I first began the testing process to donate a kidney in July of 2010. I do not specifically remember the date, but I have received bills for some of the tests (which you do not have to pay and the nice people at the hospital and transplant center tell you repeatedly "you will never ever receive a bill"--but I did receive them and numerous calls from collection agencies and so on, which are resolved (I hope) but just add to the Overall Flavor of the Whole Thing) that are dated in July. The tests are to make sure that the kidneys of the donor are fabulous and that the rest of the body, head to toe, can handle the process. (Toe might be an exaggeration but you do get to go see a shrink during the process.)
The real beginning of my journey began with getting my head ready, which happened when I was eleven years old, living right here in Aurora, Colorado. One Saturday I went for a play date. (we did not use the term play date 32 years ago; I think by the age of eleven I was relatively cool enough to have used the term "hang out") Allison had a foster brother, who was a teenager and rather "cute" in my 11 year old way of thinking. He was also one of the first teenagers to be nice to me, and Allison and I were enjoying "hanging out" with him quite a bit. I noticed he had some Nasty Looking Scar From Hell on his left arm. He told me it was where they "hooked him up" to dialysis. He told me about dialysis and how he was waiting for a kidney. That someone, someday would get killed in a bike accident or a car wreck, where the person died but their kidneys would be okay, and he would get one, when it was his turn. "All you need is one," he said. One good kidney....
This fascinated 11 year old me and I was pretty excited to tell my RN mother about it. (Yes, I am an ACORN, or Adult Child Of an RN, which is many cases, a mixed blessing. Some of my favorite people are ACORNS, besides my brother, duh, my husband (his mother was a CNA but we are not about splitting hairs here, my dad (Little Grandma was an RN who introduced Mom and Dad) and my oldest friend, Eric) My mother said that it was a sad thing but people waited a long time and that in many cases, even when people did die in car wrecks, no one got the kidney because it was a complicated process....I asked my mom if it was really true that all you need is one? She assured me that all you need is one good kidney. This caused me to ask her "Well, then why can't I give someone one of my kidneys?"
Naturally, my mother had a very good answer for that question, which included that it is better to have two kidneys and of course, back then, living donation was not something done as frequently as today. I think my mother even mentioned that it was usually only done with family members, and that twins were especially good at it....as is often the case in life, a seed was planted because someone (two people actually) took the time to tell a curious little kid about something they thought was important.
P.S. I do not know what happened to unnamed Teenage Boy Foster Child. I hope he is okay and still with us. My mom still does not know at this writing about my desire to donate a kidney. I think my own 10 year old daughter may have spilled part of the beans because she went with me to the cross match test.
No comments:
Post a Comment