ANE EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT!
I can't remember if I posted this earlier but just in case - We received an early Christmas present this year on November 12th. My DH has been very ill for quite some time and has needed a liver transplant. On November 11th we got "the call" that a match was available for him and in the early morning hours of November 12th he received his transplant.
We are so thankful, as he was getting sicker by the day and were told he would not in all likelihood live past the end of the year. Talk about pressure! But, it all worked out in the end and he is doing extremely well. I can't keep him from chasing me all over the house now! LOL
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. Have a wonderful Holiday Season.
Pam
I hope you have thanked the family of the "match" and considered the pain they are going through as you race through the house. I would hope that you are not a callous as you sound when you talk about it all woring out so well. Remember, it didn't work out all that well for another family, consider inviting some prayers for them.
Just_Jane, you stated it yourself. Your friend was given the OPTION to receive messages. It is possible that the donors for Pam's husband's liver opted not to receive messages of thanks. We don't know all of the details of Pam's situation. Overall, organ donation is a choice. People do it for a variety of reasons. In my opinion, your description of organ donation, "chopped and portioned out", is pretty callous, as well.
I am an organ donor. I did it in the event that my demise may benefit someone truly in need. I didn't decide to become an organ donor for the "Thank You" that my family may or may not receive after the fact.
Give Pam a break as she relishes this extra time with her husband. I do not know Pam or you, or either of your personal situations, but I don't think Pam is obligated to lay all of her personal thoughts on the line here. Organ donation and receiving of said organs is a very personal choice. She does mention that she is very thankful for the early Christmas present. She really doesn't owe us, here on OH, any more explanation than that.
Enjoy the holiday season and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~e.e. cummings |
Dear Jane,
It was with sadness that I read your response to my post regarding my DH's transplant last month. You have no idea how our family felt prior to receiving news of the transplant. We were and are now, acutely aware that the gift of life my husband received was because the loved one of someone else had lost their precious life. Many prayers were said by us for the donor and their family that they would feel comfort and be at peace knowing how profoundly they touched our lives and especially that in their time of sorrow they were able to be so gracious and generous to donate the much needed organs of their loved one.
Prayers continue to be said by our family for the donor's dear ones and we will continue to do that indefinitely. As for contacting the donor family, you must be aware that the Transplant Program has some strict regulations regarding that. However, we were given a packet of information that we could use to extend our heartfelt thanks to them and that has been done. Someday, we would like to meet the family but, were told that that may or may not be allowed to happen.
Yes, things did work out well for us but again we know that somewhere there is a family that is experiencing the deepest kind of pain one can know. I also want you to understand that from the beginning just after his surgery, my husband, tho he was on a ventilator, attempted to express to his drs. that he wished to contact the donor family to thank them. It was foremost in both his mind as well as mine and our children's.
Please do not feel that I was being flippant about "him chasing me around the house." It was just my feeble attempt at letting people know how much better he is feeling and nothing more than that. The remark was not met to imply poor taste or some sort of nefarious behavior on his part. We are simply happy that he can even walk now, let alone move with any speed.
You must be aware too that he is still not "out of the woods" medically speaking. We continue to travel to the Transplant Clinic weekly for check ups and blood lab monitoring as there are unfortunately many possible things that may still go wrong. But - please remember that no matter what his outcome, we will forever be grateful to the donor and their family for giving him a chance at a longer life.
Please extend my prayers to your friend who's husband was so tragically taken from her and to you as well.
Peace and Blessings,
Pam
I would hope that no one else on this thread will ever have to know the pain of loss. And I pray that we all recieve compassion far beyond what we have shown.
on 12/23/08 10:58 pm, edited 12/23/08 11:43 pm - The beautiful, US Virgin Islands......, XX
Just_jane, are you REALLY that sad and disconnected with reality to believe what you wrote to that poor woman? What in the world is your problem that you've got to be so blackhearted as to say something like that? Do you think that your friend's husband's sacrifice wasn't worth helping those other people to live for a while longer? He could used those organs any longer and now his widow knows that he is living on through his generousity and gift of life.
You are one of the most twisted individuals I've ever ran into on the whole network of people who are posting. People come here to support one another. I'm not here to support you though, i'm here to give you a proper tongue lashing you deserve....
When you need an organ transplanted to the one you love....maybe, just maybe you'll feel the weight of your words .....go walk in her shoes before you ever talk to another human like that...Treat others like you want to be treated... it wasn't my rule, it's the rule of life....Karma has a wicked way of working things out for people like you....
She knows the sacrifice that someone else made for the sake of her and her family's gain. Don't call someone else "callous" when that would be the furthest thing from reality. take your sad self back to the gutter you crawled from.
T.
