Celebrating the last visit to Dialysis! Yeah! The night before the transplant. Amazing how many pictures we have of Scott making this goofy face.
Ask yourself, would I be willing to be an organ donor? If your answer is yes please inform someone! I know I don't often post something serious, but speaking from personal experience, this is a subject worth considering......This past October represented six years since Craig had a kidney transplant. I am so grateful for my son, actually my two sons (Mike and Scott, a coin toss declarded Scott the donor) that was generous and willing to endure the sacrifice of giving his Dad the precious gift of a healthy kidney. I am also grateful for the unknown donor that lost their life in April of 2005, for telling someone they would be an organ donor, thus giving Craig a healthy pancreas. A healthy pancreas was something Craig hadn't known since he was eleven years old and something that would keep his transplanted kidney strong. It's an awkward feeling waiting for an organ donor, waiting for someone to die so that your loved one can live is an unbelievable experience. Having your son step up and offer to give something that will give his Dad life is also unexplainable, there are no words.
Thanksgiving brings all of these blessings to the front of my mind. I am so blessed. I love my family beyond words. I am so thankful for a God that has a plan for each of us and is there for me personally in my worst of times.
Below is Craig and Scott right before surgery, Scott went first.
Below is Scott as they are wheeling him away to surgery.
It's common for the organ recipient to feel energized and well immediately following the transplant. So Craig was up and eager to visit his hero.Scott, however was in a great deal of pain.
It's also common for the reverse to happen after a day or two.It all took a tole on Craig as Scott was feeling much better
This is Scott and his sweet wife Jaimie. What a relief it was to walk into his room and see him returning to his old goofy self. I know that Jaimie was relieved as well.
It wasn't long before Scott was able to go home, Craig however stayed for a few more days and close to the hospital for tests for a couple of weeks. Craig has never experienced a single rejection episode. Scott was a perfect match.
Below is a story I found online. It explains it so well.......
A Parable of Grace
It's a sunny autumn day. The light of the morning sun is shining through the windows of an intensive care unit into patient rooms filled with IV stands and ventilators and heart monitors. In one room, the light reveals the jaundiced face of a 45-year-old teacher dying of liver failure. Next door, an ashen-faced 62-year-old grandfather needs a new heart. Three doors down, the light falls on the face of a 27-year-old mother who gasps for breath with ruined lungs. None of them has walked in the light for weeks. They are doing all they can just to live another day. They are waiting for a gift. It is a priceless gift. It is priceless because of what it will give them – new life and health and time with their families – and also because of what it costs – the life of someone else. How do you pray for a new heart when you know that it comes from someone else's death?In another hospital, a family grieves. Someone they love has died and the autumn sunlight is swallowed in darkness. Someone tells them of the possibility of donating their loved one's organs. They say it would be just like their loved one to want to help someone else. They talk about sparing some other family the pain that they are experiencing. So they choose to give the priceless gift to nameless strangers.A 45-year-old teacher receives a liver, a 62-year-old grandfather receives a heart, and a 27-year-old mother receives new lungs. They all pray for a grieving family they may never know.As a hospital chaplain, I have been with all of these people more times than I can count. It is a miracle for those who were dying, and also a miracle for those who give. What a profound and wonderful miracle. What a parable of grace.
It's a sunny autumn day. The light of the morning sun is shining through the windows of an intensive care unit into patient rooms filled with IV stands and ventilators and heart monitors. In one room, the light reveals the jaundiced face of a 45-year-old teacher dying of liver failure. Next door, an ashen-faced 62-year-old grandfather needs a new heart. Three doors down, the light falls on the face of a 27-year-old mother who gasps for breath with ruined lungs. None of them has walked in the light for weeks. They are doing all they can just to live another day. They are waiting for a gift. It is a priceless gift. It is priceless because of what it will give them – new life and health and time with their families – and also because of what it costs – the life of someone else. How do you pray for a new heart when you know that it comes from someone else's death?In another hospital, a family grieves. Someone they love has died and the autumn sunlight is swallowed in darkness. Someone tells them of the possibility of donating their loved one's organs. They say it would be just like their loved one to want to help someone else. They talk about sparing some other family the pain that they are experiencing. So they choose to give the priceless gift to nameless strangers.A 45-year-old teacher receives a liver, a 62-year-old grandfather receives a heart, and a 27-year-old mother receives new lungs. They all pray for a grieving family they may never know.As a hospital chaplain, I have been with all of these people more times than I can count. It is a miracle for those who were dying, and also a miracle for those who give. What a profound and wonderful miracle. What a parable of grace.
— Chaplain Joel De Fehr
Thank you for the beautiful post. It's perfect for the holiday season. I am so grateful for all the amazing medical advancements that made organ donation and transplants possible. And I can't believe it has been 6 years already.
ReplyDeleteThis is from Jeaniece...I am too lazy to log Ethan out. But that is awesome. Thank you for sharing that story. There are so many things to be thankful for. You are truly blessed.
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Thank You Judy for sharing. I did not know the story behind the transplant and the pictures are awesome of how much love Scott has for his dad and Craig has for his son. What truly is awesome to me is that both sons were willing to make such a sacrifice for Craig. They are all hero's. What a great family you two have raised. I think we both have been so blessed in many ways. What a joy you all must feel after 6 years. What a strong family you have. I also see that Scott and Michael have married amazing women. I so wish this for my two sons.Again thanks for sharing your amazing story with an old friend! Love you guys :)
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