Today organ donation week starts in the UK , it moved from July to September a couple of years ago. I think that's when my enthusiasm for this week declined to where I am now not wanting to get involved. I feel guilty of course I do and I feel selfish mainly because I am. This will be the 15th or 16th National Transplant Week since Eloise's heart transplant and I don't feel ready to prepare any information to share online.
This week my Facebook is going to be saturated with the obligatory back to school photograph against a white door and I therefore feel that organ donation promotion will get lost in this ocean of a new school year beginning. Everyone is quite rightly busy with what is important to them. In this house I have Eloise starting 6th form and Leah going to uni, very important growing up milestones. I want to focus my attention on my family. I don't want to flood social media with endless posts, we are all different and what's important to me may not be relevant to you and that's ok. We just scroll on. When National Transplant Week now called Organ Donation Week was in July it fitted into the calendar better in my opinion as it was near the British Transplant Games. This sporting event is a massive celebration of post transplant achievements. I think organ donation awareness should start at school especially from year 7 onwards. With this week being in September schools will be too busy this week settling everyone in and getting them used to their new schedules. Obviously this year there maybe a media frenzy so organ donation gets the air time and newspaper coverage it deserves but the last two years have passed with little publicity in my opinion.
Of course I may change my mind as the week goes by I don't know. I used to enjoy this week when it was in July and share so much on my Heart Transplant Community Page. Real life stories of lives changed by organ donation, photos of heart transplant survivors. I used to tweet them too, but my Twitter account is very neglected. Life gets in the way and I'm glad it does . This is normal, all I've craved for Eloise is a normal childhood . During this week she'll start her A'levels and at least one of her subjects will be at another secondary school. She'll also turn 17 !!!! I know an amazing age one I never thought she'd reach. I'm truly blessed. Before I wrote this blog post I emailed Rebecca, the mum of Zara's donor to explain to her how I was feeling. She was the person I chose to be honest with. I don't feel good about feeling this way but I wanted you to know my reasoning.
Organ donation is always on my radar, it's a huge part of my life every single day. I think of Zara and Rebecca so very often and I'll never forget that but selfishly I don't want to be swamped continuously by transplant issues and transplant life. I don't want to miss the ordinary . I'm not wanting to ignore the difficult side of post transplant life I just don't want to dwell on it. I'm still here for my transplant family, I hope you know that but this year my efforts will be minimalist ! Maybe it's just someone else's turn ? The last couple of years have been a turning point for me mentally and I've dealt with quite a few demons. Dates that used to upset me greatly are dealt with without tears. I recognise these important dates and the impact they've had on Eloise's life but I appreciate the extra days she's been given.
I don't know what the answer is for organ donation in the UK, will the government adopt the Opt Out system ? I don't think so, not at the moment. Is it the answer to the shortage of organs , quite possibly if you look at figures from Wales. Even if we had this system in place it's only for over 18's parents still have to "gift" their child's organs. It's nice to know Rebecca thought of organ donation and wanted Zara's life to have meaning.
I hope you understand , if you don't please feel free to delete me. I'm like a spoilt toddler having a tantrum, no I'm like a kid that doesn't want to share ! That's just it I've shared and possibly over shared for 15 years , I'm having a chill. I do want those waiting for a transplant to be as lucky as we've been of course I do. I just need to find a happy medium for promoting organ donation and juggling family life so I don't get engulfed.
I'll leave you with my organ donation happy ending Eloise
Eloise 17 on the 7th September 2017 , 15 extra healthy and happy years because a family said yes to organ donation. Starting 6th form college to study two ICT A'levels and Geography.
