Transplant_ed!

Ok, so being a heart transplant recipient is not an achievement, but a seriously undeserved, unearned and unexpected opportunity to...., well, what? When I received the transplant 7 years ago I had a whole ream of life changing intentions - some have come about, some I managed to achieve, but most sit there on the edge of my memory like a bunch of cynical 7 year olds sitting on a wall, kicking their heels and chewing gum.

This blog is the beginning of an attempt to get a couple of the kids off the wall - find others who are living with transplants, encourage those who are waiting, perhaps develop a community of "tx'ers" (transplant recipients) so that we can think about and maybe influence post-transplant care.

So, what's your story? 

Hi and thanks for the visit.

You're busy, and I should be, so cutting to what chase there is:

I'm an academic at the University of Cape Town (South Africa). I'm starting this blog to try and raise some interaction around two different issues, one professional, one personal. Yeah, I've been told that two issues in one blog is not "good blogging", but generating and monitoring two blogs is more than I have time for (I suspect). Maybe I'm being hopeful.

The professional issue:

Tutors (roughly similar to GTAs in the US) and tutorials (small group teaching sessions) are a feature of (most) South African student's lives.Sometimes both can be great, sometimes utterly forgettable - I'd really like to hear about the experiences (NO personal names please!) of people relating to university tutorials - and any ideas about how they should be run, used, changed whatever. Why? well' 'cos in essence its my job to try and find ways of getting them to work, and for tutors and their (fellow) students to find them useful.

The personal one:

Living with an organ transplant (mine was a heart transplant in 2000) 

There have been numerous attempts to get a post-transplant support / lobby group going in SA (as there are in the US and elsewhere) - but while there are a few individuals who get involved, generally nothing much seems to have worked. Anyone interested enough to share their experiences, identify issues and see how we can help those new to the post-tx life, or waiting to begin it?