The Next Chapter, 2017

Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler

     “So I close my eyes to old ends and open my heart to new beginnings.”   magnoliaelectric.net

Happy 2017!

 

I don’t know about you but I always feel a bit relieved when the new year rolls around.

My holidays were filled with lots of family, food and fun and I relish the sweet memories. I enjoyed my “sacred pause” but now it’s time to move on.

I traditionally clear my home of Christmas on New Year’s Day as my mind turns to the year ahead.

I don’t have a list of resolutions to share.

The only goal I have set for myself is to:

take one day at a time and live in the present, remaining open to opportunities BUT embracing what’s right in front of me, in the moment.

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2016 will go down as a year of health challenges—adjusting to home peritoneal dialysis, and recovering from a fractured wrist being the major ones. It has forced me to slow down which has been a blessing…the silver lining.

My next chapter will entail moving forward with an evaluation for a kidney transplant. Something I didn’t think was an option a year ago is now a reality. With encouragement from my new nephrologist and the wonderful nurses at the dialysis center, I have undergone the required diagnostic testing over these past few months and am scheduled to meet with the transplant surgeon on February 21, 2017.

There are no guarantees. I may not meet the criteria. If that’s the case, I’ll go to another center, two hours away in Syracuse, New York.

It feels right to at least give it a shot.

The thought of not being tethered to this cycler every night or not having to lug a mountain of supplies and equipment wherever I may travel is refreshing.

Although, this cycler has brought me improved health and well-being. A mixed bag.

My cycler-buddy

But I know it won’t be easy.

If I make it on “the list”, I may not find a donor for a while, maybe a matter of years at which point I may be too old. Or I may reject a kidney I’ve been given. Or I may suffer a multitude of side effects from the immunosuppressant drugs I’ll be required to take for the life of the kidney.

Or I may sail through the surgery and begin a new life with a new, healthy kidney.

This is where my faith and hope will get me through as it has so many other times in my life.

I’m aiming for optimism tempered by realism.

 

Faith in the doctors and medical team to do their job to make me whole again.

Faith in my body that it will handle the challenge.

Faith in myself that I will do my part to facilitate the process.

Faith in my God, that I will rely on Him to give me strength.

 

Whatever the outcome ends up being, at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I tried. I will keep you posted along the way.

Until then, my heart is open to new beginnings.

 

How about you? What new beginnings are you looking forward to in the New Year? How do you face challenges in your life? What are your hopes for 2017?

I’d love to hear from you. Please join in the conversation below~

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Next Week:

Monday, January 9, 2017:

“Do Mothers Have a Right to Write Their Own Story? by Maureen Murdock”