Wednesday, May 12, 2010, at approximately\u00a01:45pm, I received a telephone call from my sister’s mother-in-law.\u00a0 Yes, that is unusual and frightening at the same time.\u00a0\u00a0Former moments that I have heard from the woman is to tell\u00a0me that my sister, Judy, of Worcester, Massachusetts, is in the hospital – again.\u00a0 For good reason, I often think the worst and hesitate to answer the phone.\u00a0 I answered it today.<\/p>\n
“Hi Andrea.\u00a0 It’s Avis.”\u00a0 she said with a brightness to her voice.\u00a0 “I have some wonderful news.\u00a0 Judy is in recovery right now from a kidney transplant.”\u00a0 “Whoa,” I thought.\u00a0 “OH MY GOSH!” I exclaimed.\u00a0 That’s excellent.\u00a0 Having asked for more details, I just wished I was there.<\/p>\n
Judy will “remain in recovery at UMASS\u00a0(University of Massachusetts\u00a0Medical Center) before she is wheeled\u00a0to ICU (Intensive Care Unity)\u00a0for about two days.\u00a0 The\u00a0care nurse assigned to Judy was Karl’s nurse (Avis’ son and Judy’s husband) when Karl had his transplant.”\u00a0\u00a0Halleluia!<\/p>\n
You see, Judy was diagnosed\u00a0in 1964 as a diabetic.\u00a0 This actually occurred on her fifth birthday.\u00a0\u00a0She was the second child\u00a0to be diagnosed with this disease in a family of five children.\u00a0 I was the first at age two in 1959; Gina was the third at age 12 in 1970.\u00a0 Judy married a man, Karl, who was diagnosed in 1978 at the age of fifteen.\u00a0 Okay, so between the\u00a0four of us, we’ve been through it all!<\/p>\n
To make a long story short, Judy has been undergoing dialysis for the last seven years.\u00a0 This one\u00a0diseased complication pertinent with diabetics, nephropathy,\u00a0took over and disabled her young body.\u00a0 This also means she has been on the “Kidney Donor List” for that long.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
I can only guess at how much longer she would be able to survive on dialysis, three days a week.\u00a0 I am grateful to the donor and the donors’ family for granting my sister and me and my family this\u00a0present.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Thank you so very very much.\u00a0\u00a0 Organ donations are a matter of life and death.\u00a0\u00a0 I wish more people felt and believed in this fact.<\/p>\n
Good health to all!\u00a0 AK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wednesday, May 12, 2010, at approximately\u00a01:45pm, I received a telephone call from my sister’s mother-in-law.\u00a0 Yes, that is unusual and frightening at the same time.\u00a0\u00a0Former moments that I have heard from the woman is to tell\u00a0me that my sister, Judy, … Continue reading