WEBVTT NOTE language:en-US NOTE Confidence: 0.8363587260246277 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:07.510 My name is Marco Santana and I am 42 years NOTE Confidence: 0.8363587260246277 00:00:07.568 --> 00:00:07.800 old. NOTE Confidence: 0.9338980913162231 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:11.800 When I was first on dialysis, it was definitely dramatic. NOTE Confidence: 0.8911031484603882 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:13.760 I literally did crash into it. NOTE Confidence: 0.8971713781356812 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:16.120 I definitely had a fear of the transplant. NOTE Confidence: 0.9522898197174072 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:19.080 So I felt very comfortable on dialysis. NOTE Confidence: 0.8550290465354919 00:00:19.360 --> 00:00:21.476 So I wanted to, I figured I'd just stay on NOTE Confidence: 0.8550290465354919 00:00:21.526 --> 00:00:23.240 it like I I was comfortable there. NOTE Confidence: 0.9466612339019775 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:24.440 I felt like a family. NOTE Confidence: 0.9531583189964294 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:26.553 I felt like I had a place to go and NOTE Confidence: 0.9531583189964294 00:00:26.613 --> 00:00:29.331 they would take care of me, listen to me, you NOTE Confidence: 0.9531583189964294 00:00:29.391 --> 00:00:30.720 know, be there for me. NOTE Confidence: 0.8493796586990356 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:32.880 And the transplant was going to take all that away. NOTE Confidence: 0.930580735206604 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:37.847 I was having so many surgeries, fistula surgeries, graft surgeries, NOTE Confidence: 0.930580735206604 00:00:37.911 --> 00:00:40.559 you know, catheters being placed in that. NOTE Confidence: 0.9431867599487305 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.705 When they started to mention a transplant, I'm like, do NOTE Confidence: 0.9431867599487305 00:00:43.762 --> 00:00:46.393 I really want to go all the way into something NOTE Confidence: 0.9431867599487305 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:47.080 so, so big? NOTE Confidence: 0.9272391200065613 00:00:47.360 --> 00:00:51.319 I had been on dialysis already for about 9 years, NOTE Confidence: 0.9272391200065613 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:55.279 9 1/2 years by the time things started to click. NOTE Confidence: 0.9675757884979248 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.603 What helped, besides the fact that I was having so NOTE Confidence: 0.9675757884979248 00:01:03.663 --> 00:01:07.100 many health issues and surgeries and all these things that NOTE Confidence: 0.9675757884979248 00:01:07.160 --> 00:01:10.301 were messing with my lifestyle to begin with, was the NOTE Confidence: 0.9675757884979248 00:01:10.361 --> 00:01:12.079 fact that I had no lifestyle. NOTE Confidence: 0.6956488490104675 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:15.080 I had become just personal dialysis. NOTE Confidence: 0.8839124441146851 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:19.880 I wasn't following any of my like plan in life. NOTE Confidence: 0.9745174050331116 00:01:19.880 --> 00:01:22.120 I wasn't trying to reach any goals. NOTE Confidence: 0.8725448250770569 00:01:22.440 --> 00:01:24.320 I had basically given up on things. NOTE Confidence: 0.904920756816864 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.750 My care team definitely helped me see myself as less NOTE Confidence: 0.904920756816864 00:01:27.816 --> 00:01:31.115 of a patient and more of just a well-rounded human NOTE Confidence: 0.904920756816864 00:01:31.181 --> 00:01:34.480 being that has interests and that I, you know, had NOTE Confidence: 0.904920756816864 00:01:34.546 --> 00:01:37.581 all these goals that I could be working on and NOTE Confidence: 0.904920756816864 00:01:37.647 --> 00:01:40.879 had all the encouragement in the world from them. NOTE Confidence: 0.9224981069564819 00:01:41.520 --> 00:01:44.656 After the transplant, I went back to school, got a NOTE Confidence: 0.9224981069564819 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:48.546 Medical Sciences degree and then went into nursing school and NOTE Confidence: 0.9224981069564819 00:01:48.608 --> 00:01:50.240 became a registered nurse. NOTE Confidence: 0.9318110346794128 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:54.221 But getting a transplant and being able to have that NOTE Confidence: 0.9318110346794128 00:01:54.290 --> 00:01:57.218 freedom to go and get back to school and be NOTE Confidence: 0.9318110346794128 00:01:57.287 --> 00:02:01.033 more of myself, it seemed, was definitely a choice that NOTE Confidence: 0.9318110346794128 00:02:01.101 --> 00:02:02.600 like, I do not regret. NOTE Confidence: 0.9371343851089478 00:02:03.360 --> 00:02:06.013 It was one of those like happy moments where it's NOTE Confidence: 0.9371343851089478 00:02:06.067 --> 00:02:06.880 like, I'm free. NOTE Confidence: 0.7469712495803833 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:08.920 So it, it was awesome. NOTE Confidence: 0.8347753882408142 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:10.640 Like it was the best feeling ever.