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Post-Transplant Mental Health & Well-being: Q&A with Shelia Jowsey-Gregoire, M.D. Mar 9, 2022 | By Mayo Clinic Transplant Staff (@mayoclinictransplantstaff)Comment receiving replies
I want comment on the "unspoken guilt that patients feel after receiving their transplant". And I want to add that I also felt this guilt while waiting for my transplant. My pastor was very helpful in explaining to me that my donor's death was not because of me. And he helped me to understand the beauty of my donor's ultimate gift of love. Early on, I asked my friends and family to begin praying for my donor and his/her family; that as my gift to them.
After my transplant, I wrote a letter to my donor family. Shortly after that, I received a letter from them. They told me that it as their desire for me to enjoy my new health and life. My guilt was replaced with gratitude.
I am forever grateful,
Rosemary
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@rosemarya I am sure it is inevitable to feel some guilt. I too wrote a letter to my donor's family but never did hear back. That's fine, whatever they feel comfortable with is OK with me. I presume all the transplant centers handle this similarly, the note went to an organ donation center and then is sent to the family by them. I was told that it is often to wait a while so their grief will not be quite as severe and intense, so I waited about 4 months. I do pray for them.
I can only imagine how it would effect me if something happened to my son or daughter and they had signed up to be a donor (I have the feeling that my liver came from a young man). I of course would be happy that they were helping someone in need so hopefully that would assuage some of the pain.
Jane