Have you ever sat and thought about the cycle of life? Have you stopped to give gratitude for the body and organs you have? I think more of us should.
Most of us are born, we go through childhood then adolescence and finally adulthood. We don't spend much time in the present. As children, we want to be older. As adolecence, we go through periods of confusion about what's happening. We struggle with not being a child but look eagerly and impatiently toward being an adult. Then when we become adults, we know that life will never be the same. The responsibilities and choices we make can impact our life forever.
We take for granted our health and the funtions our organs have. When illness hits, we begin to wonder what we could have done different and struggle to change the way we live our life. Maybe all the wrong foods we ate, or the wild lifestyle we lived may affect our health. Sometimes it could be genetic and was passed down from generation to generation. Whatever the reason, we should stop every day and thank God for our health.
I've thought about that a lot lately. Robert's cousin Ruby is only in her mid 50's and has been in Florida waiting for a liver. She's been struggling with her health for a good while and was diagnosed with liver failure. With her deteriorating health, the doctors enrolled her in a program to be on the list for a liver transplant. She was flown to Florida earlier this year and has been waiting ever since. She has had many health scares. Many prayers have been said for her and her family. Last week, we got a message that stated she wasn't doing so good. She was admitted into the hospital. Over the next couple of days, her spirits were up and she was feeling better. Now it was time to just wait some more.
Now, I have thought about why it takes so long for a liver. Not to sound harsh, but people pass away every day. Surely there should have been a liver available a long time ago. But then I realized that first, not everyone is a donor. Without a donated liver, the pool is smaller. Second, not every donated liver is a match. There are tests to be run to see if the donated liver is a match and then the tests are made to see whether the liver is healthy. So many pieces to this puzzle, but everything has to fit.
Well, after the long wait, we were notified last night that a liver match was made. The tests were being done to see if the liver was a healthy match. Ruby was being admitted into the hospital and being prepped for surgery just in case it was. This morning at 6:35am, her brother called us to tell us that Ruby was going into surgery. Everything matched and was healthy for the transplant. Now the waiting. According to her brother, it is a 10-12 hour surgery. Wow!
We immediately prayed for Ruby, the team of Dr.'s and her family. Then it ocurred to me that this liver meant that someone lost their life. A family is grieving somewhere for a loved one. I prayed for this family. I prayed that they would find strength and peace during this loss and I prayed that somehow they would find a bit of hope knowing that the gift from the donor would give life back to someone special.
I know that I have never thought about being a donor before but when I think of one of my children or family members needing an organ, I want them to have every opportunity there is. Because of this experience, I will become an organ donor.
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