Life After

Everyone constantly talks about how there is always life after the disease. Well, I’m going against that. Of course there’s life after, but if you sit around waiting you’re going to miss out on so much! If I had waited around for a medicine or infusion to work, or a surgeon to say yes to a surgery I would have missed out on a majority of my childhood and of high school.

When I was a patient at Georgetown as a kid, whenever I got the chance I would leave the hospital, go to the practice field (that I could see from my room), and watch the men’s lacrosse team practice. I was obviously the outcast in the stands during practice, since a majority of the time it was just my dad and I watching, so the boys and their coach caught on. That week a few players came up my room to visit me. I remember very little of that visit but I do remember playing video games for an hour or so with these guys I idolized.

This also happened with a few girls’ lacrosse players. I remember sitting in my hospital room with my boyfriend at the time looking out the window at the physical build I’ve known for my whole life: lacrosse players. I looked at him and said, “bet money they’re coming to see me!” Just so happens my parents saw them in the cafeteria and told them about my situation and they came to visit. I was even invited to a game where there was a special team shirt and an autographed poster was waiting for me. I know that these players probably got service hours out of seeing me but that didn’t matter and it still doesn’t.

Now, for some of the hardest years of my, and every teenage girl’s, life…high school. No I didn’t have a normal high school experience. If I had let UC control my life I would have missed out on both my senior homecoming and my senior prom. I was lucky enough to have the best friend a girl could ask for in high school who took me to homecoming, feeding tube and all. My post transplant prom, I didn’t even want to look in the mirror because I looked so sick. Not only did my amazing date make sure that night was one to remember, but that same best friend stayed by my side a majority of the night. I’ve said this before, letting people in can sometimes turn around and bite you, but sometimes you end up lucking out and finding some of the best people.

I’m not going to sit here and say that I didn’t hold myself back from a lot when I was sick. There were days I couldn’t drag myself out of bed, it’s the worst feeling in the world. But to miss out on so much because of being sick is stupid. We don’t know what our future holds with these diseases; we don’t know if we’re going to get better or if things are going to take a turn for the worst. Live for the now and enjoy it while you have it. You never know when that option will be taken away.