Transplanted Pastor

Surgery Day Wednesday, December 14th started out like any other middle-of-the-week hump day, with one small change. Normally, my 10 1/2 hours of dialysis didn’t finish until sometime between 7:30 AM and 8 AM., however, I started earlier the night before so I could finish sooner. I wanted to be present with my oldest daughter (10), to help ease any anxiety she may have felt about her mother and I both going into surgery later that day.  As I was preparing my morning Metamucil, both my daughters (youngest is 3 1/2) came into the kitchen and gave me hugs. These hugs felt like an affirmation from both girls that, in spite all the challenges my health problems have caused them to miss out on normal father/daughter activities (the tiredness making it hard to have the energy to play with them, for example) they still loved me and were as hopeful as I was that a new kidney would equate to a new me. After saying goodbye to my oldest as she left for school, it was time to get ready myself. I...

I t is finally here; tomorrow is the big day. There are so many emotions that I am feeling today. I am excited for the benefits of having a good, working kidney.  I'm looking forward to having more energy and vigor. But with the excitement come nervousness as well. What if something goes wrong? What if my body just won't accept this new kidney? What if I die? Then there is the heavy weight of responsibility that I feel with receiving such.a gift. So many have sacrificed something to get me to this point, especially my spouse, who is donating one of her kidneys so that I can receive a kidney, and the mystery donor who's kidney I will receive. Can I do what it will take to make sure this kidney lasts me for many,  many years?  Yet there is also feelings of relief. I'm finally at the end of my dialysis journey for, hopefully, a long time. It has been frustrating to enter into my dialysis prison every night (I do Peritoneal Dialysis at home every night for 10 1/2 hours), wh...