On My Way
Hello everyone. I’m writing this from my Amtrak train headed to my next round of testing. I mentioned I lived about a 3-4 hour drive from the hospital, so I figured it was easier to take the train than drive for hours in traffic. Turns out my train was an hour and a half late, so that didn’t work out too well, but it is nice not to have to drive the I-95 Corridor regardless.
Yesterday I did my second 24 hour urine collection, which is now sitting in a cooler next to me on the train (don’t worry, it’s secured). Even though I had done it before, it’s no less weird to pee into a milk jug for a day.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole situation lately, and I wanted to share my thoughts. I’m excited to be able to give such a big gift to someone who really needs it, but I’m still nervous. I’m nervous about the procedure itself and the recovery of course, but I’m also nervous about this next round of tests; not going through them, but about their results. Even though I’m so far along in the process, I could still get rejected as a donor to this girl as a result of these tests. Being the only person in the running for donating a kidney to her, I feel like a lot is riding on me and I’m afraid that the results of the tests might disqualify me. I have no reason that they would disqualify me, but I’m nervous about it all the same.
I’ve never met her or her family and they don’t know who I am, but I’ve been following their page on Facebook. They’ve posted updates asking for people to pray for me as I go through these tests. The girl’s condition is slowly getting worse, and right now, I’m her best chance at getting a kidney. I would feel terrible if I was somehow disqualified from being a donor, even if it wasn’t my fault. If something happens, I still might be able to donate my kidney to someone else, but I would still feel like I failed her. If I am disqualified, I know that it wouldn’t be my fault, but it’s not hard to feel like it would be. I’m just hoping all goes well in the next couple of days, wish me luck!