Indeterminate times: deconstructing the myth of recovery through embodied narrative maieutics

Abstract: Kidney transplantation is generally presented as a decisive turning point towards a fuller and healthier life. This narrative is supported by return-to-work (RTW) rates and rising health- related quality of life (HRQoL) metrics. However, research based on lived experiences reveals a much more complex and variable reality. This study investigates individual experiences of life post-transplant with a specific focus on work and organisational elements. Methodologically, the paper offers a novel contribution by adopting an in-depth maieutic embodied approach. Through the cyclical elicitation of experiences between participants and the lead researcher - who shares the same somatic trajectory - shared embodied histories come to life. The analysis of these four narratives (Alfonso, Vittoria, Speranza, Maria) deconstructs the linearity of “recovery,” revealing how workers' Crip Spacetime collides with a structural organized numbness: an institutional desensitization that fails to attune to the materiality of bodies.