In August of 1995 my liver began it's demise but because I was in my mid-twenties and didn't speak "medicine" yet and no doctor had been direct, I didn't understand what that meant. It wasn't until I went in to see my Hematologist carrying 25 pounds of fluid weight and vomiting several times a day (which was my body trying to rid itself of all those toxins the liver wasn't processing well) that he said, "OH MY GOSH!! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LIKE THIS? YOU NEEED A LIVER TRANSPLANT!!!"
Thankfully he got me in for an appointment at UAB where I met Dr. Steve Bynon, who would later perform my transplant and start me on a journey for my second chance of life.
About three years out, I was able to look at the surgery and the experience at an enormous blessing in another way from just being alive. Having a transplant put me in another world with people that had gone through the same thing. We have shared stories and laughs and tears, but I realized without getting sick and loosing my liver I never would have encountered this wonderful group of people. Of course, there is a downside to this blessing. We have lost many of our friends over the almost 28 years I've had my liver. It's very hard when it happens, but I tell myself that those friends have had a second chance in this life and what could be better?
One of the things I never anticipated was being able to get to know Donor Families. Sadly, I have never met my own Donor Family, but I have had many opportunities to meet families and hear their amazing heroic stories. I still get choked up when I hear them speak, but since I haven't had the opportunity to meet and thank my own Donor Family, I will continue to love on others as if they were my own.
I have had a few letters from my family over the years. My donor's name was Nicholas and he was a teenager who loved to fish and he was the star running back on his football team. He was a Life Scout working on his Eagle Scout badge and he made the decision himself to be a donor. The last time I heard from his father he told me that he has a granddaughter and she's named after her uncle Nick. This precious family changed my life and I am thankful to them every day.
Finally, one of the opportunities that I've had over these years is attending the Transplant Games. I attended in 2000 strictly because it was at Disney World. I'm the least athletic person you know, but I wanted to see what it was about. When I got there, it was like SHAZAM!!! Amazing, Life Changing, Feel Good, Reunion are words to describe the five days with loads of sporting events with some really good athletes and some like me. The common factor is that we'd all been incredibly sick and had come back to life and health because of an organ donor or a living donor. I was so overwhelmed that I swore I'd never miss another Games and I didn't until 2012. I took a break for a bit and then Co-vid rolled in and we all were forced to change everything for three years.
Fast forward to March of this year when we learned that the Games are coming to Birmingham in July of 2024! What a huge deal for our team, Alabama and the whole Southeastern region! The problem is that Team Alabama has been inactive for 3 Games (6 years) so we have zero reserves and are starting from scratch.
I'm asking for your support to meet my fundraising obligations. Each team member must fund half of their trip. I'm hoping to raise enough to assist myself and one other member that might need a hand. Your contribution will go to support getting us to the Games, but it will also go to support Organ Donor awareness and donor registration throughout the state, which is a huge deal. There are more that 117,000 people waiting for a transplant and a large portion of those are kidneys. Every little bit we can do helps. And Team Alabama is also registering Organ Donors as part of this campaign. So even if you've signed a donor card or your license, signing the registry will also add one more point of contact.
https://registerme.org/campaig...
Any contribution that you make will be appreciated. Thank you for your love and support over the years.
Lyric
