Life is great. Neal and I are filling our days with so much. Saturday we spent 5 hours learning about the organization Donate Life. The organization is funded by the government, so we will not be hitting everyone up for money! The presentation was very well done and we are hoping to donate our time to the organization. Ryan and Leslie also attended. There were probably 20 people at the meeting. All but one of them were personally touched by organ donation. It was wonderful to hear others stories and to share ours. I of course was the cry baby in our group. I spent a lot of the meeting thinking to myself. The things that constantly loom in my head are:
1) Images of Neal at particular stages of 2007 that continue to give me nightmares. I am hoping that today's meeting provided some type of closure or something that will help me to forget that year. I am afraid the decisions I had to make and the thoughts I had at particular points will haunt me forever. When I have these horrible thoughts I try to twist them around instead of remembering the day for the bad thing that happened, I try to picture the large group of family and friends that were around to support us. I know I need to leave these ghosts in the past, it is just not that easy. Thankfully Neal does not remember much.
2) How can we ever repay Ryan and Leslie? It seems as though every wonderful day we have I am thinking of them. We do not have enough money to buy them what they truly deserve. After introducing myself at today's meeting I thought, wait I want another turn. I want people to know how Ryan and Leslie were there for us not just at the time of the donation, but they helped us get through the difficult times when Neal was in the hospital. I knew whatever I asked they would do in a heartbeat, no questions asked. How much Neal being sick impacted them. How they had their first child, yet were still willing to have Ryan go through a major operation and be laid up on sets. What "gift" is sufficient?
3) Why would you not be an organ donor? You are dead, you do not need your organs. I read a t-shirt once that said "Don't Take Your Organs to Heaven...Heaven Knows We Need Them Here". Sadly we found out only 50% of Ohioans are organ donors and of those only about 1% pass in a way that allows organ donation to occur. http://www.lifelineofohio.org/
We are happily married (at least I am!) and we are not letting time pass us by. I hope we continue to do this for the rest of our lives. I hope others learn to do this for the rest of their lives. The "NEW" Neal is better than ever! We continue to train for the 5k and are hoping to do more. Lifeline is having a race in July. I am unsure if we will all be in it or not because they need volunteers. http://www.lifelineofohio.org/news/dashfordonation.aspx
As a side note, after the 5 hour meeting Neal and Stacy played tennis for over an hour and then Neal cut the grass. Afterwards we had Mom, Mike, Stacy and Chris over for dinner. A year ago, Neal could barely walk a lap in the hospital. It truly is a miracle!
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Over half of the 99,000 Americans on the national transplant waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable organs every year. Over 6,000 of our neighbors suffer and die needlessly every year as a result.
There is a simple way to put a big dent in the organ shortage -- give organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.
Giving organs first to organ donors will convince more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life should go to the back of the waiting list as long as there is a shortage of organs.
Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition.
Michele,
Can you check the link? I couldn't get to it.
They worked for me! Try copy and pasting.
What a wonderful friendship you have with Ryan and Leslie. We are so thrilled that you are doing so well, Neal and that Michele can have happy times with you again. Michele, don't worry, the bad memories will drift away and you'll be filled with plenty of good ones. Life is full of ups and downs and I think you've had your share of "downs". Enjoy each day and know that Ryan and Leslie's reward is seeing you both happy and enjoying life again.
Love
Patty & Ed
Great post and excellent to hear about Neal doing so well after his transplant. Thanks so much for showing support for Donate Life and helping spread the word on this crucial issue!
Patty is right - our 'gift' is seeing you and Neal so happy again - and healthier than ever!!! I think Neal needs to start carrying around a Trapper Keeper to keep track of his NUMEROUS activities...just as long as he continues to pencil us in every once in a while:)
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