I have witnessed for myself the gift of being an organ donor and let me tell ya, it is worth it.
My husband was put on the list to receive a kidney in April-May 2016. The exact date he was approved was in that time frame. We had to fly to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD and stay for almost a week. The week consisted of meeting the team of doctors who will be involved in the process, getting all kinds of information, blood tests and much, much more. Even though it may seem time consuming, they want to assure that you are a good candidate to received and that they know all there is to know about you and your medical history to assure that you are matched correctly. My husband has lupus and it began to attack his kidneys viciously over a year ago. His health had taken a turn to the point that his kidney function was diminishing and he needed to be placed on dialysis. The last time he was put in the hospital, the doctors told him that it is a must that he get on dialysis or things could get worse. Now my husband was very reluctant to getting on it and tried avoid doing so at all cost. Eventually, he had no choice but to do it and he began in March of 2016. April 2016, we got the call about putting him on the list. A few weeks after leaving, we got the call he was approved to be on the list. We were currently stationed in Illinois for he is active duty Army. June 2016, we got the official orders to be stationed in FT. Benning, GA. July 2016, we made the big move to Georgia. August 2016, we closed on a house in Alabama in between the base and family. At the end of August, early on Tuesday morning, my husband got the call of his life…..we found you a kidney!
When he called me I screamed, cried and yelled “Thank you Jesus” I swear about a million times. We are family who believes in God, and although it may get tested at times, we had faith that this would happen but we had no idea this soon. The tricky part to all of this celebration was that we had to be in Maryland, at that hospital, by midnight, the same night. We have 3 kids, 2 in school, just moved into our home and in the midst of trying to get things together……HOW!!!! Thankfully, we were closer to family and could get things in order with the short time we had. It was hard saying goodbye to the kids because we would be gone 6-8 weeks. For me, it was terrible. I have never been away from my kids this long. However, family stepped up and we got things somewhat handled the best we could with the short time we had.
Now mind you, we are in Alabama at the time. So we got to the airport #1, flight delayed. Got to airport #2, missed flight because of delay so had to be put on another flight. Got to final airport in Virginia, rented a car and made it to the hospital in Maryland….at 11:52 pm. He got out to make sure we were in the right area. I’m in the car just waiting and finally I decided to plug up his phone and find out who he was updating at the hospital about our whereabouts and contact them myself. He told me where to park and where to go and by the time I got to my husband, he was hooked up and ready to go to pre-op. That team was on it! They were literally waiting for us to get there. 30 minutes or so later filled with prayer, praise and conversation, he was sent up to surgery. Everything happened so fast from start to finish!
The donor is anonymous but they did tell us the story. He was 17 years old and he took his own life. That brought up all kinds of emotions in me because I lost an uncle, who was more like my big brother, to suicide in 2012. I know it was a hard time for his family and to make a decision to donate just touched me. We may never get a chance to tell this family thank you for saving my husband’s life but I pray for them and thank God for them. I hate the young man took his life but he gave life to someone else and for that he shall live on. This was nothing short of a miracle. We are still here now while he is recovering and his progress is great. Few bumps here and there but it comes with the territory.
SO, are you an organ donor? If you would like more information, check out: http://www.organdonor.gov/register.html to see the guidelines for your state.
If you are a recipient of any kind of organ, please share your story. If you have donated, share your story. We have to let people know how important it is to be a donor.
On the other side of this,we need to take a look at the subject of suicide. There are people in this world, hurting, dealing with some type of pain, pressure and do not know what else to do or who to talk to in fear of being dismissed, not believed, misunderstood or just simply not cared about. Never judge a book by its cover because you just never know what someone is dealing with. If you or if you know someone that may be contemplating suicide do whatever you can to help them. Be kind to one another. More love, more compassion. If you need help or if you need help in helping someone, check out the information below:
This is truly a moment where there is beauty for ashes. Life is precious so remember to live, laugh and love!
Posted by iamjlatrice | Filed under empowerment, encouragement, life, organ donor, Uncategorized