This article was in yesterday’s paper. It’s about an Idaho door-to-door Kirby salesman that ended up donating a kidney instead of selling a vacuum cleaner. As in the story, we don’t need a vacuum but we do need a kidney. Please pray for a donor.
October 10, 2007 by Peg
This article was in yesterday’s paper. It’s about an Idaho door-to-door Kirby salesman that ended up donating a kidney instead of selling a vacuum cleaner. As in the story, we don’t need a vacuum but we do need a kidney. Please pray for a donor.
Hi Mom!
See, I ALWAYS told you to be a writer! Now here is your start!
I justed wanted to share some of my thoughts.
I will never forget the day I received a call from Dad with unfortunate news. It was a couple of days before Father’s Day. Upon answering the phone and hearing his voice I knew that it wasn’t going to be a typical phone call. First off, whenever John or I call Mom and Dad they tend to play this waiting game to see who is going to get out off their comfy spot to get up and answer the phone. It usually turns out to be Dad, however, when he starts in on conversation, Mom is always wondering what we are talking about! Her curiosity pulls her to the phone and asks Dad to hand it over. Then the conversation starts all over again! Now with their new service (and I don’t mean a butler) they know who is calling from the tv screen! Must be nice to live like that! We still have a rotary phone! Anyways, back to my serious thoughts. I remember answering the phone and hearing Dad’s voice. We talked small talk for about 2 minutes then he sighed and sad, “Deb, I am going to have to start dialysis. My “numbers” just aren’t looking so good.” So busy with my own life for the past number of years, I neglected to see this day coming. I feel so sad about that. However, you can’t do anything about the past, only work harder on the future. I was quick to ask about a transplant. He was not very positive about it at that time. Wasn’t sure he was a candidate. Didn’t know if there would be someone who would match…He had a response for every alternative. Without hesitation, I said, “Dad, you can have one of mine.” He mentioned that John also offered one of his own. Dad, being the kind, gentle unselfish man quickly said, “No, I wouldn’t do that to you or John. You are still young, have families. I just couldn’t do that. Besides, I might not even be a candidate for a transplant.” That didn’t stop John and I from looking into it further. John and I would do anything for our parents and family. We, as a family, not only ‘puzzle’ other people with our quirkiness, but we ARE a puzzle. Each one of us an important piece that makes up a beautiful finished project. (We always do like to make puzzles up north on those rainy or buggy days!) Some time passed, and after Dad and Mom looked further into the transplant procedure, Dad finally agreed to take that route. John and I quickly had blood work done. But, to our terrible disappointment, neither one of us was a match to Dad. How could that be? Here we are family… his son and daughter, so willing to jump right in give one of our own kidneys to share life with Dad. However, this huge wall stands before us. It won’t work. There’s got to be some way, we are his flesh and blood. My Dad, being my hero that he is, jumped right into the dialysis and was feeling better almost instantly. But we still need a kidney. I talked to my own little part of the family- Vinnie, Billy and Joe, and shared my thoughts. “Guys, this has been such a heartbreaking, helpless, emotional, faith strengthening journey. If I can’t give my kidney to Grandpa to help him, then I want to donate it for someone else. I know how much we are hurting as a family, if we can’t help our family, maybe we can pay it forward and help someone else in need. I want to offer my kidney to someone who needs it.” They were quiet at first, then all agreed it would be a go. I mentioned it to Mom, then she filled me in on this special procedure called a Paired Exchange. Basically a group of people who don’t have matching donors in their own families, turn to other families. To make it a simple explaination, a group of donors and transplant recepients get together and swap kidneys among themselves (families). When I explained this procedure to my youngest son Joe (11 at the time) his response was, “Mom, maybe that is why God didn’t match you with Grandpa…so you can save more peoples lives AND Grandpa’s too!” Brought tears to my eyes. So, here we sit. still waiting. Now we have a couple of options. A donor that matches Dad, and or a recepient that matches me and a donor in their family that matches Dad. This is a waiting game. A Faith game. It’s really not a game at all. But it is a journey that our family is on. We have been on many journeys together, but this one by far is the most difficult. Not a minute goes by in everyday that I don’t think about it. Even with all the meaningless other junk that fills our lives- this is always a constant reminder of how precious family, life, love and God are. Please pray for my Dad. He really needs a kidney. I end this in tears. I didn’t mean for it to be so long and wordy, however it was my Mom who always encouraged me to write! Mom, I know there are a lot of typos in here, but I couldn’t figure out how to use spell check!
Love to all
deb
A Donor’s Market for Kidneys?
With a severe kidney shortage, should we pay donors? An article in today’s Wall Street Journal examines the topic.
“At the core of the kidney-sale debate are complex issues surrounding transplantation. Given the imbalance of supply and dem…