Give It My All
December 2nd of 2010 – 5:00am. I was the only one in the entire hospital other than staff members. For some reason I was completely calm as I waited for Sheena to arrive on the second floor, the surgery level. The lights were dim, and a few random nurses chatted in whispers. Thoughts ran through my head of backing out of my decision but I batted them aside like flies on a hot summer day. Four months of testing, four months of decisions, four months of others telling me not to go through with this. I was determined, I had a purpose, and I was not backing down. Thinking back on that day has to be one of the most painful memories I will ever recall.
I donated my kidney to a woman I barely knew and I did it because I believe in having compassion for others. Why do I have compassion for others? It comes down to one simple thing : I believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross for me. In that sacrifice of supreme love and compassion I have for myself an example of which to live by. There was a desire placed upon my heart to do what was right, what was selfless, and I could not explain it at first. Eventually as the months went by I realized God was speaking directly to my soul in a way I had never experienced.
Now you might need a bit of information to understand a few things. I had never been to the doctor in my entire life other than for a few minor scrapes and bruises. Kidney donation isn’t exactly easy by any means. It requires an almost perfect match between two individuals. Blood type and kidney size and shape come into the equation. You also need a healthy heart and good kidney function, amongst many other things. I had no idea what my blood type was for starters. I figured it would all end there at the beginning but it didn’t. The tests kept coming and I kept passing them. I am not the sort of person to find the supernatural in every corner; however, in this case I find it hard not to believe that this entire situation was a miracle in the truest sense of the meaning. Sheena and I had only known each other for a short while, meeting only by chance at the hair salon she worked at, and yet I was a perfect match as a donor. I was probably the last person she would have ever come to, and in fact, she never did. I went to her. I saw a person in pain and in need and I saw everyone around her unable to donate and it weighed heavily upon my heart at the time.
I stand by my conviction to this day, almost a year later. I spent five days on a hospital bed. Lonely, afraid, and miserable, I couldn’t eat and I was in so much pain that I could barely move. They had me return to work fourteen days after I got home from surgery. Typically I walk nearly fifteen miles a day throughout my eight hour shift, and one day shortly after getting back I ended up collapsing in one of the hallways from over exertion and had to spend hours in the hospital getting an electrocardiogram (EKG), a chest x-ray, blood draws, and a ventilation-perfusion (VQ) test done on my lungs to see if I had blood clots. I spent months recovering from a surgery that I brought upon myself. I suffered much but I endured it all because every time I saw Sheena’s bright smile and unending energy, I forgot about my misery. Nearly a year later I find myself never looking back, never regretting my decision. I helped give someone back their life, their energy, their love for being alive and I would do it all again if I could.
I never knew that I had the capacity to do such an act. Before all the testing and the preparation I knew myself to be rather selfish. In one fell swoop I crushed that old habit and became a new person for it. I have learned so much, but more than anything I learned that compassion for others can be one of the more rewarding acts of service a person can do.
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