WOW, I have surpassed the 6 month mark since my “new addition”!! Every day is still amazing to me and I am becoming a little bit more open about my story and what brought me to this season in my young life. I always get a crazy look or question when people hear that I have had a transplant, 🙂 My favorite so far is ” really? you don’t even look like it!” Im not sure what a transplant recipient looks like, but apparently I don’t match the description! lol! I have been doing great with recovery and am in awe of how much everything has changed over the course of the last 6 months. I feel so much better and am not constantly dealing with the high or lows in my day. I actually know what it feels like to have a day where I feel fairly consistent. When I was still on insulin I had days that were awful and eventually I had gotten used to them. My moods would change erratically, I had migraines and I was always tired.

Since the transplant I have a new set of meds, but am so excited to say that none of them contain a mood stabilizer or anti depressant, which is HUGE for me. I had been placed on an anti depressant when I was 15 years old due to the hormonal changes that came from the insulin and fluctuating blood sugars, and had been on it up until July 23, 2013. I was able to start back to work in January and honestly I was scared to death that I would be sick and that I made the wrong decision to go back, but it has been great and everyone I come in contact with is so supportive and I have yet to have any problems. There are so many small things that I am still noticing, and its exciting to know that the road only gets better! A lot of people have asked how long my new pancreas will last, and the answer is…technically my new pancreas is supposed to have a life of 8-10 years in most cases. But I pray every day that God will wrap his hands around my pancreas and make it last as long as I do! If it does happen that the life of my pancreas runs its course before I my time is up, I will be back on the list for another hand me down!

I am still and always will be an advocate for Type 1. I told a friend after my transplant that if I had the option to give the new pancreas to a child with Type 1 that I would willingly and without hesitation hand it over and go back to the old way of living. No child deserves the life that diabetes has to offer.

My God gave me a life story far better than I could ever have dreamed of!!

Natalie