By Jeanmarie Ferguson

One of my favorite things to do is travel. I love experiencing new places and people. I made the mistake of being afraid to travel initially after my transplant in 2006. However, I realized that with a little planning and paying attention to important details, I could and should travel. Traveling sparks a light in me and I feel more alive than ever. After being given a beautiful gift of life, I should get out into the world and explore.

In the last 10 years, I have traveled to different states and cities throughout the United States. There are so many beautiful places here. But now I am ready to embark on my very first international trip. This is by far the most significant goal and dream I have ever had. I have been in love with Italy and Italian art since I was 15 years old. I am so excited and nervous. I have been waiting for years for the right time. I decided there was no better time than now. 

I started planning this trip years ago and then the pandemic happened. I postponed my dream once again. I allowed self-doubt to take over my thoughts, feeling that it wasn’t realistic to combine international travel and a transplant. The self-doubt was strong. 

While scrolling through Instagram, I found an account called TravelsWithTransplant.  I was so inspired by the tips Vanessa was providing for traveling with a transplant. It gave me a confidence boost to see all the magnificent places she has traveled with a transplant. That is when I decided I was going to make my dream a reality. 

I reached out to Vanessa and discussed the trip I was about to take. And I shared my plans to write about it on Transplantlyfe. I had so many questions for her to help ease my thoughts about traveling.

Vanessa is such an amazing transplant recipient with an inspiring story herself. 

Vanessa received her kidney transplant over 5 years ago, at age 33, as a result of progressive autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. As a career pilot, she has traveled extensively both pre and post-transplant. She credits a great deal of her success to budgeting extra time for her health, keeping plans flexible, and maintaining a positive attitude. She loves advocating travel solutions to the transplant and chronic illness communities who inspire her daily through their own life and travel journeys.

I asked her to share some of her top tips while traveling. She was so gracious in her response. I learned so many great things to make my trip go so much smoother and remove some of the anxiety about traveling so far from home. 

My biggest concern with traveling internationally is knowing when to take my medications once I am in a completely different country. Vanessa recommended using the Medisafe app. I have been using it for a few months now. I like the daily reminders to take my meds. Without our anti-rejection medications, we can’t be successful with our transplant. Of course, talk to your transplant team for advice on how to handle the medications if traveling to a different country or time zone. My team recommends if I take my anti-rejection medications at 9 am and 9 pm Pacific Time, I will take them at 6 pm and 6 am in say Italy. They are 9 hours ahead of us. So the time I would take the anti-rejection pills will be 9 am and 9 pm Pacific time no matter where I am in the world. 

Since our medications are the most important item that we take on our travels, they must always go in your carry-on bag. I also take an extra week of medications with me in case of any delays with getting back home.  

Another important tip is that we must drink plenty of water. I noticed through some of my travels, that travelers don’t realize you can take an empty water bottle with you through TSA. Almost every airport I have been in has an area where you can fill your water bottle for free. I usually do it right away and one more time before I board the plane. 

When I create my itinerary, I always allow for rest days. Sometimes after being on an airplane for a long period of time, with a time zone change, my body gets a bit upset. That is why I schedule those days to just rest at the hotel or wherever my accommodations are. It gives me a chance to enjoy the days that I have something awesome planned. And if I happen to feel just fine on a scheduled rest day, I will get out and explore. I think it’s important that we are gentle with our bodies. They’ve been through a lot. 

I hope these tips have been helpful. And I hope they give you the courage to get out and live your life as you want. With a transplant, we have been given a beautiful gift of freedom from constant wires and hospitals. It is always best to partner with your care teams before going on a trip. The care team is always there to answer any questions that you may have about any travel plans. 

Vanessa continues to inspire me with her wonderful travels! I asked her what her favorite places are that she’s traveled. She said: Cinque Terre, Italy, New Zealand (South Island), and Kyoto Japan. How cool are all those destinations? It opens up so many possibilities for us as transplant patients to get out into the world, taking safe precautions, of course. 

I have shared many tips throughout this article. If you have any questions for Vanessa as you decide if you might take a vacation soon, feel free to reach out to Vanessa with any questions. Make sure to give her a follow on Instagram @TravelsWithTransplant for more travel tips.

