Strength

A family member is going through some health issues, and although it is not my father and is completely unrelated to the kidney donation, I just needed to express my feelings here. I will not get into the details as to respect the privacy of the family. You know it's times like these when you almost think that you've got nothing left, that you realize how strong you truly can be. Sometimes I fall apart, but God has taught me to be a fighter, I will not give up on him, myself or on anyone else. True faith has gotten me through many difficult times and I believe it is the only thing that brings us through the rain. I pray for those who have lost their faith or who have not found it yet. It's never easy facing times such as this but God gives us the strength to make it through as long as we believe. I never got confirmed, nonetheless I have always had a strong faith and I have been very much contemplating going to get confirmed. I will speak with my minister about it. I feel like a part of me is missing because of it. I also think I am going to check into volunteering at the kidney section of my hospital where my surgery was done. They have given so much to Dad and I, I feel like I should give something back.

Life after donation.

Well, here are my incisions 7 weeks after donation. It's hard to believe it's actually been 7 weeks but it has! In the first picture you can see the full shot of all the incisions, Picture 2 is just the instrument incisions and Picture 3 is of course the removal incision, which is the biggest one. It's very interesting as I look back on my previous pictures and I can see how much they have changed in the past 7 weeks, and I am sure they will keep changing and as they do I will post them so that anyone who is donating in the future can see what they will look like, or at least the basic idea since everyone's tend to be a bit different. I know they will never go away and that's okay because I wear them proudly as a symbol of what Dad and I went through together. They will always remind me of the experience that was so full of love and emotion that we shared. Although, I don't need to be reminded of how much this meant to my father, I see it everyday in they way he lives now, but every time I look at my incisions I remember how it was for me. I will wear them for life, and no matter what happens I will always be able to look at them and say that I gave a life to someone who was losing theirs. I am proud of them and to be honest I wouldn't want them to disappear, they are a part of who I am now. Life after donation has been not all that different from life before, except that I am healthier in my choices. I eat better and I drink more water because doing both of these things just makes me feel better. I was always a supporter of organ donation, but of course now I feel much stronger about it because I know so much more about it and I have seen first hand what it can do for someone else. I have a wonderful organ donation magnet displayed on my car, and two organ donation pins worn on my jacket and anytime anyone asks about them I am more than happy to elaborate. I also have a t-shirt with 10 reasons to donate which I wear in the hopes that it may encourage someone else to think about organ donation, whether it be living donation or not, any organ donation is a wonderful thing to do. Just imagine saving someone's life by giving them a piece of yourself. It's amazing. I was speaking with my father today and he was telling me that he remembers when I was a little girl, 2 or 3 years old, and we were outside in our driveway in the winter, I was wearing a snowsuit and I was so cold that I was clutching my arms around his neck and holding on so tight he could hardly breathe. He said it seems like so long ago. Life is precious, he gave me mine, and now I've given him back his. I hope we all remember just how precious life is, don't take it for granted and never forget that God put us all here for a reason, mine was to save my father, what will yours be? Give life, and you will have truly lived. I thank God for allowing me to do this and I pray that I can help someone else in their journey. This blog has been a wonderful outlet for me to convey my thoughts and feelings on organ donation, I encourage you all to leave your comments and I will always read them and respond. You may have noticed my posts getting farther apart, this will probably happen more and more as time goes on and life goes on and my experience with living donation becomes more distant. It's kind of a catch 22, things went so well and are going so well that there is little left to write about now and that is a great thing, however I am sad that I have less to write and I wish that there was more to say, but God has blessed us and so the experience my father and I have had has been told and there is not too much more to say. I will still keep writing and keep you posted on our progress, however my posts will be less frequent, but keep checking because I will keep posting! Thank you to everyone who has followed us on our journey, it is not over, it will never end, it has just become less eventful and that is truly a God send. It's all we can hope for, smooth uneventful sailing :) I feel like I have been touched by this experience and I hope it has touched you in some way. God bless.

Working again after donation

I went back to work on Wednesday January 3rd, and today is Saturday January 6 and I must say it went quite well. I was a bit sore after sitting all day (I sit for about 8 hours at my job) Sitting for so long is a bit uncomfortable but I am doing good. I am glad I started part way through the week so it made for a short first week back, that way I can sort of ease into it. I don't think I could have handled a full week right away like that, but I am confident next week will be great. Dad and I are both still doing wonderfully and my first day back at work EVERYONE was asking about us and wanted to see my scars, which I am happy to show. I finally have my appetite back which is good, and I am feeling like myself again. I haven't started exercising again yet, but I think I will try it out in the next few weeks. All of my incisions are looking great, they are pink and healing well. One of them looks kind of funny as it sort of goes inward and looks like a divot, I guess it must just be the way they stitched it. The batteries in my camera are in need of a re charging, but as soon as I get them charged I will take another set of pictures of my scars to show how they are healing and how they look without all the gummy adhesive surrounding them. All is well though and I am happy with our progress. I did have a couple of scary moments when I almost fell down the stairs, and then when one of the family dogs jumped up on my belly. Both times were quite painful but I made it through unscathed. I hope everyone's new year will be as wonderful as I plan on making mine. Here's to 2007, it's time for a new start. Let's toast to a year of good health, happiness and family. Here, here!!