My kidney transplant date is set and it is just a little more than a week away on October 1st!
My donor? Well, that is my gorgeous, generous, loving, amazing husband Phillip! And now I’m crying…
Us in the waiting room on Phillip’s last day of donor testing.
I am a huge puddle of gratitude for the way all of this is playing out. We found out that I was nearing kidney failure in May. In June, we had a round of donor testing and discovered that Phillip was a match for me …in so many ways.
On August 1st, the day Chronic Resilience was released, we learned that I was in kidney failure. The very next day we got word that Phillip was fully cleared to donate. We both cried.
Our hope was that my kidney function would hold until January; however, it was not going to be so. When I requested a November surgery date, the transplant staff looked at me like I was nuts. When I agreed to October 1st, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As I wrote in my last health post, I’m starting to feel the effects of my failing kidney which has resulted in worsening anemia and hight levels of uremia. My function as of last Monday was 7%.
Phillip and I have been busy meeting with the transplant team, the surgeons and getting our home ready for our moms who will be moving in to help everyone heal.
There are currently 97,668 people waiting for a kidney in the United States. That number is staggering. No one should have to wait. Everyone should have the opportunity to regain their health, spend time with their families, travel, have careers, and do whatever else it is that they want to do without being tied to a dialysis machine.
We are fortunate, lucky, blessed beyond belief. As scary as the medications, suppressed immune system and major surgery are, this is a miracle. It is miraculous that they can take an organ from my husband and place it in my body. It is miraculous that biologists have created medications that will prevent me from rejecting that organ. It is miraculous that surgeons are talented enough to do this. It is miraculous that I married the person who would save my life, and that he would do so just 18 days before our 11 year wedding anniversary.
I’ll keep the blog updated periodically on our progress, but have cleared much of my plate to allow for healing time.
Here’s a short video of me and Phillip on the local news from this morning:
http://video.fox40.com/Local-Author-Speaking-at-Capital-Region-Womens-Conference-25185269
More information from Sierra Donor Services:
Sacramento Kings Top Executive Gives Wife Gift of a Lifetime