Never Think You Are Alone

A couple of days ago  I read a post on Facebook that brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye.  You know that feeling when you can actually see yourself walking in their shoes, either because you have already walked that road before or because you know you still have to walk it.  For me it was because I know I still have to walk it and the unknown can at times be pretty scary.

This was the post that I read, and to protect the family involved for their own privacy I have blocked any names mentioned...

This is an exceptional case where convalescence is taking longer than the norm, but as NiQi's doctor has told us, each patient presents as an individual and no two are the same.  The transplant team are learning with each transplant operation and nothing is predictable.  Some bounce back only days after such a major operation and others take so much longer.  No patient can compare themselves with someone else because they are not that person and it is not their body.

Since NiQi's year of exclusion from claiming on her medical aid ended at the end of June last year, we are following the processes and living from day to day.  She has been blessed with the way her health improved for a time, but we know that she cannot continue as she is forever.  In recent months we have noted the use of oxygen more frequently, the loss of energy, the coughing fits, the shortness of breath, the tiredness creeping on and we know that if she wants the life she desires, then a transplant is her only option.  

I have read many posts and blogs and media stories of transplant patients and realize I may think that I know what NiQi is going to go through, but in reality we won't know until it happens.  So reading the post above made me aware more than ever that we have to be emotionally prepared for anything.   The one thing I know that we will able to count on is the love and support of family and friends...just knowing that they stand behind NiQi makes what she goes through on a daily basis all the more bearable.