Dimensional...

Of course we ALL know that there is more that just one dimension to a person and their life.

It's never been my intention to get too "personal" on this blog as far as "real life".  Who really wants to read someone's dirty laundry?  (We all know that's what FaceBook is for anyways! LOL!)

I've mentioned family loss and family additions, just surface stuff.

Well I'm going to share a little more stuff...

Only because mom sent me an e-mail and I felt like sharing.

Just a little back story..or maybe a lot..not sure yet!

When I was 8-10, but I could have been younger, my grandfather was diagnosed with renal failure.

I don't really remember a whole lot of particulars, but I knew it was serious.  As things went on, he was on dialysis.  He was on that for several years, and then he received a kidney transplant.  When Grandpa Dick got his kidney, the expected life span of a transplanted organ was 8 years. ( Early '80s.)  His kidney lived almost exactly 8 years.  Once the kidney was no longer functional he opted for a Peritoneal Dialysis .  It worked well for him for about 8 months, then the stresses of illness and other things caught up with my Grandpa Dick and he died in his chair at home watching a movie of a heart attach.  I was 16.

That organ gave him 7 years of quality life, life that being on dialysis you just don't get to have. ( I say 7 years, because his road to recovery was long and hard, and when the kidney started to fail, there were some pretty bad days...)  I knew just how lucky we ALL were that he got that kidney.  I knew from then on that I would be an organ donor.  (With the exception on my eyes...there is something about that, even to day that just freaks me out...  And you can, I believe, live a quality life without sight...)  I am truly thankful for that person that gave me those years with my grandfather.  We never knew their name... But I always felt as though they were "our" hero.

Flash forward 7 years.  My cousin and one of my best friends was killed in a freak accident while playing flag football with her family.  Keturah ran into another player, fell backwards onto the base of her head and pushed her brain stem up into her brain.  Rendering her brain dead almost immediately.  They were playing in a park only 5 minute from the hospital.  Her mom, my Aunt Terry is an advanced EMT.  CPR was started the ambulance called.  Keturah was pronounced DOA.  The family made the decision to donate her organs.  (Grandpa Dick was also Keturah's grandfather.)

That was 16 years ago this past January.

After all that time, Keturah's parents were able to meet a recipient   Here is an update on the man who received Keturah's heart.  (It seems like at one time, Aunt Terry was in touch with one of the people who got a kidney too...)I think it's amazing that they are able to keep organs alive so much longer than they they used!   I wish this lady would have written a little more in detail...but that's just me!   

Any whoo, just thought I'd share!