“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty

Hi! It’s Jeanmarie. I received my transplanted kidney from my father in January 2006. I’ve had many ups and downs over the last 17 ½ years with this kidney. I had gained weight from a combination of medications and/or lack of exercise from not feeling my best. Via a transplant, we can go from having dietary and fluid restrictions to “freedom”. We finally feel free post-transplant. At least I did.

I was so excited to have freedom with food again. Then my blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight increased around year four. I decided I needed to take control of the situation.

I had done extensive research and talked to my transplant and care team about going on a plant-based diet. They all agreed it would be very beneficial. About 3 months in, I lost weight, and my blood pressure and cholesterol started coming back down. My kidney also seems happier. So did the rest of my body. I had the energy again to start exercising.

It can sound daunting to change the way you eat. But the benefits are so amazing that it is worth the effort.

Melissa J. Webb, MA wrote in her article on Helio.com, “Nephrology professionals may not routinely recommend plant-based diets to patients with kidney disease due to concerns over patient acceptance and their ability to follow the diet plan, according to survey results. The results, presented virtually at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meetings, also highlighted a lack of patient knowledge regarding the benefits of such diets.”

When it comes to starting a plant-based diet, there is so much information on the internet and on social media. Some of it can be so contradictory, making you even more confused on where to start. There is a book that I love called, Plant-Based on a Budget, by Toni Okamoto. (Not sponsored.) It helped me figure out where to begin. There are tips on how to meal plan and prep. It even gives you grocery shopping lists. I love how it taught me how to make balanced meals throughout the week, making sure to not overdo it on protein but get a nice variety of nutrition.

Throughout the years, I have added to the recipes or started to incorporate other recipes I find online so I don’t get bored. I usually pick a day of the week to meal plan and prep for the week. The benefits of meal planning are two-fold. You are less likely to go out to a restaurant or eat fast food and you are not spending tireless hours in the kitchen throughout the week.

I start my morning with black coffee and a smoothie. I like to use Orgain protein. I found that it is the best inexpensive one out there. My morning smoothie recipe is:

You can add or take away anything to the smoothie. In order to not waste any produce, I will prepare and freeze everything. I always have these ingredients frozen and ready to go. This keeps me full until at least lunch. It gives me energy and I don’t find myself wanting to snack.

Some of the challenges I have had with a plant-based diet is eating too much of the processed vegan meats that there are on the market. At the start of the pandemic, I started to notice some stomach issues. I evaluated what I was eating and realized I was eating a lot of frozen vegan meats. At the time, I was trying to minimize the need to leave my house. Once I started eating more cleanly, the stomach issues went away. I feel that with all the transplant medications, we are prone to stomach problems.

I also found over the years that eating strictly too many raw vegetables, my stomach also becomes unhappy. According to an article on the Livestrong website, “Raw vegetables can be difficult to digest due to their high fiber content. However, not fully digesting them doesn’t equal “no benefit.” If raw veggies are a problem for you, cook them first or make sure you’re chewing well enough to take stress off your stomach and intestines.” (Note: making sure the raw veggies are thoroughly washed is especially critical for transplant patients and others on immune suppressive medication.)

The new obsession that I have added to my daily diet is ginger shots. They take away my inflammation. Any joint or muscle aches that I have are also gone. Ginger helps with digestion, reduces cholesterol and lowers blood sugar levels. They make me feel like I am a new woman. I use the recipe on the right but there are so many out there with different variations. You can also add turmeric. Keep in mind only 1 per day. Any more than that can actually cause heartburn.

I have been eating plant-based for 13 years now. My labs usually look very good despite having obvious transplant issues. I still continue to have ups and downs. The medications that we take for transplant can be rough on the body and may cause all sorts of other problems. I’ve been able to keep my body as happy as possible by eating plant-based. 

“The beauty of food as medicine is that the choice to heal and promote health can begin as soon as the next meal.”- unknown.

I am a 43 year old man. I reside in Louisville Kentucky. I am a one time kidney transplant recipient and I am looking for my second transplant. I have been working in the kidney industry for almost 10 years. I have worked as a volunteer, I have worked as a patient advocate for a transplant program here in Kentucky. I have spoken at  variety of different patient roundtable discussions about all things Kidney disease. I am a family man, I have two kids, a daughter, Abigail 12 and a son, Zander 7. I enjoy watching baseball and all kinds of sports movies and podcasts. I am excited to be part of Transplantlyfe

Jill and Jordan share how a life-saving transplant brought them together and grew into a powerful friendship.