I welcome guest blogger, Altruistic Kidney Donor, Laurie Dickinson Lee, a woman I admire for her selflessness, positivity and influence in the Chicago transplant community. She is also one of the coordinators of the upcoming April 21 event at the BEAN Sculpture in Chicago’s magnificent Millennium Park, where living organ donors from across the country will gather around the largest kidney in the world, in an attempt to earn the Guinness World Record for the most living organ donors in one place. It will be newsworthy and hopefully will get some press about the extreme need for more living organ donation. Donors, organ recipients, transplant community and the curious public are all welcome. See my past blog post about the event and where to obtain fundraiser tickets.
I encourage you to comment here on your own experiences with organ donation, perhaps the inspiration behind your decision to donate, or what thoughts come to mind after reading Laurie’s beautiful essay.
This essay was formerly published in the Organ Transplant Support newsletter in December, 2017.
Feb 28, 2011, my dad received a life-saving liver transplant from a deceased organ donor. Waiting for that transplant was stressful for my family, and there were a lot of mixed emotions surrounding his transplant. On one hand, my family was relieved and grateful for the 1 year wait for a liver to be over. We didn’t have to worry about staying within a few hours of the hospital anymore, and we didn’t have to worry about my dad’s cancer spreading! On the other hand, there was sadness. We knew that our joy and good-fortune was likely another family’s worst nightmare. Somebody had to die for my dad to get a new liver.
My dad’s liver transplant made a major impact on me. I am a person who inherently wants to give. I am a giver! My dad’s liver donor has given me more than 5 years (and hopefully 40 more!) with my dad. This is hands down the biggest, and most meaningful gift anybody has ever given me. The way I see it, my family took from a system that exists if and only if others give. That is why I decided to donate my own kidney to a stranger. I chose to pay it forward, and to continue the spirit of giving by matching the gift that my family was given.
Nov 22, 2017 marked the 1 year anniversary of my kidney donation. One year post donation, I feel fantastic, and the only reminder of my donation is 3 very small scars on my abdomen which I am quite proud of! My life today is back to normal. I feel as good, if not better than when I had 2 kidneys, and I have no restrictions or problems that get in the way of daily life. The first few weeks after the surgery were a little rough, but even that is a faded memory at this point. Sixty days post-surgery I was comfortably hiking around Thailand and swimming in the ocean as if nothing had happened.
My left kidney belongs to someone else now somewhere in Texas. My donation sparked a 6-person transplant chain. I would love to meet somebody in the chain, however my transplant center has said that nobody in the chain is interested in meeting. The initial disappointment of not getting to meet the recipient or someone else in my chain has been replaced by gratitude. Gratitude that my recipient’s need for a kidney allowed me to honor my dad’s donor, and keep his gift moving. I experience gratitude that I have a healthy body, lifestyle, and support system that made it easy for me to make the decision to donate.
The message I want to send, as it relates to my kidney donation, is to choose to experience abundance instead of scarcity in all that you do. Does that mean that I think you should donate a kidney? Well, I don’t know, it might! Do you think you should donate a kidney?
I would like to see a conscious effort to change the language we use when we talk about organ donation. Have you ever heard someone say “there is a shortage of organs, 23 people die each day waiting for an organ?” That’s a statement that comes from a place of scarcity! The “shortage” is nothing more than a perception. There are millions of people just like me walking around with the ability and willingness to donate an organ while they are alive. The possibility just isn’t in their awareness yet. Do you see? There is not a shortage of organs, there is a SURPLUS of organs, enough for everybody that needs one. My mission is to bring the concept of an organ surplus into society’s consciousness. In addressing the surplus of organs out there (versus the shortage), I believe we can create the opportunity for people to give big and operate from a place of opportunity and possibility. It feels good to give big, and it feels good to be the solution to the problem. We all innately want that, and this act of service to another human is a game changer, what an amazing way to experience purpose! The ripple effect of this kindness has the ability to change the world that we live in. Let’s choose abundance, choose service, and be kind.
