girl and it made me love the book just that much more! It’s been my favourite book since I was about 15 and having it on audiobook just means I can retreat to my happy place whenever I want. I really do recommend it especially if you are into World War 2 romance books.

6. Your blog is my go-to place for Lush product recommendations! Would you give us a ’top 5’ list of your all-time favourite Lush products? :)

Haha! I do have a unhealthy obsession with Lush. My 5 personal favourites? Thats so hard! They are probably going to be seasonal as well which sucks for people who want to go get them. 1. Golden Wonder (only available at Christmas though)

2. Love Locket Bath Bomb (only available at Valentines day)

3. Immaculate Eggception bath bombs (that come out at Easter)

4. The Comforter, I always have at least one of these in my stash and they last ages and smell amazing!

5. The Butter Ball. I’m renowned for being a lazy moisturiser on my legs etc. and this is just a absolute god send!!

7. Will you tell us a little about your lovely family? What’re the very best things about being an Aunt to little Jaydon? :)

Being a Aunty is probably what I was born to be. Due to my condition I cannot have children which I am perfectly okay with but I’m very lucky to have my two little nephews Jaydon and Spencer. I suppose the best thing about being an aunt is that I get to be nicer than mummy and daddy do, they have to enforce the rules whereas aunty Stacie gets to sneak them the odd sweetie when mummy’s in a particularly grumpy mood. I get to be the one they want to read stories with and they want to show me immediately when they get a new toy, and the best thing about it all is if they decide they want to throw a tantrum I get to hand them back :-D

8. And lastly, let’s play a round of ‘desert island discs’! If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you bring with you? You can bring two albums/CDs, two books, ingredients to make two meals, and one luxury item!

I’m surprised at how easy I’ve found the CDs question because I’m not the biggest music enthusiast but I would have two favourites. Taylor Swift “1989″ and Bastille “All this Bad Blood” …. oh no but then I’ve come to love Sam Smith as well no, no I will stick with Taylor and Bastille. Two books easy peasy, “Kommandant’s Girl” by Pam Jenoff and Harry Potter can we just pretend that all seven books is one? I’m going to say the ingredients for two of my all time comfort foods and that would be pancakes and I figure you can also make a cake out of those ingredients too ;) and also the ingredients for Spaghetti Bolognese because that is what I always want when I come out of hospital if I’ve had a particularly long stay. I’m not sure how well these ingredients would last on a island though lol. If I was being super tactical and survival mode though I’d probably be sensible and be like I’d take a Chicken or something haha!

** Thanks to Stacie for taking time out to answer my nosy questions! Click through to Life is Worth the Fight for a read of Stacie’s lovely posts, and don’t forget to follow along via Bloglovin‘ too! **

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