I feel this special bond with fellow blogger Terri because we met as result of having blogged about our organ donation experiences. I put yesterday a little notice about it being the 3rd anniversary of the event and Terri put on a comment with this question.
"I know that those days must have been a monumental time in your life. Do you think about it often anymore? I probably go weeks or months without even thinking about it. Everyone should know what an easy thing it is to do!"
So I decided to make another post in response. Actually I hardly ever think about it. Life has this way of going from monumental to ordinary and at least for me I get fully engaged in wherever I am now. Neither past nor future are where I dwell much.
Accept when I do.
Because as Terri states, it was truly a monumental time in my life. I won't go into detail as I wrote extensively about it here (See tabs Living Organ Donor starting here). But in short, it ranks right up there with the most difficult things I ever did. When I go through those old posts it brings it all back (by the way I don't do that often!). And I would have to say that at least for me it wasn't easy at all. But each person's experience is different. I suspect a lot of what made it difficult relates to how old I was when I did it (60). Your body just doesn't bounce back that quickly as you get older.
So in conclusion, let me just say I'm very, very, very glad I went through it, that my sister did so well both physically and in terms of contribution to life, and that knowing everything I do now, I would do it again.
However, in case you are looking for body parts, I am officially retired :)
5 comments:
I can't believe it's already been 3 years. And still able to drink like a fish!
Wow, 3 years already. Looking forward to spending some more time together shortly, well with mom...you will have your hands full with the baggage I'm bringing along. =-)
I might be remembering it being a little bit easier than it actually was. I remember being tired. I remember being in some pain. But overall, I think I bounced back fairly quickly. But I'm sure you're right about things being a little easier at 41 vs. at 60.
I'm glad I did it too.
I don't know anyone who needs a kidney, but I would be open to giving one if I had a family member in need!
I can certainly imagine that it would be a very difficult thing to do. However, it it meant saving someone you love, it would definitely be worth it.
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