This is Laura… She generally doesn’t like pictures of herself being bandied about on the interwebs – but this is a special occasion, so I’m hoping I won’t get smacked…
When we met – around 27 years ago – I was kinda head-over-heels for her. She thought I was a bit of an idiot. I’ve always been strong with first impressions! I gradually won her over. I often talk about a little discussion we had, when we started dating in earnest. She already knew about my cystic fibrosis – but I explained it a little more deeply. I told her that the likelihood of me living another 10 years was VERY slim – I was already well on the outside of life expectancy for a CF patient at the time (though I know those are only numbers…)
When that 10 year limit I placed on myself started rolling around – I actually was in kinda deep stuff. I wasn’t far from fulfilling my projection.
A beautiful girl from Iowa changed all that.
We waited for lungs for nearly three years before Kari saved my life. It wasn’t easy – I think especially for Laura. As patients, sometimes we’re only dying – but the people who love us are watching us, and feeling that there is nothing they can do about it. But they are there – and sometimes that’s more than they’ll ever know. I went to sleep every night asking to survive this and, knowing that Laura has watched me go downhill for 10 years – I wanted just one good year with her – so that she didn’t have to watch me get to my very worst, then leave her… Since I’ve known Laura – she’s always been the reason I’ve wanted to keep living.
Thirteen years ago, next month, Kari and her family saved my life. I think of Kari throughout the day, every single day. I love her family and I adore her friends. I’ve nurtured so many relationships in Organ Procurement Organizations, especially Gift of Hope and Iowa Donor Network, as well as other organ donation and transplant organizations. I get to show them what they do for people like me. I’ve been able to thank my doctors, and so many others in the medical field, who struggle to keep people like me alive. I’ve met so many donor family members – and I try to show them what they’ve done for someone like me…
As if all this is not enough – the last few years my kidneys started to fail… They were compromised before I got my lungs, and the immunosuppressive drugs, and other drugs gradually destroyed them… I was again contemplating the possibility of losing Laura and everything Kari gave me, and leaving this planet. Then, several people offered to be tested to give me a kidney – and one of Kari’s friends, Alex, gave me one of her kidneys last May. Now, two beautiful girls from Iowa changed the course of my life.
I've run 5Ks. I leap tall buildings – I participate in stair climbs in 100 floor buildings!!! I go to work every day – I participate in life, maybe with a little more gusto than some – and I’m not in a perpetual state of exhaustion like I was… I live life in a way I'd never dreamed possible. These are amazing gifts I’ve been given. And of all of the gifts I’ve been given, the most precious gift is more time with my princess.
Though she usually begs to differ – in my mind and in my heart, she’s more beautiful than when I fell in love with her 27 years ago… Seriously – look at the picture above – how could you not fall head-over-heels for that??? (And that’s a recent picture!) Laura often jokes that I promised her 10 years and we should have been her “starter marriage” – or that she should be on her second, wealthy, good-looking husband by now! But I know she’s joking. I think she’s joking!
This is what organ donation does for people. This is the gift that you might give to someone when you leave this planet – or maybe, you might decide to help someone before you leave this planet… Kari and her family have allowed me to reach my 24th wedding anniversary with Laura when I doubted whether I’d reach my 10th. Alex has allowed me to continue my life with Laura…
Can you imagine giving someone 13 more years with their wife or husband? Giving someone 13 more years with their children? Or giving a child 13 more years to experience life with their mom & dad? Don't just imagine - do it - take some action - tell your family how you feel about organ and tissue donation, and register in your state’s registry. Extra time is what it’s all about…
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