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School
My biggest worry is maybe friends, actually, since I’m not in school and it’s really hard for them to visit me and stuff a lot. When I go back, because I’ll probably go back starting next year in high school, if they’ll remember me and stuff and if they’ll have all different friends and stuff. And if then I’d be like an outcast or something- I don’t know.
When I went back to school it was very hard because I sometimes I got teased about being fat and puffy from the steroids but it wore off and I looked normal. If that ever happens just pay no attention. If anybody teases you about anything having to do with your operation or anything else and if it is hard for you, you can talk about it with your parents when you get home, if you would like. Or a doctor that you may see. And if you are worried about getting sick from your heart or anything else it always helps to talk about it with someone and you get better and you don't have anything to worry about, don't worry at all, just concentrate on other things like sports, having fun and stuff like that.
I didn’t go back to school full time at first, because I had to get adjusted to some other things, so I tried to do half days. I had my own schedule, but one of the hardest things is that you’re at home and your friends are at school. I got tutoring at home when I got back, and a home nurse who came to the house once or twice a day just to check up on me to see how I was doing. And I had a physical therapist that came to the house, because I had developed clots from sitting in bed after the surgery. I finished the courses that semester doing half days, and I didn’t start doing full days until the next year. But I was glad I did things that way, because I found it so difficult to catch up with the work that the teacher would give me.
When I was a freshman in high school, my kidney started rejecting in the beginning of the year, and it finally went in April. It was really hard at first; I had just started high school, and high school is hard enough. Being sick all the time made it really tough to get the work done and show up for class. I basically stayed home to get all of my medical stuff squared away, and we figured that I would miss the year of school. But the school was extremely helpful and got a tutor for me, and she helped me to get back on track. She was there up until my second transplant; she showed up three times a week, and we covered the four major subjects. We only did the classes I needed to graduate. Once the teachers found out what was happening, we all sat down, and they made up separate work for me to do; I didn’t have to do all that the other students were doing. I had enough to keep me busy, though.
After I got my transplant and returned to school, everybody at the high school was very happy for me and they were so glad to see me. I was gone for fourteen months and it was weird to be back in school, but at the same time it was nice to be back and nice to be healthy. It felt great to be able to be just like anybody else. So it was a really good feeling to return to school and to be all right. At first I went back once a week for a few hours a day, just to get back into it. And then we increased it to twice a week, and I did that from March until June. That was supposed to be my senior year, but I wasn’t able to graduate because I didn’t have enough of my classes finished. So I returned in the fall for what I called my second senior year. I did mind at first, but I got over it because I figured that everybody would like a chance to go back for another year. So I figured I might as well take advantage of it. It really was nice; the following senior class really took me in just like I was one of them because they knew who I was.
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Worries
Half Days
Tutor
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Copyright © 2005, Children's
Hospital Boston Department of Psychiatry. All Rights Reserved. The information on this website should not be taken as medical advice, which can only be given to you by your personal health care professional. July 26, 2005 |
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