Meeting Sarah

At noon today Sarah and I met at Anchor Bay in Biron for lunch.  As I was pulling up to the restaurant I saw her walking in.  I knew right away it was her because I had seen her picture on her Caring Bridge page.  On the way over there I wondered what we would do when we saw each other -- handshake, hug, polite nod??  I felt like I already knew her because of our e-mails and the very similar feelings that we shared with each other.  When I walked in Sarah was talking with the photographer who had been sent by the Marshfield News-Herald to photograph our meeting.  She turned around and we instantly hugged.  The photographer was quick enough to snap a photo of this.  After that he took a few posed pictures of us and some of us sitting at the lunch table talking.  As soon as he left we started chatting -- and didn't stop until it was past time for me to get back to work.  Now as any of you who know me well could attest, I never really have any problems talking!  But this was different.  Sarah and I talked about the feelings we have had throughout our experiences so far.  We also talked about the reactions of people we have encountered -- from our recipients, families, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, etc.  It was simply amazing to me how alike we really are!  We have had so many of the same feelings and reactions.  I found myself wondering if other donors feel the same way -- or if we just shared a very common bond.  Sarah is having surgery next week and she talked about how emotional she is getting now that the surgery is just one week away.  She also talked about her excitement.  We laughed at how other people just don't seem to understand how we can be so excited about having surgery!!  The lunch hour was over way too quickly and we know for sure we will get together again.

Tomorrow should be the day that the Marshfield News-Herald will run the story of Sarah and Zeke and Lonnie and I.  They are hoping that the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune will pick up the story as well.  Either way, I will post a link to the story here when it is run.  I also received another e-mail from Steve Thayer in our corporate communications department today.  They are going to run a story about both Sarah and I in our internal Clinic newspaper.  We are so excited about the publicity we are getting -- not for our sake, but for the sake of getting the word out about organ donation.  If we can let people know that this is not scary and ordinary people like us can do it, then maybe somebody will decide to donate.  Even one person would make it all worth it.

As far as our case goes, UW does have all of Lonnie's records except for his CT scan from Riverview Hospital.  Riverview was going to send that out today.  The plan at UW is for them to take the CT to their committee and see how they feel about the blood vessels.  This is the area that Froedtert was concerned about.  After UW reviews the CT they will let us know what they think and we will take it from there.

So...prayers please for the review of records at UW and for the surgeries of Sarah and Zeke next Thursday!