On Monday Chris emailed me and told me that she would send my blood to the lab along with Sara's to see how we got along with each other. She reminded me that it could take 1-2 weeks to get these results back. Ugh! More waiting! I called her on Tuesday and we had a long talk about what my options were whether or not Sara and I were a match. It was good to talk to Chris again. She is so knowledgeable and yet so very compassionate. I let Sara know that we would be waiting awhile -- neither one of us liked that idea, but it had to be! In the meantime, we spent a lot of time on Facebook and email "getting to know each other". Sara also saw her surgeon to discuss her surgery to implant her dialysis catheter -- a procedure she is not really looking forward to!
Today I was working the Market Day fundraiser at Isaiah's school when my cell phone rang. It was Kathy(Sara's coordinator) from UW Hospital. Chris was on vacation and Kathy wanted to call and tell me that she already had our results. I was nervous to hear what came next. To get results that quickly it either has to be great or terrible! She said that our results were very, very good -- and that Sara and I were "a wonderful match"! She explained that there are several categories of antibody levels(the number of antibodies that Sara's body has against mine). The lowest level, and the one they desire, is anything under 100. She said they will consider taking anything up to 3,000, but nothing higher than that. She told me that our numbers were right around 50!! WOW!! She asked me if I still wanted to proceed. Well of course I said yes! Then she told me that because these are technically my results she had not yet talked to Sara. She told me that with this wonderful of news she felt I should do it myself. I agreed! So I called Sara. She was just getting home from work. We talked for a few short minutes and I told her the great news! We were both so happy! Kathy asked me to have Sara call her, so we kept it short then -- but as I write this we are chatting on Facebook. So many emotions! And such a thrill!
What's next? Well, I need to go back down to UW and have a few more tests done. When I was testing in the past I had trouble with a little bit of blood in my urine. That will need to be tested again, but as Dr. Unwala has said in the past -- my bladder is shockingly normal! Happy Bananas!! (If you don't know what that means you will need to go back and read my previous posts from many months ago -- it is a direct quote from Dr. Unwala!). And I will also need to pass a psychological evaluation again. That is certainly never a slam dunk :-) After that Sara and I can schedule surgery.
I was thinking tonight about Lonnie. It is amazing to me how this whole thing was started because of his need for a kidney. I spent so long with him and developed such an incredible bond with their whole family and that will never be broken. He is the reason that I will now be doing this for Sara. He is my inspiration. It never made any sense to me -- why I would come so far with Lonnie only to have it all fall apart. As my friend Jolene said tonight -- now this past year all makes sense. We have come full circle. Life is amazing.
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