Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Some specifics on Kidney Donation
I've had a few questions as to why I'm giving a kidney so I thought I'd clear things up.
The story starts with a guy named Darren who is the husband of a good friend of Suzi’s. Darren is about my age and has kidney disease. We were having dinner with them and I started asking about what it was like to be on dialysis.
In hearing him talk and getting solid answers to my questions (like: don’t we need 2 kidneys? Who pays for the operation? What is life like when you have kidney failure?), I felt like I could help.
I got tested to see if I was a match which is simply some blood draws and found out we were not compatible.
At that point, I made the decision that just because I wasn’t a good match for my friend, why wouldn’t I give to someone else? After all they are a friend of someone else.
An analogy came to me that hopefully explains things a bit:
Let’s say I had two winter coats and I only needed one. I tried to give my other coat away to friends but they all didn’t need one. I did find a friend who was dying because he didn’t have one, but mine simply didn’t fit him so it would do him no good.
Then I heard about other people who were dying from not having a winter coat. Whoever they are, I’d like to think I’d give my extra one away rather than holding on to my second one “just in case” while that other person dies.
With that said, I am perfectly healthy and from that abundance of health, I am working on sharing with someone less fortunate.
This doesn’t make me a saint or better than anyone else. Anyone who donates blood is doing something just as noble.
I'd love to hear your questions/comments...
The story starts with a guy named Darren who is the husband of a good friend of Suzi’s. Darren is about my age and has kidney disease. We were having dinner with them and I started asking about what it was like to be on dialysis.
In hearing him talk and getting solid answers to my questions (like: don’t we need 2 kidneys? Who pays for the operation? What is life like when you have kidney failure?), I felt like I could help.
I got tested to see if I was a match which is simply some blood draws and found out we were not compatible.
At that point, I made the decision that just because I wasn’t a good match for my friend, why wouldn’t I give to someone else? After all they are a friend of someone else.
An analogy came to me that hopefully explains things a bit:
Let’s say I had two winter coats and I only needed one. I tried to give my other coat away to friends but they all didn’t need one. I did find a friend who was dying because he didn’t have one, but mine simply didn’t fit him so it would do him no good.
Then I heard about other people who were dying from not having a winter coat. Whoever they are, I’d like to think I’d give my extra one away rather than holding on to my second one “just in case” while that other person dies.
With that said, I am perfectly healthy and from that abundance of health, I am working on sharing with someone less fortunate.
This doesn’t make me a saint or better than anyone else. Anyone who donates blood is doing something just as noble.
I'd love to hear your questions/comments...
Monday, December 7, 2009
Looking to Change Transplant Hospitals
For those of you wondering about what's going on with my upcoming kidney donation, here is a bit of an update.
I met with the hospital that had done all the testing and had a bad experience with the surgeon. After mentioning my concerns 3 differerent times to our social worker with no attempt at helping resolve things, my wife and I decided it was smart for me to look at other hospitals in the area that also do kidney transplants. In the Seattle area, there are 3, Virginia Mason (our first hospital), UW and Swedish.
I've been in contact with UW and Swedish and have started the exploratory process with them which basically means filling out their paperwork and releasing my medical records.
The cool part is all my testing is done so it should be a much faster process from here.
Trusting God's process and timing!
I met with the hospital that had done all the testing and had a bad experience with the surgeon. After mentioning my concerns 3 differerent times to our social worker with no attempt at helping resolve things, my wife and I decided it was smart for me to look at other hospitals in the area that also do kidney transplants. In the Seattle area, there are 3, Virginia Mason (our first hospital), UW and Swedish.
I've been in contact with UW and Swedish and have started the exploratory process with them which basically means filling out their paperwork and releasing my medical records.
The cool part is all my testing is done so it should be a much faster process from here.
Trusting God's process and timing!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Entwistle Update
Hope you had a great thanksgiving! Suzi & I hosted her mom and boyfriend for a quiet meal. For some reason, we were tempted to make 20 different dishes but after remembering we were only feeding 4 adults, 4-5 dishes seemed much more reasonable. And even with that few dishes, we still had leftovers for days!
Before the meal, the family braved the pouring rain and did the Gig Harbor turkey trot. It’s a 5K run around the Gig Harbor waterfront. I ran with a good friend and Suzi walked with a friend. A number of our other friends ran too…many with kids!
This month, we are going to be heading down to Pasadena where my sister and her family will be hosting Christmas and New Years! It is always so fun to see my entire family together! We will also be trying to cut down on some of our social demands in December so we can do more Advent preparation and time with the boys. We’ll see how successful we’ll be.
Hope your advent season is blessed and you have a chance to really connect with friends and family! God Bless!
Before the meal, the family braved the pouring rain and did the Gig Harbor turkey trot. It’s a 5K run around the Gig Harbor waterfront. I ran with a good friend and Suzi walked with a friend. A number of our other friends ran too…many with kids!
This month, we are going to be heading down to Pasadena where my sister and her family will be hosting Christmas and New Years! It is always so fun to see my entire family together! We will also be trying to cut down on some of our social demands in December so we can do more Advent preparation and time with the boys. We’ll see how successful we’ll be.
Hope your advent season is blessed and you have a chance to really connect with friends and family! God Bless!
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