Looking Back

A very special man was on my patient schedule today -- Lonnie.  And yes, he does give me permission to share this with you so I am not violating any privacy laws :)  I have an optometry intern working with me right now, so Lonnie and I were filling her in on our journey while we all sat in the exam room.  As we shared our story with Ashley, I was taken back in time to that date four years ago this month when Lonnie was sitting in my exam chair just as he was today. That was the day he told me he would for sure need a kidney in the near future.  I was once again simply amazed at the hand of God as he took us from that day to where we all are today.  I couldn't even fathom at that time all of the ups and downs that we would go through.  I couldn't ever predict the emotional journey that Lonnie and I would take, along with his whole family.  I couldn't see that Sara, Craig, and Ashlyn -- along with all of their extended family and friends -- would enter into our lives.  It made me think of other times when our lives are about to suddenly change. Maybe it's the first time you meet your future spouse, the day you lose your job, the day you or a loved one are diagnosed with cancer, the day your first child is born, or even the day you win the lottery!  The most incredible thing to me about all of these times is that although we may have no clue that our lives are about to change forever, God is never, ever surprised.

I recently submitted a guest blog to the Outlive Yourself blog on the website of the Taylor's Gift Foundation.  If you have never heard the story of Taylor Storch, please take the time to visit their website at www.taylorsgift.org.  Taylor was just 13 years old when her life was tragically cut short in a skiing accident.  Through their unbelievable grief, Taylor's parents Todd and Tara Storch let Taylor give the ultimate final gift -- the gift of life.  Taylor's organs helped numerous people live a longer and better life.  I had read Todd and Tara's book telling the story of their daughter, but until I submitted my guest blog I never realized that Taylor's death occurred in March of 2010, right about the same time that I was telling Lonnie I would give him my kidney.  Taylor's family could never imagine how their lives were about to change, just like I couldn't.  But God knew.  Do I think God wanted Taylor to die?  No.  Do I think God had an incredible plan to bring joy and good out of a tragedy?  Absolutely.  I was incredibly humbled to receive the email from the foundation telling me that my guest blog was accepted and will be posted on the Taylor's Gift website sometime during the month of April -- National Donate Life Month.  I will be happy to share that with you when the time comes.


 Taylor's Gift Foundation

Back to Blogging

I had an epiphany today.  Well, actually my husband gave me an epiphany today.  Shortly after my kidney donation was over, I stopped blogging.  Well, I did give a couple of update blogs here and there...but I stopped blogging on a regular basis.  In fact, in 2013 I only blogged once -- and that was on my two year anniversary of donating.  The thing is that I knew I wanted to spread the word about organ donation, plus tell my own story, but I really didn't know how. Over the years I have talked to hundreds of people about my story and shared organ donation information.  I have talked to a few groups, and still hope to start up regular speaking engagements.  To this day, rarely a day goes by that someone doesn't ask me a question about my donation, share a donation story to my Facebook page, or ask me how Sara is doing.  I love it that people immediately think of me when they see a donation story and choose to share it with me!  I never get tired of hearing a good donation story -- and they are all good!  I have "met" so many people since my donation(often not in person, but rather through social media).  I met Steph from Iowa (through Facebook) who also had God ask her to donate a kidney.  She donated to little Blake who is just two years old.  Through an online living donors group I was contacted by Brenda from Franklin, Wisconsin who donated several years ago to a woman from her church.  Brenda and I have the same passion for educating others about the joy of donation.  I have the privilege of often seeing the Pryne Family from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin whose 11 year old son Kameron just received a kidney from a deceased donor.  Via Twitter I found Jill, a bone marrow transplant nurse who gets to see the miracles of bone marrow transplant every day.  And amazingly, I have connected with Robin Roberts, also via Twitter, who has been so kind to answer my questions and give her prayers for my mom who recently had a stem cell transplant.

So tonight over dinner Mike and I were discussing how I can "bring this all together" and better work toward my ultimate goal of promoting and encouraging organ, tissue, blood, and bone marrow/stem cell donation.  I have many grand ideas, but I have just not been sure where to start.  In his infinite wisdom, Mike suggested I start blogging again and see where that leads.  I hope to share other stories of donation, along with my own thoughts.  Please share this blog with anyone you know who might be interested in learning more.  I hope you too will continue to follow my journey.  And as always, please keep passing along those great stories!    

Over Two Years Out

My mom asked me recently if I had updated my blog lately.  I told her it had been awhile, but I didn't realize just how long until I looked today.  It's been over a year!  Life certainly has returned to totally normal in the 2 years since my kidney donation, but the mission of raising awareness of organ and tissue donation will forever be in my life.

In October I was invited to take part in a ceremony honoring all of the living donors at UW Hospital from the previous two years.  Craig and Sara traveled to Madison that day with Mike and me.  As I looked around the ballroom in that hotel that day, it occurred to me that everyone was there for different reasons.  Some had donated to family members, some to friends, and some to total strangers.  There was even one guy who had donated to his ex-wife!  Talk about sacrifice!  They spoke of donor chains and paired exchanges, of which there were many in this group.  As we each got called up one by one to accept our award the audience applauded every single one of us.  It was truly emotional!  We each received a medal of honor, along with a certificate from Governor Scott Walker thanking us for our donation.  Many recipients were in the audience as well and it struck me that you simply could not tell the donors from the recipients in most cases -- that's how healthy everyone looked!  I again got to see Chris, my transplant coordinator.  Earlier this year I tweeted a picture of Chris and me to UW letting them know what an incredible employee they have in her.  She told me that they recognized her at a department meeting due to my tweet.  I was so glad to hear that!  She deserves it!

The other honor I received this year was my name on the living donors wall at UW Hospital.  It took them awhile to get it up as the wall was being redone.  Just last week my family and I were in Madison and stopped by to take a look at it.  I still get emotional when I read the words that UW has posted on that wall:

I don't tell you about all of these honors to show you what a great thing I did.  Although I am totally honored that UW would choose to do these things for me, I would have donated anyway.  Donating a kidney was one of the most rewarding and humbling things I have ever done.  I know God had it in His plan for me.  

Life has been busy for the past couple of years and I have somewhat neglected my original plan -- that is to speak of my journey to groups who want to hear a great story.  I want to bring awareness to organ and tissue donation, but also bring glory to God for what He did to orchestrate this event.  My work as a donor mentor is very rewarding, but it is done after the donor already made the decision to donate.  We now need more people to make that decision.

Tonight we attended a benefit for Kameron Pryne, an 11 year old boy in our community who is in need of a kidney.  The need for donors is great.  Kids like Kameron and adults like Sara need a chance at a better life.  If you(or your group) want to hear more, please contact me!