the beginning of my journey

so, i decided to donate my kidney to a total stranger.

well, it wasn't as easy as that sentence was to write. but a few months ago, around the beginning of March 2008, i made the decision to donate one of my fully-functioning, healthy kidneys. now of course this decision did not come out of the blue sky, but rather with the news of my grandmother's (halmoney, in korean) fading health due to pancreatic cancer.

the day i found out of her affliction with cancer, i was devastated. although very cliche, i felt like i was just sucker-punched in the gut and the wind was knocked out of me (very much the same feeling i had when i received the phone call to learn of her passing). i was at work and had no where to run, no one to talk to. i turned to the internet and did all the research i could. i was heartbroken to find that there really wasn't much that could be done for this fast-killing cancer. my attention then turned to finding something that i could do to help. the idea of kidney donation popped into my head almost immediately. no idea where it came from. being a college education girl with a good head on my shoulders, i knew that my best bet was to research the process, procedure, recovery time, hospitals, places that offer donation, etc. and so that's how my journey started.

within a half hour, i had printed pages and pages of information. i went from being kidney donation information-less to being so overwhelmed with all the kidney information i could ever ask for. i knew size, shape, color, what they do, how you can die from improper function, disorder and diseases of the kidneys, and most importantly-- how life threatening this can be. no worries though. i sifted through it all-- weeding out the biased information. and then i made a list. pros on one side, cons on the other. although i had about the same number of reasons on each side, the pros were much more substantially meaningful than the cons. i knew from the beginning, this was something i was meant to do. i just felt it.

so with that, i signed up on http://www.matchingdonors.com/ and within a few minutes, i found 3 potential people who matched my blood type (A+) and who lived within my area. i e-mailed all three and the next day i received a call from one. it was in such a whirlwind, but i was scheduled to go in for preliminary blood and psychological testing on April 24, 2008. a short 2 weeks later, i found out that besides not being a genetic match (which we knew wasn't going to happen anyway) we were perfect matches on all other dimensions and i needed to schedule an appointment for further testing including a 24-hour urine collection period and meetings with the donation team and psychologists and social workers.

right now, i am waiting to go in for that day of intensive testing-- it is scheduled for June 20, 2008 at 8:30am. i feel bad that i have to ask for the day off from work-- because i just missed an entire week due to the passing of my halmoney. but, i feel this is something i really want to do, so i am going through with it.

the day of my urine collection and the following day of testing, i will continue to blog. but im glad you've caught up to me on my journey and i look forward to my continued blogging. if you have questions, feel free to contact me. i'd be happy to answer questions regarding my kidney donation.

when i finally opened up and told some friends and most of my family (i have decided to keep it from my mother so far because it was her mother who passed. i think right now it would be too much to deal with, so when as this whole thing becomes more solid, i will continue to wait to tell her) many were confused. "why would you give your kidney to a total stranger??" is the most common question i get. my roommates boyfriend thinks i am crazy. but the best way i can explain it is with a question....

what if you had a kidney disease or disorder that was killing you? what if everyone in your immediate family has already lost their battle with this disease? what if none of your willing friends were positive matches? what if you had no where to turn to? you would give ANYTHING for a total stranger to come along and offer this second chance at life. ANYTHING.

and this is why i've chosen to donate my kidney.

live life to the fullest. love every moment. and listen to your heart. mine has guided me here.

xoxo melis