Welcome, and thank you for being here.

This blog is a space I’ve created to document a deeply personal journey: my experiences going through a combined kidney and pancreas transplant.

The road that led here has been long — winding through years of type 1 diabetes, the challenges of kidney failure, and all the medical, emotional, and practical complexities that come with both. It’s a road still unfolding, with hope on the horizon and no guarantees — just forward motion.

This isn’t meant to be a medical journal, though I will share details of treatment and recovery. It’s more a kind of diary, a way of making sense of things in real time. Some days might be hopeful. Others may not. But I intend to be honest. Whether you’re here as a fellow patient, a friend, a curious reader, or someone walking a parallel path, you are most welcome.

Along the way, I’ll write about:

  • The transplant process — from waiting lists to hospital bags.
  • The small wins and setbacks that rarely make headlines.
  • What it feels like, really feels like, to put your life in someone else’s hands — and to wait.
  • Reflections, observations, and the quiet thoughts that don’t fit neatly into medical charts.
  • The things I have learnt as a patient that “they never tell you”.

I don’t know where this will go. But I do know that writing helps me move forward. And maybe, just maybe, reading it will help someone else too.

Thank you for walking alongside me.

— Michael