Give A Kidney...Have a Month of Hell

It has been two months since my last post, and I am really bad at not following the 'blogger' bible of keeping up to date on postings...sorry.

I did donate my kidney on Feb 11th to a stranger.  After the donation, I meet the recipients family and then a day later the recipient.  While the experience was amazing and painful, and clearly not for everyone, I would encourage more people to donate when they are able to do so.  Once I recovered and got back into my normal routine, the glow of the moment had passed.  Yet, even now, I can see my scar and know that what I did made a lasting impression on the world.  Yes, I did say the world.

Just as with every day life, each thing we do causes the usual ripple effect, both positive and negative.  In this case, while I helped a person live a longer and hopefully happier life, what I did was just not for him, but for the world.  That single act, did cause a ripple effect, and I sincerely believe that since it was given out of true love for a fellow human being, that the positive energy would continue through his life and the life of his family and beyond each other.  Is that optimistic, God I hope so!

While one would think that raking up of such good karma, I would have a decent if not a great year.  Well, as with my soap box life, that is not always the case.  At the end of March I was in a car accident, and thankfully no one was injured, but my car was totaled.  Then a week later my bike was stolen.  A week later my PC crashed and I was down for a week unable to properly do business.  Then the finale blow I found out someone had stolen my ID.  Ah, what a month it was.  But even with all of this frustration, I was also reminded that I have to be very clear in what I ask for from God and the Universe.

The six months prior to the car being totaled, I kept saying that I needed to replace the car as the repairs (new breaks, transmission, etc.) would cost more then the car was worth.  So the Universe answered and removed the car from me.  I should have been a bit more clear in asking that the funds be in place first so I could afford to replace the car immediately and with little to no problems. 

The bike reminding me how valueless personal possessions really are and by riding the public bus system, it reinforced the need for replacing the car quickly if I was to be able to maintain my business and goals. Thus, it pushed me harder to make things happen in a better more profitable way.

The PC was an interesting item, for it crashed just at a time when I was suppose to be in Houston for a week long event.  Between it being down and horrible rain storms that literally cancelled bus trips to Houston, I had no choice but to stay home, and that worked out better for me in the long run.  Again, the trip to Houston was not something I was wanting to do and had issues with all year, so the Universe gave me an out and I took it.

Finally, the Stolen ID...well, they can have it...lol  So far only one item has been reported from that theft and it relates to a Sprint account and a gold iPhone.  At this point in time, there is little to no damage on my credit report as I can easily clear that item and I am prepared for any additional items that may appear.  I believe that once they realized I had poor credit after this past year, they were not able to open any additional accounts in my name.  And now, with this fraud showing up, they will have a harder time to open any more accounts.

So while it has been an interesting few months full of frustration and life, I have also become more at peace with it.  The situations remind me to 'chill out' and relax.  Life does happen, and life does go on.  Nothing is ever so bad that one should take their life, nor take another's life.  What is the overall lesson I am to learn from my past, who knows.  I can only hope that it keeps me on the path I have chosen of prosperity by giving help to others through the Non-profits I have created and that my simple act of kindness outshines the negative aspect of things in the world and helps people to grow stronger, better and more loving.

Life goes on...I go on

I'm Donating a Body Part

On February 11, 2016 I will be having surgery in order to donate a Kidney.  This is something that I have thought about doing in some way over the past few years.  It didn’t matter if it was a Kidney, bone marrow, or any other body part that I could give while alive.  I am listed as a donor upon my death as well.

When I started this process, I was not expecting to go through as much as I have.  In some ways I am disappointed in the process as they claim to want to make it convent for the donor, I find it not to be 100% accurate.

I knew that there would be down time due to the surgery but the additional time and energy involved was much more then I was lead to believe or expected.  I do not have insurance, or vacation time, so every hour I spend on this adventure, I have lost income.  When there are delays made by the hospital team, it cost me money.  It is this aspect that I am not thrilled with, and to be clear I am not asking for money from the hospital or any organization to help offset my losses.  I do however, expect for the system to be more respectful of the donor and their time.

Here is a perfect example of why I am frustrated.  When I began the process I was clear that the surgery had to be done by a certain time frame, the first week of February, which would allow me ample time to heal and be ready for events and programs that I had scheduled starting in March.  Yet, the hospital team failed to share one piece of information within their group that resulted in a one-week delay.  This delay then offset every person involved with supporting me through my recovery.  This delay put the surgery right on top of a holiday weekend, where many of my supporters had already had plans made, thus they were no longer available to assist me.

On the outset, that would appear to be a non-issue, simply delay the surgery, but the next two weeks where already booked and that delay would further cost me to lose money.  The next available time frame I could do the surgery and allow for healing was not until the end of June or early July.  That’s a five-month delay which could result in the death of the recipient.  That’s not acceptable!

The hospital staff should have followed protocol, or at least go the extra mile to make sure that everything was done on time and they worked with me, the donor to make sure that time schedules were done and simply not dis-respect my effort and do as they choose and schedule things on their time frame.  If this was a business I was dealing with, I would have fired them.  Their actions were, as I feel completely disrespectful to me.  The example I gave was just one of a couple of items that they did which added to loss of income and delays.  I wonder at times if they have become immune to the lifesaving surgeries they are doing and treat this more as a business then a lifesaving procedure.

Regardless of the delays and me having to hire help to offset my inability to work properly, I would not stop this procedure, or delay it.  We are dealing with people’s lives, and too many people die because there is no donor to help them.  I do not want to be one of those people who could help, but chose not to because a corporation failed at its job.

My reasons for giving are simple; I have been blessed on many occasions over the years in many ways.  It is because of being blessed is why I want to give back when I could.  I am healthy at 55 years of age, and my time on earth continues to count down, so now is the perfect time to give back and help someone else in need.  It is a small thing to do, and even more why I feel respect should be given through the process.

Now with that said, I want to share with you that not even knowing who the recipient is, I know this is a valid and right thing to do.  But, I will share with you some information so that you can be prepared for what to expect if and when you choose to donate a body part.

Blood Testing:  There was times I felt like I lost weight due to the amount of blood they took for testing.  Before the pre-op, I have given over 40 vials of blood over a six-week period.  The most at one time was 14 vials.  This is critical for many reasons.  Of course the most important is to make sure you are healthy enough to donate.  The second is to make sure that your blood works well with the recipient’s.  The rest of the blood is just follow up as needed.

Time: In my case the surgery team is located in San Antonio and I am in Austin, TX.  Roughly a two-hour drive which does not lend well to recovery, pre-op time and any additional testing as needed.  The blood tests were mostly done in Austin at a lab, so that was convent overall.  The down time to go to San Antonio for the final round of approval before getting cleared for surgery was an all-day event.  The pre-op procedure so far appears to be an all-day event.  

Surgery:  More to come on the blog for this item.

Stay Tuned