Monday, July 13, 2009

How it feels to give up a kidney

My friend Susie (a.k.a. quirkychick), a longtime commenter on this blog, recently donated one of her kidneys to a friend. How deep is that?

Last week Susie blogged about how she’s feeling one month after the transplant. Click here to read. I love her writing.

I also recommend this post she wrote in April, explaining her decision.

Susie promises to blog more about this saga, and I’m looking forward.

10 comments:

Kellybelle said...

I dated a man who gave a kidney to his father. In fact, that's why I went out with him--it seemed so generous and loving. (Well, he wasn't, but still). They sawed him practically in half and he said the whole process takes more out of the donor than the reciient.

Geneva Girl said...

What a generous woman! I wish her and the recipient well.

bklyn6 said...

How selfless was that? :applause: (I'm a big fan of altruism.)

Best wishes to both.

'Drea said...

It's good to know that altruism is alive and well. I wanted to leave a comment on quirkychick's blog but it looks like comments are disabled.

If you're reading this quirkychick, you rock and I hope that you will get well soon.

Thanks UBM for sharing quirkychick's story and, by the way, welcome back in a semi kind of way.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Thank you, 'Drea.

lawegohard said...

Seriously, I had fallen in love with Quirky Chicks writing after UBM decided to break up with us. I sifted through her archives like I was panning for gold. It wasn't hard. I found much.

bklyn6 said...

I wanted to leave a comment on quirkychick's blog but it looks like comments are disabled.

Me too, 'Drea.

I became a potential bone marrow donor for a little girl named Jasmina at no risk (just a little saliva). But, actually giving up an organ.... That was beautiful, quirkychick.

Undercover Black Man said...

I plan on seeing Susie tomorrow. I'll make sure she sees all this beautiful love y'all are giving, because she probably hasn't yet.

Obie Joe Media said...

One of my college jobs was as a au pair to the children of a transplant surgeon based at Georgetown. This was early 1980s, when transplants were just Frankinstonian in availability and medical technique. For my birthday, this surgeon allowed me to scrub in to observe the one-two of a kidney transplant, and I've never forgotten how frail that organ looked in a bowl of ice. The next week when I got the chance to go on rounds, and see the patient, it was stupendous how quickly the new kidney improved this man's health.

I've always indicated organ donor after death, and this recent spate of domino donations using an non-relative donor does make me think about the possibility of donating now. Transplant surgery, wonderfully, has advanced by bounds in the last 20 years. Congratulations many times over to Quirky Chick...I'll pass along the word to inspire others.

Susie said...

Thanks so much for love you guys.

It has been an amazing experience to go through this process with my donor and I have such an appreciation for the human body (divinity!) and for medicine (science!)

I can't figure out how to enable comments on blogger, but I'll get some help on that.

Thanks for the shout out Dave - see you tomorrow!