Post by Shasta

Cellcept, Prograf and Predisone for immunosuppression, Amlodipine and Metoprolol to combat high blood pressures, Valcyte and Bactrim to battle a germy world, Phosphorus and Magnesium because Prograf makes those levels plummet, Aspirin so her little renal arteries (yep I said arteries plural because God forbid my girls do anything “normal”) don’t clot, Zantac to protect her little tummy from all the medicines and a multivitamin because who would have enough room for food after all these medications!

In a perfect world, kidney transplant would be plug and play just like a DVD player (I almost wrote VCR because I’m old and that’s what came to mind ) but it isn’t. Life after transplant is like walking a tightrope between too much medication and not enough. It’s about medications to combat the side effects of other medications. It’s mood swings from steroids and tummy aches from immunosuppression meds. It’s pain from surgical incisions and headaches from hypertension.

But it’s cuddles from my teenager who doesn’t normally want to be cuddled. It’s laughing when we feel like crying. (Well, it’s more laughing while we’re crying!) It’s celebrating walking 50 feet further than she walked the day before. It’s doing the poop dance (yeah you’re gonna have to PM me for those deets) while onlookers think you’ve lost your mind. It’s watching while two sisters, who were already madly in love with each other, weave a bond that none of us will ever be fully able to comprehend.

It’s hard, messy, emotional work, this transplant stuff. But we are being reminded on a daily basis that often times it’s the hardest work that produces the most awe-inspiring beauty.