You always say you can’t believe a year has passed since something important, but this time, I really can’t believe a year has passed.
It’s been one year to the day since Will’s kidney transplant, since I was the donor, and since we were both in hospital. This precise time last year I was asleep and/or in a stupor, not to really be thinking straight for at least another day! But well, only a year, but it seems like an eon ago now.
And what can I say other than it worked. I was down in Sydney last week for a checkup and my remaining kidney is fine, and my overall health is good. Will’s health is slightly mixed (only because he had several issues to begin with), but his new kidney is functioning excellently, and his kidney function is basically at the bottom of the list of things to deal with. Good thing too 🙂
As for me, I still can’t believe I did it in some ways… it was easy to be tough about it, and I’d never have refused, but I probably underplay my own bravery in the whole situation. Submitting to voluntary and slightly dangerous (by it’s nature) surgery is no easy thing. You do it anyway, sure, but that didn’t make it any less difficult.
Next Tuesday will be a year since I got out of hospital (only five days in seems easy in retrospect, but it didn’t at the time!) whereas Will was there for over a month. But it was a big thing to deal with, and we as a family got through it.
So that’s it. A year. Wow.
FInd out more about living kidney donation at Kidney Australia.