Two Years

This week I hit two years post transplant - two extra precious years that I'd never have had if it weren't for a very special person and their family. Because of them I've got to spend more time with my family and loved ones, as well as meet so many lovely new people too. Things are so different now, life is wild. Hand on heart I wake up so excited every day because I can't wait to see where the day will take me - it's definitely taken me on some adventures!



I speak sometimes about life not always being a smooth ride post transplant but that's ok because it's all worth it. It's not about trying to avoid anxious feelings but acknowledging them. From talking to others it appears that it seems to be part and parcel of post transplant life. So much of society suffers from anxiety and depression without having the added pressure of transplant and CF, I think I forget sometimes that they're not common things to happen to a person. I can be quite immersed in that world due to growing up with it, being in hospital and having lots of amazing transplant/CF friends which means I think that often I normalise it. I have to remind myself to take a step back at times and look at it from an 'outsider' point of view, then I realise that it's actually a huge fookin' deal! I still have bouts of depression now and then (February to April was really difficult) but on the whole I'm still having so much fun and am starting to be kinder to myself. Physical health issues have popped up in the last year but these lungs are still doing fabulously and are taking me places I'd never been before. It's been so great to progress in life rather than being stuck in the mud (or with sticky lungs) like I used to.

I still feel the same sentiments I wrote in my post when I got to one year, I'll link it here if you'd like to read. I'll also share what I wrote on my instagram as it sums up all the feels - it's a quote from Lupita Nyong'o and although she was obviously talking about something else I felt her words were very relevant:

'It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's.'

So here's to my donor and their family, who I think of daily but particularly more this week and sending all the love and gratitude. It's a cliche but there really are no words to thank them for what they've done for me and the opportunities and experiences I've had thanks to organ donation - the gift they've given is truly priceless and I'll be forever grateful. 

If you'd like to sign up to the organ donor register in the UK you can do so here!