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A Kidney for Life
Standing in a crowded hospital I watched as doctors wheeled my
father away to surgery. They were not optimisitc, he probably
wouldn't make it through they said.....and as my father slowly
dissapeared down a long corridor, I found myself praying to God that he
would be okay. I prayed for the miracle that would save his life,
as tears streamed down my face I prayed that in a situation which
seemed so hopeless, I could do something to save him. That
surgery was for an emergency quadruple bypass. Our miracle came,
and he survived, however shortly after he came home, his kidneys began
to fail, and then I knew that God had heard me, and there was something
I could do to save my father.
God brought my father through his heart surgery, and now it
was my turn to help him. From that moment I knew that I would be
giving my father a kidney. All the tests and the waiting didn't
waver my belief that I would be able to do something this time, this
time I could help him. On November 23, 2006 at 7:30 in the
morning, I did just that. My husband followed me up to the OR,
until they told him it was time, they gave me an IV, and the next thing
I remember was waking up and feeling lots of pain. They gave me
some wonderful drugs and that took care of it. I spent the rest
of the day in and out of sleep, lots of people came to see me and I was
so thankful that they were there to support me. After a rough
couple of days, getting up and walking around, they let me go home, and
a few days after that Dad came home.
It's now exactly 2 weeks later and Dad and I are both doing
great. I can't imagine a better gift to have given someone who means
the world to me. I have my father back, and he has his life
back. I thank God for blessing us in such a way that we are able
to help others by giving the gift of organ donation. I am forever
grateful to have my father back and I will never forget the miracle God
has blessed us with. I have documented my experience so far
in a blog.
The experience has been amazing and although it was not pain free, it was worth every minute of it just to see my father enjoying life. No more dialysis, no more fistulas or buttonholes, just living, that's what he's doing now, just living.
I encourage anyone who is thinking of donating, to go for
it! There's no better feeling than knowing you helped make
someone else's life better.
