Trevor: When Trevor first learned that he had cardiomyopathy, he decided to fight the illness with all he had at his disposal. However, as his heart muscle steadily weakened, Trevor found his life gradually taken from him.
Trevor learned that he could save strength by traveling less with work. Later, he gave up going to the golf club. It tired him too much. Each year, he had to further decrease his time at the office. The other partners in the law firm took over many of his clients. Even when at home, he could do less and less around the house. When his doctor finally told him that it was time to consider a heart transplant, there was no hesitation on Trevor's part. If a new heart could give him his life back, he was ready to take any chance.
Only one year later, Trevor returned to work with a new heart in his chest. His drive to recover his life had pulled him through whatever illness and transplant had placed in his way. His partners were thrilled to see him back at the office.
But Trevor quickly noticed that all was not the same. At a six-month review, he had fewer new clients than several of the other partners. Before, this would have bothered him greatly. He would have thought, "I can not let the others earn more than I do. I am a better lawyer. How does it look? What will they think?"
Earning less didn't bother Trevor now. It seemed a small price to pay for more time at home. He found himself daydreaming about an early retirement. And he thought about taking his family on an extended trip through Asia. When young, he had promised himself that he would see the world. At other times, he had difficulty falling sleep. The work that he was doing on behalf of a company charged with pollution was always on his mind. He would never have let this bother him before. He had always kept his professional and personal life separate.
These new attitudes puzzled Trevor. "What does it mean? Am I not the same as before the transplant? Has it changed me?" He had worked so hard to regain his health and life. But now he seemed to want a very different life.