The past year has taught me that living with a transplant is a subtle exercise in regulating both physical and mental health. Burnout culture has a lot to answer for, and we can't fix burnout with a bit of time off, it has to be a way of life.
Year +1 - A Year of Incredible: Today it is twelve-months to the day since I had my kidney transplant, and it's been one of the most amazing, exciting and challenging years of my life. It was only after I had my life-changing operation that I started to understand what life as a transplant recipient was really going to be about.
Month +10: Last week it was my birthday, but life is not a rehearsal and I'm no longer concerned about getting older. I still can't quite fathom my good fortune.
Month +8: People sometimes ask me why I run. I always ask them why they don’t?
A friend is one of the nicest things to have, and one of the best things you can be.
+6 Months: It's been 6 months to the day since I received my transplant and I still feel like the luckiest man alive...
2020: Best Year of My Life - What can I say, it's been one hell of a year.
Week +10: This has been a bit of a crummy week as on Wednesday, something that first afflicted me in hospital made a painful and unwelcome reappearance.
Week +4: I have been at home now for just over two weeks and today is 4 weeks post-op. In many ways I feel better than I have done for years. My recovery has various aspects and each is important to focus on. The road to recovery is a bumpy one and they never really tell you about the rough stuff. They generally limit it to what life is like after recovery (those rose tinted spectacles I was talking about) but as you'll see, getting there a mixed bag.
Yachtsman Tracy Edwards MBE may seem like an unlikely hero for a 40-something bloke from Stoke-on-Trent. Nonetheless, Tracy's influence on me at a formative age is an important aspect of who I am today.
#R24TRC 