I didn’t want to take any chances
Olivia: If they weren’t sick they could come over, but if they were sick, they couldn’t. When I was like three or four months out, mom didn’t let anybody in the house, actually.

Mom: That’s not what the doctor said, I just didn’t want to take any chances!

Olivia: We could have people in the house, but mom’s like, “Um, yeah. Nobody’s coming in the house!” I could talk out my window and I could talk on the balcony.

Mom: Remember when I had that huge stack of masks right there?

Olivia: Yeah! My mom would put masks on the side table, and every time people would walk in, they would have to wear their mask, if they were sick or if they weren’t.

Olivia, 15, and mother

 

Taking care of my kidney and bladder
Isaiah: I have to take care of my kidney and my bladder, that’s about it. Take my medication, and if I do any type of physical activity, I have to wear a protector. And to keep my bladder I have to catheterize every four hours…when I was on dialysis I had to change my diet, but after I got my transplant, it’s free: I can eat more of what I want.

Mom: But he is eating healthier then he used to. Before he used to just eat junky stuff, but since he’s had his transplant, he likes healthier food.

Isaiah: My appetite changed.

Isaiah, 17

 

It feels like it was yesterday
It’s going to be ten years, which is crazy!
It really is surreal. It definitely feels like it was just yesterday that everything happened.
[Later]

I have to make sure that I keep on taking my immunosuppressants. The extra things I do: I really try to eat healthy and drink 2 liters of water a day, which is very important to flush out the toxins and everything. And then I also go to the gym, that’s more for my hips instead.

Samantha, 22