Out the Door

Goodbye, goodbye to David's home dialysis machine! For 22 months we've alternately blessed and cursed this large hunk of metal that took over our house and our lives. No one cried yesterday when it was loaded onto the semi. We won't miss the infections, alarms, boxes of supplies, or betadine spills on the sheets.
Also, goodbye and thanks to Dr. Willem Kolff, the inventor of the modern dialysis machine. Known in medical circles as "the father of artificial organs," Dr. Kolff was one of a team of surgeons who made headlines worldwide when they implanted the first artificial heart at University Hospital here in Utah. He died Feb 11 at the age of 97. Be sure to Google his name and read about blood pumping thru sausage casings, an old Ford water pump, and parts from a downed German Fighter.. He and Southern moonshiners would have gotten along just fine!

Pre and Post Op

We have such amazing family and friends! A few days before surgery my friends planned a girls nite out, (this photo), our kids cooked a wonderful dinner, other friends cleaned our house, and even did the laundry! Everyone is still spoiling us - cooking, shopping, cleaning, and spending time with us so Rusty can get some work done! Ya'll are great!!!! (Thanks to Danielle for the great photo!)

Our family was at the hospital all day waiting thru the 4 surgeries. That evening a dearest friend from Ga. flew out with my 81 year old mom to be with us. Post op our kids took turns going back and forth between rooms sitting with me, checking on David and relieving Rusty. They rented hotel rooms for Mom and Charlotte, fed them, and shuttled them around for 5 days.

I did some really bizarre things - most of which I don't remember.... I had my cell phone, and called practically everyone I knew in Utah and Ga. I would talk a little, fall asleep in midsentence, then talk some more, usually saying things that made no sense. Mixing up the time zones, I called Molly Mills at 5 am, and after babbling I SANG to her. And she didn't chew me out!

Rusty asked Tracie to go find the cell phone and take it away from me - I called him about 10 times one day. She found it under the covers, and thought I was hiding it. Nope - just hurt too much to reach left sided to the table.....

Everyone has asked me if I scared - yep. At first i was just nervous. Then a few days before surgery, I saw a photo of a preop belly with magic marker circles on the places they were gonna poke me, and I freaked out. For some reason those little black marks made it real.

Afterward, I had a priesthood blessing, and from that point on I was very calm. It was one of the few times in my life except after the day I was baptized that I felt all was just right between me and God. I surely wanted to stay in this life, but if I didn't make it, I knew it would be ok and I would see everyone later on.

Today David has felt great and his labs are good. I also talked to K the donor and M the recipient ,and both are fine. It was all so worth it!

The Lovely Good Samaritan

This is a tribute to K., the perfect example of Christlike love exhibited in a modern day Good Samaritan.

We all know the story. In our case, substitute a lovely young woman, age 30 with 3 children who has rescued David. Before reaching her destination, she and her husband traveled on that road for 10 months, driving back and forth from Idaho Falls, Id, to Salt Lake- 10 hour round trip of 450 miles. (plus the time spent at the transplant clinic)

A few days before the surgery, we had the privilege of meeting K., this beautiful lady. Everyone has asked the question "Why would someone donate their kidney to a total stranger?"

Here is her story - up front I apologize to K. if I mix up some of the timeline or facts.....After seeing a movie about transplants, she was moved to investigate the process. Over more than a year's time, she researched transplants, hospitals and did a lot of praying. Initially her husband, C., wasn't sold with the idea, but came around as K. felt more confident that God was directing her actions.

All along the way she prayed and prayed and prayed, and always felt God's hand in the decisions she made. Once certain that she was going to donate, her next choice was which hospital to work with, and eventually she knew that the University of Utah was the place. The U is where the first heart transplant was performed years ago.

She also knew there was a particular person that was to receive this precious gift, tho she had no way of knowing who.

When she was approved and we were notified that a kidney was available, she finally told her parents. She had not previously mentioned it, no one knew what she was doing(and as befitting her desire for anonimity, still no one outside of her family has been told) Her mom was not very happy - I can understand that.

A few days before the surgery, we were blessed to meet her and her great husband. It was an emotional meeting - and all our fears were relieved when she said that the minute she saw David, she knew that he WAS the person that she had been led to. As I've said before, God's methods are mysterious and miraculous.

Our children had the privilege of spending the day in the waiting room with her family. They had many hours to find out about each others lives, backgrounds, fears and hopes for the future. (ps, her mom was totally on the bandwagon too)

How can we ever thank her or honor her and her husband enough? We look forward to being able to spend time with them in the future. There are no words to express our amazement at her sacrifice and to God for his willingness to grant our heart's desire. Thank you thank you thank you.

A DATE WITH A KIDNEY!!!!!

Yesterday I was cleared to donate a kidney, and this will allow David to get his kidney!!!!! It's nothing but a miracle!!! God is so good. THis will totally change David's life, and ours.
On this Friday the 10th there will be 4 simultaneous surgeries, as a GOod Samaritan living donor and I give kidneys to two strangers. I am so excited but so nervous. When I ask David with our yes and no hand signal system, he says the same thing.

Part of the miracle is that he has been very very sick with some respiratory thing for 3 weeks, and suddenly it's cleared up. I haven't heard him cough today at all.

His recouperation will be about a month, with about 1 week in the hospital, and he will need to take 2-3 anti-rejection drugs daily for the rest of his life. (what an improvement over just 10 years ago!)

I'll be in the hospital about 4 days, but my recovery will take about 6 weeks. Other parents who have donated said they didn't get their full strength back for up to 3 months. Our children all live close and will help Rusty care for us, and neighbors and church friends all are planning to help .

For those of you in Georgia, please pass this info onto our old friends - we need all their prayers for David's transplant to be, and stay successful. Love ya, Lisa

Neighborhood Handyman

Rusty has always been so great to help out friends and church members with home repairs. He is now the official "go to guy" for the neighborhood - if he doesn't know how to do it, he knows how to find out... that's from an accumulation of 30 years of remodeling and building...
Here is a couple of great pix (in cold/winter/snow)that our friends the Batson's took when their water main broke.