TLDR: Find us on Caring Bridge, please.
(Read on for musing on how the pandemic prepared us for the imminent fun of organ transplantation.)
When Adam’s kidney numbers took a nose dive we had already been self-isolating for four months, just like most people. One of the features of a kidney transplant is compromised immunity: Adam will be on a cocktail of immunosuppressant drugs following the transplant to keep his own body from attacking the transplanted organ. I’ll be honest, it’s the scariest part for both of us. The amount of meds he will need to take, for starters, is frightening especially when you factor in the US healthcare system of dysfunction. But there’s also just a sense of vulnerability that came with the territory. Will we ever get on an airplane again? Go to a crowded show at the Turf Club? Touch the handrail of an escalator?
This miserable pandemic has provided us with the opportunity to prepare for our immuno-paranoid future in ways I could not have imagined:
– We have learned how to balance risk and reward, for example “is the relative risk of going for a masked walk with a friend worth the mental health reward of being 20% less of an asshole for the rest of the week?” (the answer is yes)
– It has taught us how to wash our hands. For the record, I have replaced the Happy Birthday song with the chorus to Purple Rain.
– We have adapted to a quieter, less social life. Adam has gone through a forced withdrawl from his community at Palmers and live music in general, which is a real sadness. Some day we will find a way to enjoy these things safely again.
– We’ve adapted to technological ways of connecting. I have Zoom coffee nearly every week with my mom and my sister, a true gift. And I’ve reluctantly returned to social media to weather all that 2020 dished out: pandemic, the uprisings, the election. Ultimately, it was social media that allowed a donor to find Adam. And it is digital connection that has led me here.
That being said, I originally started this blog as a way to keep in touch with people as Adam went through his procedures and recoveries. Recently, a few friends have undergone serious medical procedures and I could tell that Caring Bridge made it VERY easy to communicate out, but also that many people used it to communicate WITH my friend and her partner in ways that I think were very supportive.
So: I’ll continue to muse and write here because, well, it’s HERE and I said I would and (maybe you can tell) I’ve missed writing. But for the blow by blow, or for ways to help including food and money and the sending of vibes, please visit our Caring Bridge site.
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