For many people, today is Halloween. For Nancy and me it’s the third anniversary of the relocation of one of her kidney’s into my abdomen where it has dwelt happily and efficiently ever since. Three years! If I had a bottle of champagne in the house, this would be the right day to open it.
My first words today were addressed to the donor: “Thank you, Nancy.”
For nearly two years the backbone of my life in so many ways was the dialysis. Everything had to be arranged around those three weekly sessions of blood filtering. Normally this was at the local hospital, but, if I were traveling, sometimes in hospitals or clinics in other countries: Greece, Spain, Italy, England, France, Canada and the US.
Ever since the transplant, I have felt something like Lazarus after being brought back to life by his friend Jesus three days after being placed in his tomb. Of course I had no real death experience, but kidney illness is, even in these days, a close encounter with death.
In case you have never read it, I recommend something Nancy wrote about deciding to make that donation, “Saying Yes” -- see: http://www.jimandnancyforest.com/2009/07/29/saying_yes/
Jim
