One obstacle at a time. Getting through a long crisis like organ transplant means we have to take the wins where we can. Today it's surviving yet another blood draw. Tomorrow, maintaining a fluid restriction. Maybe it's just outlasting the madness of waiting yet another day or week on the list. One little victory after another sustained me throughout my long journey. 

In this episode, I try to tackle an issue that typically isn't discussed much outside of transplant patient circles. We risk offending, angering, or worrying those around us when we talk about the moments of regret, depression, or melancholy that often follow in the wake of an organ transplant. 

It was tough before Covid. Now it's even more complicated. Immune suppression, much like an invisible illness, doesn't register with many people and can be frustrating when not taken seriously by friends and family. My thoughts on living an immune-compromised life, how to navigate various situations, and adjusting to this new reality. 

Let's talk about the financial burden of transplants. People are stunned when they realize how much it costs, but even harder to explain is the financial toll of peripheral costs in terms of lost wages, travel, hotels, and the nickel and dime expenses and accumulate into the number one reason people file for bankruptcy in the U.S. 

Confession: I haven't heard back from my donor family after five letters; most people don't. Nevertheless, most of us have things we need to say to them. I spent ten years performing as a lay pastor performing funerals, sitting at dead beds, attempting to comfort the survivors of tragic losses, both expected and sudden. In this episode, I apply what those experiences taught me to suggestions for writing a thank you letter to your donor family. 

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/mightytxpodcast

An overview for caregivers who are prepping for the newly transplanted patient to come home. Suggestions for room by room cleaning and potential trouble spots, as well as some insight into handling anxious friends and extended family who are anxious to visit. 

I'll say AGAIN, I'm no therapist. I have no psychological training. But I have talked to hundreds of transplant patients and many of us struggle with disconnectedness, anger, restlessness, and an intangible sense of loss and otherness that's difficult to articulate (as evidenced by my broad description here). I'm not equipped to diagnose it, but in this episode, I share my own struggle with adjusting to life after transplant in terms of my thought life and suggest some reasons why many of us experience these emotions. 

Don't got one? Get one! You never know when you may land in the hospital for a day or two...or twelve. Here's everything I can think of about bug-out bags - what kind to get, where to keep it, what goes in it, and why you need one even if you think you don't. Plus, you save your caregiver multiple trips home and to the store. A good bug-out bag can hold you over in a hospital room even in the worst and most unexpected situations. 

TWITTER: @mightytxpodcast

A frank discussion about the psychological and physical toll of the transplant experience on patients and caregivers, which can often lead to regretting the decision to be transplanted. My honest, layman's perspective on the effect of surgery trauma on post-TX patients.

TWITTER: @mightytxpodcast

YOUTUBE LINK: https://youtu.be/8QqadOkcK_A

Continuing to talk about relationships, this episode relays our family's experience with friends as a support system, "drama vampires," and how to maintain friendships through open communication and cutting a lot of slack.