It took me almost 17 years to believe it was OK for me to be a transplant recipient. I was always fighting it. I was always trying to prove I was other things first; a regular kid, an artist, a dancer, a student, cool (lol), whatever. I would come up with things and then try… Continue reading The Coolest Thing About Organ Donation
Tag: heart transplant
What makes you, you?
When I was younger, I used to hate at the beginning of a new school year when the teacher would go around the room asking each student to tell the class “a little about yourself”. This was worse torture to me than showing up for an exam that I didn’t know about. (possibly because I… Continue reading What makes you, you?
Share this:
Share this:
October 16th, 2001
October 15th, 2001 was probably the scariest day of my life. It was the day I found out there was a heart for me. After months of searching, they had found a match. At the beginning of June 2001 this whirlwind showed up in my life. It stole my air. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t… Continue reading October 16th, 2001
Share this:
Share this:
“What do You want?”
The other day I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment. I had no idea what to do. I was wearing a robe, a tank top, pj pants, and slippers. I had gone to the garbage chute which is right next to my apartment. I heard an odd click as my door closed behind me… Continue reading “What do You want?”
Share this:
Share this:
What It’s Like To Be A Quitter
When I was younger, I used to quit things a lot. There was a very good reason for it but it still made me feel like a loser. I used to quit things that were too hard. The first and probably worst thing I ever quit was my swim classes. Before I got sick, my… Continue reading What It’s Like To Be A Quitter
Share this:
Share this:
Shift Change
“It’s 7 o’clock” I said to my mom nervously. 7 o’clock. I dealt with so many scary things every day. 7 o’clock was another one of those scary things. I inhaled deeply and tried to exhale my fear of who might walk through the door. They never came in right away. Of course, I wasn’t… Continue reading Shift Change
Share this:
Share this:
February 14th, 2020
I’m lying in bed looking up at my funky light fixture with the sun streaming through the crack in my black out curtains and I’m trying to breathe. I can’t seem to expand my torso. I can only inhale for 2 seconds and it gets cut. I have to get up, I’m going to be… Continue reading February 14th, 2020
Share this:
Share this:
Dear Jhon,
As a kid I was incredibly shy. As a baby, my mom would take me out around people and I would cry non-stop. I never spoke in school and dreaded being called upon. Even now my body temperature rises considerably when It’s my turn to talk in a meeting or a group setting. But the… Continue reading Dear Jhon,
Share this:
Share this:
It’s About Being Alive
18 years ago I had a heart transplant and I’ve been completely different and exactly the same ever since. Easter, 8 years pre-transplant Not sure what I mean? It’s the beauty of organ donation. We get to live on and be us. For how long? There is a lot of speculation and statistics around this… Continue reading It’s About Being Alive
Share this:
Share this:
A little late in the Season
“It’s a little late in the season!” My dad and I had just gotten to where we store our small sailboat to set it all up when we heard this comment. In the last few years we’ve been through a lot. Family falling ill, needing major surgeries, even myself ending up in the hospital for… Continue reading A little late in the Season
Laura Bradley 