During one of my mom's hospital stays a few years before she passed away, the doctors made a discovery that upset her in a big way. It always struck me as odd that what the doctors found worried Mom the way it did, considering all the other major physical issues she was having ... big things like congestive heart failure or a giant hematoma in her abdomen or having a hip replacement when she was in her 70s. Nope, none of those things upset Mom like being told that one of her kidneys had, in Mom's words, "shriveled up to nothin' and ain't workin' no more." And what was even more interesting to me was Mom's explanation as to why her kidney had "shriveled up to nothing." According to her, the doctors had burned up her kidney by doing too many x-rays when she had the hematoma ... seriously, that's what Mom believed until the day she drew her last breath. Don't even go there ... I did not inherit one ounce of my mother's irrational reasoning skills ... not one ounce. The truth is that the doctors thought Mom's shriveled up, non-functioning kidney had been with her since birth ... there had never been cause for the sort of scan or tests that revealed she only had one functioning kidney, so Mom just never knew about it. Sorry, Mom, but I'm cracking up as I sit here typing thinking about all the times you said, "Did you know I ain't got but one kidney that works, Terrie? Them dern doctors burned up my other one with all them dern x-rays they took when all the blood was in my belly. Lord, help ... one good kidney at my age, and the other one all burned up by x-rays. Ain't that just a mess?" For the record, Mom lived to be 85 with her one good kidney even though she was more than certain the shriveled-up one would surely be the death of her.
Back in April, I wrote a post titled "From the Heart" in which I talked about one of my guy friends at work and a most serious conversation we had that day. I mentioned that we talked about an important event that was occurring in his life the following week, and many of you have asked about him over the last several weeks (which is awesomely cool, by the way, that you cared enough to ask about him). I've been thinking of writing a follow-up post about him for a while, and today I asked his permission to do so. And since I'm writing about him this evening, you are correct in your assumption that he gave me the OK to share his story. You would also be correct if you have surmised that his most serious event had something to do with his kidney, hence my opening paragraph about Mom's. No, my friend Jim didn't have a shriveled kidney like Mom; in fact, he had two very healthy ones ... so healthy that he made the decision to give one to his brother who had two unhealthy ones.
As I believed he would, Jim did great with the surgery, and he even came to the office a couple of times to say hello during his recovery time. He was doing really well, and then had a complication that sent him back to the hospital for a few days, but I'm thrilled to tell you that he's now back in the office and is getting healthier every day. I can't begin to tell you how good it is to see his smiling face each day, or how truly honored I am to call him my friend. When I think of the selflessness that was required to do what he did and the love for his brother that his sacrifice embodies ... well ... all I can say is that it's humbling to me, and it causes me to wonder if I could be as selfless and loving if I were faced with the same decision. And get this ... there's a gal in my office who donated one of her kidneys to her mom last year. No kidding ... I work with two people who quite literally gave a big part of themselves to save the lives of people who are dear to them. In the weeks leading up to Jim's surgery, I heard the young woman encourage him, tell him what to expect, ease his fears ... it was flipping cool to witness, friends ... flipping, stinking cool to witness her taking her selflessness to another level by helping Jim as he waited to travel the same road she had. Flipping, stinking, amazingly, awesomely cool.
Jim is a Twitter buff, so it was only fitting that he set up an account for his kidney a few days prior to his surgery with the moniker "Jimmy Kidney." Hilarious, totally hilarious. From you to your brother, friend, Jimmy Kidney does indeed ride again and will for many, many years to come. Here's to you, Jim ... you truly inspire me and make me want to be a better person ... to be selfless ... to care more about the needs of others than my own ... to love with a sacrificial heart. I'm glad you're back, man ... really glad you're back.
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