No to a transplant Anthony, are you crazy? Who in their right mind says no to receiving a life-saving transplant? Whoa, ok, back just a little. This was just some reason that I thought about saying No to Transplant. Let’s just read on and I will share with you some of these reasons.
During my time on dialysis, especially when the medical team would rounds, transplant was almost always brought up. Well Mr. Reed the Doctor would say where are you on the transplant list after a few minutes of discussion about transplant and then a few minutes about how dialysis was going along with a minute or two about this and that. The rounding team would move on, things seemed good, at least I answered how they wanted me to answer. Wait a minute Anthony, you mean you knew how to answer the medical team without raising alarms especially about getting a transplant. You see, I had many questions and a few reservations on why I should get a transplant and why not just stay on dialysis. What do you mean, stay on dialysis? It was during these questions to myself that these reasons would come to mind…
Not enough of the right information
I want to do a little role playing to show you one of the first reasons why saying no was a consideration. Just imagine with me for a little while that a friend came to you and said I want to take you on a vacation. You don’t have to worry about the cost, it is all taken care of. That’s great where we are going. Don’t worry about it, just know it’s all taken care of.
Now how many of you would want to go on this vacation. You don’t know when you are going, where you are going, how you are getting there, what you need to pack and how long is your stay. Would you want to go on this trip? I am sure that most of you would say I need more information. For me, this was a must to make this life-changing decision. More information was a must, and not just any information, but good information. What would the right information look like?
- Stories of successful transplant
- What to expect to make a successful recovery
- Positive information about the transplant process and so on.
A decision is made based on information and depending on whether that information is good or bad determines your outcome.
Anthony E Reed
Too much of the wrong information.
Too much of the wrong information wait a minute Anthony is not this reason just a different side to the same coin. Yes, it is, but without both sides you may not know what type of coin you are holding. There is a perception out there today to get all the information you can, but by doing this you open yourself up to not only good information but a lot of bad or negative information. Once I was told about transplant, one of the first things I did which was one of the biggest mistakes that I made was go straight to the internet for information. While the internet was created to help us find information that we need, connect with others and so many other good things, it also has its negative side as well. It was not long after searching about transplant that I came across the stories about failures, procedures going wrong, some even stated it was the worst decision they made and encouraged others not to get a transplant. So how did I overcome this reason to say no? Jim Rohn said it best “ Be a Student Not A Follower” Take a little from here and a little from there and form your own opinion. Also, don’t look through the trash to find the valuable things in life. While every once in while you may find something of value, is it worth getting dirty for it and what does that say about who you are as a person? If I came across a negative story I did not want to read or hear about it for I knew it would destroy me first inside and out. Eventually, I stopped searching on the internet for things that would have hindered me from saying yes.
Fear and the State of Comfortability
Have you ever thought about fear? It is an interesting emotion because it can make us do some crazy things. Some may be good, others not so good. So what causes fear to take hold of many people. There are many things that could make us fear. Fear of change is a big one. Most people hate change, and they love to be in the state of comfortability. The best example I can give is one of the thoughts that I had at dialysis. Why go for a transplant? There is so much involved, the surgery, the medication, the lifestyle change that I would need to make, and what if it does not work, and I have to stay on dialysis, and even worse what if it fails, and I have to go back on it? If just one of those what ifs came true, then I am in trouble. Dialysis is not too bad. I have the schedule down and my diet, while it has not been the best, still must be ok as my labs look good. Plus, I am comfortable where I am, and this sounds risky. True it did but is not life itself risky? A good question and one I asked myself on many occasions. You see how it works. First thoughts of fear would come in and little try to bury me and my dream of not having dialysis and receiving a transplant in the graveyard of comfortability. Second, my mind would try to overthink the process. By the time both of these are done with someone, it can be almost impossible to turn around.
Though these thoughts would come in from time to time I always asked myself if it’s risky why not at least try it, you never know what a beautiful life you can have unless you try to reach for the sky.
While many times these thoughts came in, there was one thing I did. Kept my eye on the prize, looked neither to the left or to the right, determined that there was a better life ahead for me. Soon, that resolve that I made to myself would be put to the greatest test that I ever had faced. Up ahead, I would have to face the river of procrastination and then walk through the valley in the mountain and come face to face with the fear and stand toe to toe with death itself.
Kidney Trails 