Walked Through the Doors

I was back in St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver this week. Back on the transplant ward. Back to the offices where I was told I was in "Perfect Health" and would make an "ideal donor". Back to the offices where exactly one week later they told me I had cancer. Back to the elevators that took me up to the operating room where that cancer was removed. Back to the floor where I spent a week recovering.

I was back.

And yet I wasn't. This time I was not the patient or the interviewee, I was the friend. The Support Person of my friend who is considering being a donor for my cousin whom she has never met (God works in VERY mysterious ways).

It's interesting to realize what you didn't know back at the time things were happening.

I had to lay on the bed of the CT Scan machine for over twenty minutes while my films were reviewed by a radiologist upstairs. I thought this was normal. My friend? Hers was over and done with immediately.


My friend got the results of her CT scan the same day she had hers done. I wasn't expecting results and had no idea that the fact I didn't get mine was strange. My results came in the form of a phone call from my surgeon a week later telling me there was "something serious" and he needed to see me immediately.

Ultimately, I was rejected as a donor, but being willing to be a kidney donor saved my life. My friend was approved as a donor, and she may end up ultimately saving my cousin's life. My cousin she would have never thought twice about if it wasn't for the fact I was going to donate my kidney.

If I wouldn't have had been willing to donate, I would still have cancer. If I didn't have cancer I would not have my girls. If I didn't have my girls I would have missed out on loving them, and being loved by them.

Life is a tangled web. It was interesting to revisit the place where my life so drastically changed. I was glad to drive away with all my organs intact this time.