The call to get my new kidney was received at about 2.45. Those amazing words.."we have a perfectly matched kidney for you" are ones I will never forget.At the time the thing furthurest from my mind was that somewhere a family was grieving the loss of a loved one. Maybe I was thoughtless, calous..I don't think so it wasn't till much later that I really began to think about it.
On the anniversary of my 2 year post transplant, wrote to the donor family. I wrote to let them know I was doing well and to say thank you. We remain anonymous and all cards/lettes go through the transplant coordinator at the PA hospital Brisbane. Well 1 year later out of the blue I received a reply and it was then I discovered that my donor had been female and a mum and wife AND a christian. Blew me away. I had always said that I had some old mans kidney..so then I knew the truth. The day i received the letter i burst into tears and wouldn't show anyone for a long time..
Well this year (5 years) I decided to write again. I let them know how much I had achieved since my transplant (including my NZ trip and all the weddings our family had celebrated) Before I sent it I rang the team at the PA hospital and they said as it was an out of state donor family they weren't sure if they were still in contact. So I sent the letter anyway and then got caught up in our move. I completely forgot about it..until yesterday.. There in the mailbox was a letter from the "donate life" team at the PA hospital.
Yes a beautiful card..thanking ME!!!..wow Iopened it and this is what i read..
Dear Recipient,
It was wonderful to receive your letter earlier this year and at the time of my wife's 5 th anniversary of her death.As a family we are so pleased that you have now had over 5 years of new life with your kidney.We are also so very pleased that you chose to write and share your good news with us.
My wife loved life as you obviously do as well. She particularly loved music and travel, New Zealand was one of her favourite places.
As a family we continue to be actively involved with our church family which has been so very helpful to all of us over the past 5 years.
In so many ways I feel that I would like to meet you and your family, but I know that his is not possible. So I will continue to keep you in my prayers and hope that you continue to enjoy great health and happiness.
The 5th anniversary was a fairly emotional time for all of us, receiving your letter however helped ease that pain.
My best wishes to you and your family
May God bless you all
"the donor family"
Was I blown away??? yep..and there is my very serious blog but it was with such joy that I received the card that i wanted to share it..
2 comments:
Oh mum. What an amazing letter. You are an amazing woman, and it sounds as if the donor family is wonderful too.
I remember finding out you were headed to your transplant at some ungodly hour, and I was SO excited, for about an hour, then I started to cry on and off all day, as I kept remembering the pain someone was going through at the same time our family was experiencing such joy. Maybe I was feeling sad in your stead.
I love you, and we are ALL so very very blessed by this anonymous family. Organ donation is seriously amazing.
Nice hospital
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