Illness experience and authorship of life in a "transplanted person" with Lupus: A DIPEx perspective

We present a case of a 37 yo woman who underwent a heart and kidney transplantation due to Lupus and has had a 10-year follow-up without significant complications or Lupus recurrence. Her case was part of a DIPEx International project with heart transplant patients, and we discussed, from a DIPEx perspective, the importance of narrative and illness experience to her recovery. She made a video of various stages of her illness period and was able to regain her sense of life purpose through the narrative resources she developed in her rehabilitation period. We also consider the concept of authorship of life and how the integration of her senses of life purpose and authorship of life have significantly reinforced her resilience and coping mechanisms and may be responsible for her successful outcome in the 10-year milestone of a heart and kidney transplantation.