What Did Change?

Now that I have covered my diagnosis and receiving my transplant, I thought I should explain the difference my kidney has made to my life. I have already talked about the dramatic change in energy I had in my previous blog post, but my transplant has been so much more than that!

If you asked me to sum up what my transplant has meant to me in one word it would be ‘FREEDOM’. I have gained freedom in so many ways since I have had my transplant. Yes, there have been setbacks and difficult times, some more recent that you may think, as I am not normally one to share difficulties when I am going through them but my quality of life in non-comparable to the life, I had pre-transplant. Some things like my loving parents, supportive family and amazing hospital care have remained constant throughout my journey and I am ever so grateful for that because it has been those people that have helped me to get to where I am today. Although, certain things like daily dialysis, injections every night and medication multiple times a day don’t occur anymore and from that I feel like I am free. There is a big difference, having that removed from your life. I still have medication to take but it is only twice a day instead of 6 or 7 times, the dialysis has stopped, and I don’t need growth hormone or EPO injections anymore.

I have more energy than I had pre-transplant and I am now an amateur powerlifter with a total of 222.5kg the last time I tested it. I never would have been able to do this pre-transplant. I do have to be more careful than other lifters, I don’t take any supplements and my protein intake is lower than normal so it can be more difficult to build muscle, but all of this is minor in comparison to not being able to partake in the sport. I have now been lifting for around 3 to 4 years and I love how it makes me feel strong and capable but the important part for me is that I know my limits and that I don’t push myself too much to be able to take care of myself and my kidney.

I have also been able to tick off so many things on my bucket list thanks to my transplant. Prior to having my transplant, we wouldn’t go away on holiday outside of the UK because I would have been taken off the transplant list, plus taking the dialysis machine and solutions in my dad’s van on a boat to get to England for a holiday from here was a job itself. Since my transplant I have seen family in Canada, been to Paris and Disneyland, one of my bucket list desires and went to the Christmas markets in Vienna, in addition to several sun holidays to Spain. I never would have been able to do any of that prior and I now have a great passion for travelling, learning about new cultures, and seeing the world. There are so many different places that I want to visit and explore and now I can, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to do so.

My quality of life has improved so much and now I am not restricted on how much fluid I need to drink, and I am able to have so many more foods than I could before. You can probably tell I use the word freedom because so many of the restrictions that I had before are gone, there are less barriers in carrying out day to day life. My transplant has given me a second chance at life. I cannot thank my donor and their family enough for my gift because it has allowed me to set the reset button in so many ways and allowed me to achieve so much. I have graduated from a BSc, I am completing a level 7 qualification, I am engaged to a man who loves me so much and is so accepting of my journey and my needs because of it and I am planning my wedding! My transplant has allowed me to look forward to the future. It has allowed me to live in so many ways, instead of just existing.

Photo by Tiffany Gage https://tiffanygagephotography.co.uk

I do want to point out that my life was not awful before my transplant, but I was incredibly ill, chronically ill technically. I had the care and support of my family, I went to school, got good grades, and was encouraged to live my life the best that I could, which I did. I remember great birthday parties than my mum had for me and family outings for the day. Though I was so different from everyone else. If we went to the beach, I had to be careful in the sea to not get the catheter wet so I could only paddle and we had to leave early many times so I could go on dialysis. I was always slower at running in PE, if I even had the energy to run.

I hope hearing how my transplant has made such a difference in my life, will encourage you to register to become an organ donor and be able to make a change for up to 9 others!

As usual, if you have any questions or just want to chat either complete the contact for or send me a DM.