But those who hope in the Lord will RENEW THEIR STRENGTH, they will SOAR ON WINGS LIKE EAGLES, they will RUN AND NOT GROW WEARY, they will WALK AND NOT BE FAINT.
Isaiah 40:31
[This story is used with permission. Only the names have been changed for privacy.]
These were the words that my mother in law was quoting to the nurses as she came out of surgery yesterday. The Lord has provided for her in a mighty way and I wanted all of you to know the story.
Most of you know Deb has been struggling for years with health issues and in particular she has been battling kidney failure. She has tried with all her might to maintain minimum kidney function for as long as she could but the last few years have been quite the struggle for her and she has had to endure more than the average person could bare. With every day going by it was a daily struggle for her to go about life but she did and she did it will a smile on her face. She has faced many setbacks the in the last year or so and with each one she handled it with her head held high and not a complaint uttered on her tongue. I admire her for this and feel that she has displayed true grace and beauty in her life.
Over the last few months, we knew that the kidneys were indeed failing and that Dialysis would be in the near future. Because of this the search was on to find a kidney donor, because without a donor the wait for a kidney would be 3-5 long years of doing dialysis every day. Everyone in the family did research and made calls to see if they could be donors… and no one was eligible. I know this was a disappointment for Deb. As the search continued there were a few people who unselfishly said that they would indeed donate their kidney. My sister in law Jen offered to donate her kidney and ended up traveling several hours one way to the medical center several times to do hours of testing, only to find out that she was not a match. We were all grateful for her willing heart. Deb also had a friend from her childhood that said she would be willing to donate so the testing began for her.
In the mean time, over the Christmas Holidays it became evident that the Kidneys had indeed failed and Deb ended up having to spend most of the Christmas Holidays in the Hospital. During this time we had to do an emergency surgery to put in a Dialysis port so that she could start Dialysis as soon as possible. Since then she has been going to the medical center three times a week to do 6 hour dialysis treatments, and then this last week she had to stay there for the whole week to do these treatments daily and begin training to start the at home dialysis. Two Fridays ago, while receiving one of the treatments we got news that Deb’s childhood friend would be unable to donate her kidney. It was a very disappointing day. So at this point it was back to the drawing board; it was time to press forward with the daily dialysis to just try getting Deb feeling better again.
I know Deb was discouraged and tired, but she continued to be strong and put her hope and trust in the Lord, and as always, THE LORD PROVIDED!
On Wednesday afternoon we got a call that there had been a donor and that they had a kidney waiting for her. As it turns out Deb’s brother has a family friend that had a 26 year old son that died expectantly that day. He had stated that he would be an organ donor and the family decided to give Deb the kidney. The testing began to see if they were a match and they were. It was a perfect match… even down to the tissues that are attached to the kidney. I have been told that it is extremely rare to find a match this perfect and the glory for this can go to none other than God. So the kidney was harvested on Thursday evening, sent to the transplant center overnight and Deb had a Kidney transplant first thing yesterday morning!! I spoke with her yesterday afternoon after the surgery and the first thing she said to me was that she is going to be able to “soar on wings like eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”
I am so happy for her that the Lord has heard her cry and answered her prayer so quickly. None of us could have imagined this story and once again I am amazed at God’s grace. God never ceases to amaze me. I love how He works… We make up scenarios in our head of how we think things should turn out or go and his plans are always so much bigger than what we could ever imagine.
Deb will still have some hurdles to overcome but the new kidney is in, and was already active after the surgery (sometimes after surgery the kidney does not work right way and has to be dialyzed to start working). I am so thankful that God has provided this for her and that it was so quick! My prayers are with the family that lost their son and I pray that they will be blessed by knowing that they have given life to someone else. The prayer for her now is that her body would not reject the new kidney and that she would be on the road to regaining her strength and good health.
Thank you all for your prayers for her over the last few months. I just had to share this amazing story with those that I love…
Your Friend,
“H”
Thank you “H” for allowing me to sharing this story. If anyone is not a registered organ/tissue donor, please consider doing so. Your decision may dramatically effect another person’s life like Deb’s. You can simply go Online, and find your local Organ Donor Registry and make a few clicks, it’s that simple!
Chaplain Evans 