Sunday, June 14, 2020

Celebrating Health in the Time of COVID

Yesterday, we celebrated Kidney Day. Eight years ago, Patrick received a transplant from a wonderful, selfless family who’d lost their daughter. We named the kidney Sidney, and Sid’s still going strong. It’s an odd year to be celebrating a health milestone. Even when it’s not 2020, health is something that we are always cognizant of, that we never take for granted. We survived three years of dialysis and all that went with it—disability, blood transfusions, shingles, hernias, pain, countless nights at the hospital, innumerable medications (some more helpful than others), bankruptcy, and foreclosure. (We did home dialysis, and just to give you an idea, home dialysis cost around $12,000 a month, and the dialysis machine was $65,000.) Recovery from the transplant took another year. So it’s hard to see people being so flippant about their own health and the health of others; it’s hard to see leaders who are more concerned about shareholders than they are about the health of non-millionaires.

This is something we are never not worried about. Antirejection medications are not a joke. They have to be taken on time, every time. They suppress the immune system which makes Patrick more vulnerable to contagions. Also, a transplant is not a cure—it’s only a treatment. Sidney could eventually give out. Medical advances have opened up more options, so we hope he never has to do dialysis again. I really, really hope we never have to worry about a ventilator for COVID.

So it was a quiet celebration at home, with take-out, chocolates, and binge-watching Killing Eve. We take a moment to reflect on the young woman whose passing has given us our own lives back, as well as improved the lives of at least fifty people. We reflect on her family, total strangers, who we can never repay. We appreciate everyone who is doing their part to protect each other. Thank you.

The day after transplant surgery, June 2012













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