It is nearly 4 years since my double transplant which is working fine, anyone who has read some of my posts will know that it has not been easy with the damage the diabetes had already done. A brief recap after the transplant we found out that all my nerves were damaged, issues with bladder and bowel, pain and mental health. The mental health has been going on for 25 years, after the transplant and you get sorted with the new medication there is this wave of guilt of the reason that you are alive and someone has died but they say this is normal.
When you are ready to go home with tablets and regular visits back to the hospital 3 times a week at first. The transplant in the main is done on type one diabetics but in the whole of the UK around 25 are done each year. This is where me and my transplant team found a problem if you have a kidney transplant there is the kidney foundation, the same with hearts and lungs. For a pancreas and kidney there is nothing as far as we have found at the Freeman, so it is hard for us to find people who have also had the transplant.
Even with the support from the hospital it is like walking in the dark as you do not know if what you are doing is right and as we talked about it more there was more people who got depressed i tried to explain that sometimes you do not want to talk to family. You would like to talk to someone who went through the same as you as they will know and understand better but with such a low number and the cost of setting anything up are slim. The consultants have tried to explain to people that are on the waiting list of what could happen when they go home, i can talk to other diabetics as i have ticked most of the what can happen boxes and do it without a problem. I do this as diabetes has come along way since 1979 and hopefully a cure will be found so that people do not have to live with diabetes. If there are any SPK out there i would love to chat and see how you coped and if your transplant team have any support network that helps you.
When you are ready to go home with tablets and regular visits back to the hospital 3 times a week at first. The transplant in the main is done on type one diabetics but in the whole of the UK around 25 are done each year. This is where me and my transplant team found a problem if you have a kidney transplant there is the kidney foundation, the same with hearts and lungs. For a pancreas and kidney there is nothing as far as we have found at the Freeman, so it is hard for us to find people who have also had the transplant.
Even with the support from the hospital it is like walking in the dark as you do not know if what you are doing is right and as we talked about it more there was more people who got depressed i tried to explain that sometimes you do not want to talk to family. You would like to talk to someone who went through the same as you as they will know and understand better but with such a low number and the cost of setting anything up are slim. The consultants have tried to explain to people that are on the waiting list of what could happen when they go home, i can talk to other diabetics as i have ticked most of the what can happen boxes and do it without a problem. I do this as diabetes has come along way since 1979 and hopefully a cure will be found so that people do not have to live with diabetes. If there are any SPK out there i would love to chat and see how you coped and if your transplant team have any support network that helps you.