The Recipient

I haven't written anything lately for a couple of reasons. The past few days have been pretty hard on my body and mind. I've had dreams that have caused me to hit myself in the larger of the wounds. And yes, yes it hurts! I've had pretty bizarre dreams even by my standards. The physical part has been hard as well. From freaking out while throwing up to loosing my appetite for a couple of days. And oh, it really bites when short walks wear ya out. But the more I get out, the more my stamina builds back up. One day it will be OVER 9000!

So about the recipient. I think I may have mentioned earlier that the person who got Lefty is a young adult female. The last update I got about her was while I was in the hospital. And that was that she was doing fine with the kidney. I also learned that they go through as about much if not more testing than the donors do, plus their lifestyle choices makes a difference as well in the decision process. This really reassured me as well.

So why didn't I donate the kidney to a relative or friend or sell it on the black market or even wait until I die? Well honestly I'm sort of a recovering control freak. Yes, yes I wanted a little bit of say in who got the organ. My only choices were a child recipient or adult recipient. I had no say in the sex, definite age, race, religion, sexual orientation, political ties, social status, etc of said person. What that left me was the chance to envision the person in my head the way I want to. The little part of me that judges people (its in all of us) could not be placated by going this route.This made the other part of me happy.

Yes, I could of probably held out until a family member or friend needed a kidney, but what would have given me the guarantee that it would be healthy enough when that time comes? This way, an immediate need was there (there are thousands) and it could hopefully be met with better success that a living organ donation offers.