Today the Pink Dot Club was featured at the Club Fair. The Pink Dot Club is a club at my High School that raises awareness for organ transplant. The Club Fair is an annual gathering of clubs at my High School for students to explore.
I left my class early to help the club president, Maddy, set up her booth. The sun was burning intensely, so I whipped out some sunscreen and spread it on my skin. Skin cancer is much easier to contract after transplant.
The substitute librarian stopped and looked at our club booth. She read the description and asked for more information. Maddy introduced the club and I introduced myself as a heart transplant recipient. I was shocked to learn that the substitute librarian had a kidney transplant.
Amy McCarthy, the substitute librarian, had her transplant when she was 40. I talked to her and she asked me what medication I was taking. I said Prograf, Cellcept, Cardizem, and Gleevec (my chemotherapy drug to control my eosinophils). She said it was amazing how I was only 4 months out of transplant and was taking such few medications. I said it was amazing that I wasn’t the only person to have a transplant. Someone I could finally relate to, which I described in detail at my first day of school, August 13, 2018.
Suddenly it seemed that I wasn’t the only person that’s gone through this. It’s so strange transitioning from being in the hospital to a “normal” life. I’m glad to have guidance from an older adult.
Once the club fair started, I met the other officers of the club. They seemed nice, but they didn’t pay much attention to me. People kept on coming to the booth. I didn’t say I had a heart transplant 100% of the time because I was still deciding if I should be normal.
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