Kidney Transplant...What Can I Do To Help?

                                                   

When I found out (without warning) that I was at  

Stage 5 Kidney Failure in Jan. 2013 (even though I

was feeling fine but tired) I went from a person

who loved doing a lot of things, to a person

living in a recliner. I had an online business

that I loved, had many hobbies such as making

jams, woodworking, Family History, serving

at church and just loving my life in general. 

So going from doing a lot, to doing nothing 

was quite a shock.

I have found (especially as I have gotten older) 

if I ask the Lord what he wants me to learn 

from this, instead of "why me," it helps me a lot 

more to get though the trial faster and I 

always learn a lot.

Going through a kidney transplant and having 

to take 31 pills a day has been the hardest 

thing I ever have had to do, but I would do 

it again in a heartbeat because of all I have

learned from it and the people I have met 

and even helped  (they tell me). 

My kidney doctor has asked me to be an 

ambassador for kidney donation and go and

talk to groups of people because of the 

passion I have for people to be educated 

(thus lessening any fear they might have 

for donating) and people who might be in 

need of a kidney transplant.

For example most people have no idea

we need just one kidney to live a perfectly 

normal  life, or that there are over 124,000

Men, Women, and Children waiting on

a National Organ Donor List to see if they

will receive an organ. 

I  was so blessed to have 7 living donors 

come forward and wanted to donate one 

of their kidneys to me. I sent out an email

to family members and talked about it at

church, and 7 people (including a friend 

of my daughters and a church friend of 

mine) wanted to give a kidney to me. 

What a truly humbling experience.

With a living donor, it speeds the process

up so much faster and the timing improves

along with it to help you get one sooner.

The average waiting time on the National 

Donor List is 7-8 yrs and a lot of these

people die before ever getting an organ

because there are just not enough of them...

either by families donating them, deceased

persons leaving organs to be donated, or

because they don't have a living donor.

So, you might be asking what can I do to 

help? There are a number of things you 

can do to help. (See Below)

1) Help you and your family get educated

about organ donation. 

2) Sign up at the DMV or put on the back 

of your Drivers License that you wish to 

donate  your organs if you are in a fatal

car accident. 

3) Make a donation of cash to the National

Kidney Foundation or the Univ. of Utah

Donate Life Foundation. 

4) Look into donating a kidney to someone 

on the Waiting List and saving a persons life!

There is no better feeling on the earth than

that of saving another persons life! 

Have a great day! If you have your organs

you should already be having a great day,

and know what a blessing that is in your

life. Please do not take them for granted. 

They keep you living the life you want.

For information about the Kidney Donation

Program in Utah (they are the fastest in my 

opinion)

Go to this LINK: 

http://healthcare.utah.edu/transplant/living-donor/

If  I can be of any help to anyone about this 

subject, Please let me know. Leave your email 

address in the comment section of this post. 

I will get back to you asap.

Thanks

 

Kidney Transplant...Donate Life

Today my daughter will be a guest blogger, and because of her (giving one of her kidneys to someone waiting on the list to receive a kidney) I was able to receive a kidney from a "Good Samaritan" donor and am alive today because of it. Being a recipient of a kidney it's hard to
find the words to express my gratitude to both my daughter and my donor.

We wish to spread the word about organ donation and the "Paired Exchange" program at the University of Utah Medical Center. So, she will tell you some of the things she has been involved with since her recovery.

Hello! I am honored to be guest blogging today on the Santa's Gift Shoppe blog. As many of you know, my mom and founder of Santa's Gift Shoppe had a kidney transplant earlier this year. As you also know, I donated a kidney on her behalf (since our kidneys didn't match closely enough) through a miraculous program called the "Paired Exchange Program". This enabled not only my mom to receive a kidney, but another person from the kidney waiting list to also receive one. Paired exchange "chains" can be small or very large, but no matter the chain size, lives are saved and changed forever. It's not just a program, but a gift of life. However, I'll save that post for another day.

First, I wanted to thank all of the Santa's Gift Shoppe readers that have not only supported us through the shoppe, but also through your support and kindness as our family has been moving forward during these life-changing events. Your words of encouragement, prayers, and well wishes have been rays of sunshine as the transplant and recovery process has continued. Thank you so much! The world is a better place because of people like you!

It's easy to get caught up in our day-to-day activities running and dashing about, but I wanted to take a few minutes and recognize a different kind of dash...Dash for Donation. I participated in the 5K event this past August. It was inspiring to see people from all kinds of situations and circumstances come together for organ donation awareness and support. There were organ recipients, donors, family members "dashing" in honor and tribute of loved ones that had passed on, transplant staff from multiple hospitals, small teams, large teams, and individuals unite for a common cause-everyone there understood the importance of organ donation.

Everyone 'dashed' for the cause and many 'dashed' in tribute of a transplant recipient or donor. I dashed in honor of my mom and best friend as well as her Good Samaritan donor (a living donor that donates a kidney to help someone else) who is now a dear family friend.

Here are some memories from the day:

The park animals even seemed to get the message and were "dashing" right along with us.

I talked with many people that shared their stories of receiving a kidney, lung, or liver (or part of one) and how their lives had been saved and significantly improved by the kindness of a donor. I learned of people that passed away and had selflessly chosen to donate their organs before their passing to help someone else they didn't know. I was able to share our own story of hope because of a Good Samaritan donor and a dedicated and knowledgeable transplant staff to whom we will always be grateful.

The spirit of the day was hope, encouragement, love, and compassion-something I believe the world could use more of and from which many of us could benefit. So, thank you family, friends, and blog readers for helping to spread and share your support and encouragement. Let's keep passing it forward in honor of the gift of life.

To learn more about organ donation. click here.