One Year

I meant to write this post on Thursday but I got busy and forgot. So I guess better late then never. Thursday was a very special day because it was the one year anniversary for my mom's kidney transplant. My mom was diagnosed with PKD (polycystic kidney disease) about 7 or 8 years ago. PKD is when multiple cysts form on the kidneys causing them to enlarge. Four years ago she was put on dialysis because her kidneys were not working as well as they needed to. She was then put on the donor list as we all hoped and prayed one would come through soon. Eventually the left kidney had grown so large that it was pushing her organs out of the way, making it hard for her to breath when she laid down, and only allowing her to eat maybe a fist full of food, if that. It was time to take it out. The surgery went well and the dr told us the kidney was the size of a larger watermelon. Keep in mind the normal size of a kidney is 4-5 inches. No wonder she couldn't eat or breath. About a year and half ago she had a heart attack. We soon found out that the reason for the heart attack was from calcification built up from the dialysis she was doing. The dr told us that she needed a transplant very soon because the calcification would build up again if she was still on dialysis. My thoughts were that she would be moved up on the donor list since the dialysis was causing the problem. Nope, not at all.

We knew she was high on the list because the nurse had called and asked her some questions a couple of times, but there are so many factors that go into this process. And if someone comes along that they think needs the kidney worse then her, she gets knocked out of the way. What happened next was definitely a "Wow God" moment. My cousins wife, Amanda, decided she was going to get checked out to see if she was a match. I tried not to get my hopes up because there were people in the past who had offered and couldn't because of various reasons. To our amazement she was a match! Last July they both flew to Austin, TX to get the transplant done. It was a great success and both my mom and cousin did very well. There was a lot of recovery for both women, but they are both doing very well today. In fact my mom went to the dr Thursday and the new kidney is doing great. The other kidney on the other hand, is not. It is growing even larger and beginning to push her liver over and she is beginning to have pain because of it. The dr told her it needed to come out but it was up to her.

Back to my cousin-in-law, Amanda. She is doing great today and so is my mom because of her. We will be forever in debt to her and there is no way we could thank her enough. It takes a very strong and caring person to do what she did. A lot of people say they would do it, but when it comes down to it, not many really would. Because of her, I have my mom and in good health. Thank you Amanda!!

Since I am on the subject, I would like to talk about donors. I personally would like for my organs to be donated when I die. There are so many people that could be saved and I won't need them when I'm gone. BUT many people don't think about donating, never get around to doing it, or don't want to. Please tell your family if you are willing to have your organs donated. When you are gone they may think you didn't want it done, or it was never discussed. Make sure they know your feelings on the subject. Next you need to register to donate. This way IF your family doesn't want it done, but you do, it will be done. If you are interested in learning more about donating or want to register, there are many websites to check out, but here is one: organdonor.gov

Here are some facts I will leave with you to think about:
110,586 people are waiting for an organ.
18 people die each day waiting on an organ.
1 organ donor can save up to 8 people!