9.4.14

Transplant and living with one

I don't think I've written about this thus far, and this is going to be relatively short. I assume some of you have questions regarding the situation but are possible to afraid to ask (don't worry, I'm find with talking about it). When I was 10 I was diagnosed with dilating cardiomyopathy, which basically meant that my heart grew bigger and bigger untill it was the size of my chest cavity and didn't pump enough blood through my body. Heart meds helped a bit and I was on them for about nine months before I crashed.
At that point I was put on the transplant list and viola, after five hours I got my new heart. It took some used to, it hurt like hell after the operation and getting back on my feet was quite a task since I hadn't been allowed to really move myself in the previous year, but all in all the operation and everything went really well and I haven't had any rejection. Which is super.

However, as it comes to restrictions. Many have asked me if I can do the exact same things as other people and without a few exceptions my answer is always yes. I have a healthy good heart now, so I can move about and exercise as much as I please (should do more than I please but nvm that now).

- I have to eat medication every morning and every evening to prevent rejection
- I have to eat other medication as well to prevent side-effects from my antirejection meds
- I cannot eat raw meat due to the danger of toxoplasmosis
- I cannot travel to countries that require a yellow fever vaccine since the vaccine is a live one and I'm not allowed to get live vaccins since I probably would get the disease from them

That's it. That's all my restrictions. Does it sound bad? For me, not really. I can easily live without eating raw meat and most of the places in the world I want to visit don't even have yellow fever so that's all settled.
The only real annoyance is that I always have to know what time it is and when I have to take my meds, 'cause I can't miss a dose. So extempore travel is out of the question. Thankfully I'm not really an extempore person anyways, so it's not too bothersome, but it does take away from my freedom. However, I am still alive and that's all that matters!


12 comments:

  1. Äklöin gif ikinä, mutta mielenkiintoinen teksti! En tiennytkään tätä susta, mut kun ensimmäistä kertaa näin sut, olit mun mielestä rockimpi versio Ameliesta, joten ehkä jollain tasolla tiesin.

    Pelottavaa, miten kaikki on niin pienestä kiinni, mutta onneksi oot elossa! Kaikkea hyvää sulle ja tsemppiä elämään ja kaikkeen!

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  2. Tämä oli hyvin mielenkiintoinen teksti. Olet jaksanut mennä läpi todella rankkoja asioita!

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    1. Rankkuus on varmaan tottumiskysymys sekin, itse olen vain iloinen että kävi niin nuorena ja on ollut aikaa totutella asiaan :)

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  3. Thank you for sharing your story with us, it was very interesting! You are a survivor my dear <3 Wish you a gorgeous life because you deserve it!

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  4. Hyvä teksti. Aika rankka juttu, jos sydämessä on vikaa. Onneksi leikkaus meni hyvin ja voit nyt hyvin :)

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    1. Totta! Onneksi meni juuri niinkuin suunniteltiin ja kaikki on toiminut loistavasti sen jälkeen :)

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  5. tuntuu jotenkin pöljältä että pitää ottaa lääkkeitä ja sit lääkkeitä niiden lääkkeiden sivuvaikutuksiin :D luulis että ois jo kehitetty sellasia lääkkeitä mitä voi käyttää ittekseen. no mut mitäpä minä tiedän.

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    1. Todellakin :D mutta sen siitä saa kun syö myrkkyjä myrkkyjen perään vain pysyäkseen hengissä

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  6. Amazing story, thank you for sharing!
    And let me ask, what it is to live with the heart of another person?..

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    1. It's just like living with a heart that was originally mine - some dumbass decided to have a car crash and here I am, healthy as can be! They're loss - my gain. I know it's a bit morbid, but that's life, right?

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