Mood changes after transplant

The most important message the Celebration Of Life is those who have made it possible, the precious gift of LIFE their families are honored..
God Bless each everyone of the families. 💚🌻

Hi , All the above comments r so true and very informative for new TP patients. I can remember feeling all the above and now almost 3yrs. I am feeling stronger and living my best life ever. My donor family contacted me after 6months and we stay in touch thru letters, I usually write the month of April every year. April is celebration of life for donor families and recipients. My donor was only 25.
Keep strong and know it will get better. So glad u found this site.😊💚

Congratulations on your transplant! I had my liver transplant in Jan 2020. While I was still in hospital I was encouraged to write my donor family. I must have started my letter over 30 times. I was fortunate to hear from my donor family first, which made it so much easier to put my words on paper. On my 1 year anniversary we were able to meet in person. Since our meet up we've kept in contact with an occasional card or text. This experience has been wonderful! Not only am I able to express my gratitude, but my donor family can see the hope their loved one has given to the recipient families. My donor saved 5 women's lives by being an organ donor...what a gift! I wish you the best! I hope your letter gets to your donor family!

I experienced depression post-kidney transplant, and I had a live donor.

I think our minds and bodies are so focused on survival, prior to surgery, and we are energized by all the fight or flight hormones for an extended period of time. For me, when the surgery, which I had been so focused on surviving, was over; I felt lost. The recovery took longer than I thought it would. My body had gone through a pretty major trauma, and the mind is part of the body. It has to go through a healing process as well.

Then the COVID pandemic hit, I had my surgery 2/2020. And where I had once been getting weaker everyday, suddenly I was getting stronger every day. My mindset went from to survival to "Now what?" Who am I, if I am not struggling to survive? Which sounds kind of pitiful, as I read it, but it was a very real stage of recovery for me.

The good news is that it gets better. I accepted the emotions, as part of my overall recovery. And decided I had a unique opportunity. My life had been over at age 54. And then I was given a new one. What did I want to fill it with? Who did I want to fill it with? What good did I want to put in the world, with this second chance? And I started to rebuild.

Everybody's journey is different. However, the emotional rollercoaster is definitely for real. Hang in there, it get's better.

I have given a great deal of thought about my donor who was deceased. I have yet to write the family. I did ask If I could and have not recieved a response as yet. I really which to share my gratitude and how this gift was a true life changing experience.

Totally off topic, but what kind of dance do you do? I am also a dancer:)

I think you want a broad support system - those that have known & loved you for awhile, and some new people, who have been through a transplant. The old friends may not understand transplant specific things but they care about you. The new friends can help a bit with the transplant specific stuff.
Your medical team should also be a part of your support system. Let them know you are experiencing depression, anxiety, impatience, or whatever your emotions are. The meds are powerful, especially at first, and sometimes they need to be lowered or switched. They can definitely add to depression, because they are, in fact, designed to depress our system, so as not to attack our new organs.

When I had my transplant I was like a horse with blinders on and focused on one hurdle at a time. Last month which was one year after the 36 rounds of chemo and radiation. I was crying at everything and thought I lost my passion to dance. My doctor said that my body and mind had been through trauma a year ago and I was experiencing something like PTSD.
Tell your doctor what you are experiencing. Acknowledge the trauma and know that with the advice of the doctor the trauma will subside. Grief is also a part of the healing process.
I am back to dancing three times a week and feeling much better.
Keep the faith, Barbara

Thank you for sharing with me. You nailed the emotion going from fighting to survive, being completely flattened in depression that I never experienced in my life. Each day I try to show gratitude and give back to others. It's frustrating for me to have friends say why aren't you doing this or exercising or eating this or reading that. Honestly want to tell them to go fix themselves.. I don't expect them to understand since I'm fighting to stop the negative thoughts when I should accept that it's temporary. Honestly It makes me not want to communicate with others that have not gone thru this because I couldn't have fathomed it either without going thru it. Is it normal to want to avoid the ones that have not been thru this?