Tony: Tony was thrilled when the time finally arrived for his kidney transplant. He was fed up with dialysis. And he hated coming to the hospital every few days. The staff understood. Teenagers often had a hard time accepting the limitations of dialysis.
Tony had one dream in mind. This was to spend an entire summer at his uncle's cottage in the far north. He imagined himself hiking, canoeing and fishing. Dialysis made it impossible for him to be isolated for so long. But the dream kept his spirits high while waiting for his turn at transplantation.
Unfortunately, Tony became very ill after surgery. He was terrified that he would lose his new kidney. "I never expected anything to go wrong," he said to his nurse. "I wanted a kidney so badly. I figured I would recover faster than any other recipient in history."
One month later, Tony had recovered well and was ready to leave the hospital. He had not lost his kidney. It worked well. But he had faced several setbacks while in hospital. It had seemed like whenever the team fixed one problem, another occurred. They told him that he was fine now. But Tony thought, "They have been wrong before. They do not really know what is going to happen with me."
Tony's family knew that he wasn't himself. He had so many plans for his life after transplantation. But he wasn't even keeping up with the things he had done before. His schoolwork suffered. He missed doctors' appointments. When his uncle asked him when he would be well enough to come to the cottage, Tony replied only "Who knows?" He looked sullen. He showed little optimism for his future. It was obvious to Tony's family that he needed help.
Reluctantly, Tony agreed to let the team know what was happening. They knew that his expectations for rapid recovery had been severely challenged. "What you have been through would discourage anybody," they said. "It might help you work things through if you attended the support group that our psychologist holds." But they also thought that some of Tony's trouble might be due to Prednisone. This anti-rejection drug can cause depression in some recipients. They decided that they could lower the dose of this drug. After a few weeks, Tony felt more himself. He could describe what was on his mind during the weeks after surgery. "I could not help but think that I was doomed. There didn't seem to be any point in trying. I knew that I could get sick again any time. Because of this, I was afraid to go to the cottage. I still know that life is risky. So I will be careful. Others in the group have been through as much or worse. They are getting on with their lives. I'm not going to give in. I am going fishing."