It’s been 6 months since I wrote the first post about the kidney transplant journey I’m on. Since then a lot of tests have been performed, a lot of blood and urine analyzed, a lot of x-rays and scans shot. Three months after that first post I reported I was officially placed in the list to await a transplant and if any willing and available volunteers could be evaluated for a potential live donor transplant.

Right now we’re still waiting for donor evaluations to be completed. It seems a long time but it really isn’t. Maybe to a chameleon but not to a human type person. Not even to a human type person waiting for a kidney transplant. With the possibility of waiting up to 5 years, 6 months is nothing, just 10% actually.

But it is long enough that now I’m thinking. Not good stuff all the time. Some of it is good. It’s amazing that of my 3 closest living relatives all three are willing to put themselves through this process. Then that gets me thinking would I for them? I’m sure. What about for a more distant relative…a cousin or cousin’s offspring,? How about a really, really close friend or child of a friend? What about a not so close friend? An acquaintance? A fellow church member or coworker? Stranger? Some people have said yes to all. Altruistically, I’d like to say sure I’d say yes to all. Realistically I know I wouldn’t. But where would the line be drawn? We know intentions are always better than actions but how close are the two when the reality is losing a major organ.

My driver’s license says “Yes I’m a donor. Feel free to use me. Um, but please wait till I’m gone and the only voice I have is this little plastic card.” Would I be willing to say “yes I’m a donor” while I can still speak those words? I suppose I already have. I mean, I’ve donated blood. Does that count? Does it count if I’m a true trypanophobe, which one has to get over if one is going to survive dialysis. (By the way, numbing creams and sprays really do help if you should be interested.) But donating blood isn’t like losing a body part. Blood grows back. Sort of. Kidneys don’t. No way.

Another thought that sporadically pops into my brain is a biblical question. God fearers learn that God not man determines life, thus the opposition to euthanasia and capital punishment. But the converse never seems to be debate. Churches are a main provider of support to transplant recipients even to the point of holding fundraisers to provide financial assistance. If God, not man determines life, is a transplant a means of man extending life? Or is it maintaining life to get the recipient to what would have been the natural ultimate endpoint?

I hope all these thoughts are just my mind doing its thing to fill the void left by the manic pace I underwent doing my evaluation and testing phase and it will quiet itself as it gets used to the waiting period. Maybe after it’s had its fill of playing ‘what if’ games it will settle down and think more productive thoughts like why shouldn’t Seattle get an NHL franchise.

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If you’d like to re-read all the posts in this thread as well as other related posts, I’ve put links to all of them on one page. Go here, to join the journey.

Related posts

First Steps (Feb. 15, 2018)
The Next Step (March 15, 2018)
The Journey Continues (April 16, 2018)
More Steps (May 31, 2018)
Step 4: The List (July 12, 2018)
Step 1 Again…The Donor Perspective