Thursday 7 March 2013

Darkness

We get sick, we are listed and we wait. We wait for the call of a lifetime that will save our lives and give us that incredible second chance.

We do everything the doctors require of us; we attend all medical appointments, endure test after test and push ourselves to the best of our ability in physio - even when the only place we want to be is in bed.

We wait and trust in the system. We strive to maintain a positive attitude, even when things are at their worst. We continue to hope that the call will come any minute. We pray for relief. We pray for our friends' relief.

We are lifted up by our family and friends. We rely on our Transplantland family to get through the process. We share our stories, our successes and our fears with each other and always feel supported.

One day that call comes and it changes everything.

One single phone call determines the rest of our lives. We race to the hospital and there we wait. Hours later we enter the operating room and come out an entirely new person.

Our lives are saved.

However, not everyone is that lucky. Not everyone gets their second chance.

This is failure.

This is the dark side of transplant.

Our amazing and graceful friend did not receive her call.  Her body could no longer sustain her; she didn't have any fight left.

Her second chance never came.

This is what will continue to drive me in my advocacy for organ donation.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the reminder, Jess... We lucky ones, and our friends, don't always see this side. We struggle - we get our call - we survive and maybe thrive and incredible joy surrounds us - and that joy and excitement often remains, sometimes for more than 13 years...

    But other people struggle and never get their call - or their call comes so late they're no longer strong enough to survive the rigors of surgery or recovery - if only the call would have come, or would have come earlier. Beyond their loved ones - the pain experienced by their friends and acquaintences seems fleeting compaired to the joy surrounding the survivors.

    We can never forget them - you and I can never forget them... Part of me feels that we've failed them as a society - the world failed them - and part of the mission that you and I carry is to help that to happen less often.

    We can tell amazing stories about gifts given and received, and what those gifts have allowed us to do - but sometimes people have to understand that that person waiting, who may or may not receive what they need, that person is your sister - your husband - your daughter - your mom - your uncle... And while you want their life saved - have you considered saving others when you leave? For second chances for future graceful friends - I know that will drive you...

    I'm sorry for you loss - for our loss, Jess.

    Love, Steve

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