Donor Cards
Phantasma has been shelved to later this week, because I have a more important entry today.
My friend Dana is going into surgery tomorrow for a kidney transplant that wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for her sister, but I'll let her tell you the rest:
Dear friends,
For those of you who know me well, know that I received a new heart in July of 2000. To make an incredibly long story short, I was born with a heart problem and after years of multiple surgeries to "correct" the problem, my heart finally gave up and said I'm done. If it were not for the untimely death of a 14 year old Tennessee girl and her incredibly generous family, I would not have survived the summer.
Cut to this past August, when my doctor told me that my kidneys weren't functioning very well and I need to see a specialist. The Nephrologist told me that I was in End Stage Renal Failure and that a transplant was imminent. The failure was caused by a few factors, mostly from the anti-rejection drug I am on which killed the kidneys. It's common.
I am incredibly lucky that my sister is my perfect match. Without her, or the few family members that also matched, I'd have to go on the waiting list, which, in NY, is currently 800 people long. Of those 800 people, roughly half will most likely die waiting for a kidney.
Now, here's where you come in. I implore you to sign your donor card. Please. You alone can save up to six people. Whatever religion you believe in, they all agree in that saving the life of another is like atoning for any sin you have ever committed, or will ever committ. It is a Mitzvah.
If it weren't for Cayci in Tennessee and now my sister, I would not be here to ask you to do this for me. So please, sign your donor card, and encourage your friends and family to do the same. I will be eternally grateful to you.
Thank you!
Dana