I never said that a positive attitude fixes all, but IN MY OPINION, yes, it helps! (I really don't understand what people have against smiling and being happy, even in tough situations) Believe me, I am by no means, Suzy Sunshine all the time. There are times that I get annoyed, that I am mad that I have to take yet ANOTHER one of my very few vacation days from work to sit in a hospital. That I yet again, developed a pneumonia, that my pfts are down. But guess what, sh*t happens and I'd rather do it with a positive attitude and smile on my face then piss and moan about it. And you know what, I'm determined to get better damnit! I refuse to let anything get to me without one hell of a fight! Plus, there are people who have it a lot worse off then I do, so where the hell is my right to have a bad attitude. In my opinion, I have no right to complain about anything! With all the things that have gone wrong in my life, hell I consider myself one lucky person! And you know what my pfts went up in the last month (knock on wood many times).
There is nothing wrong with having a positive attitude and BELIEVING that that positive attitude will help you through the rough times. If that is what helps people get through the tough times, then by all means, let's be positive. I try to mix a positive attitude with a sense of realism. I am realistic about my life and the things that can go wrong, but my no means do I dwell on it! My mother does though, and this is the reason her and I do not get along and/or agree when it comes to my health. And I think that a majority of people underestimate the mind/body connection. My body knows when I am in a negative mood about something, and if I am sick it takes me longer to heal.
Everyone is going to treat life differently and approach different experiences with a different attitude. Believe me, my transplant situation COULD HAVE BEEN awful if I let it. I was dying, while my friends were attending their final year of college and I was 3000 miles away from home with NO FRIENDS in sight. But what did I do, you ask? I talked to people awaiting transplant and learned everything I could about other people's experiences. My friends came to visit. I got out of the house, saw New Orleans and said to myself this could very well be my last few months on earth...am I going to cry about it? Hell no! If I'm checking out, I'm making sure to go out on top. I actaully had fun waiting for my transplant. I didn't sit around and give myself the chance to even realize what was going on. The first time I got scared and it hit me that I may not make it, was when they were wheeling me back to the operating room. By that time alls I could do was look at the surgeon and say Good Luck!
One more thing, to all of the people waiting for their transplant. Talk to people who have been through it. Not just people who are waiting, or who have been on their evaluation. People who have been through the surgery, the recovery, the good and the bad. We are the people who know what goes one, who have been in the waiting room countless number of times with others who have had their transplants, have seen the good outcomes, the bad outcomes and the worse outcomes. I remember I got a call for lungs 13 days after I was in New Orleans. It turned out to be a dry run. A couple of days later I was thankful it didn't go through because I realized I wasn't ready. All of my questions were not answered. So for the next five months, I searched out transplant patients. I asked them all of my questions until I gained a strong sense of peace. I had asked all of my questions and I was ready for that call. Whatever lay ahead of me, I was ready to handle it, good or bad. I truly felt it was in God's hands at that point. And that sense of peace, of being READY for that call is super important.
And I almost look at transplant as a right of passage too which is why i am telling you, original poster to talk to people who have been through it. You truly cannot understand the transplant experience until you have been through it.
Would I do it again? Absolutely! Would I remain as positive as I did the first time? By all means.
Good Luck to all who are waiting. And ask those questions, and stay positive no matter what anyone says.
And as usual Risa, your transplant story never ceases to amaze me. Your attitude is contagious and you are seriously one of my heroes!
