How much is that kidney in the window?
I had my second level testing done today.
Wish I could say that that was the end of the testing, but I am not so foolish as to think that. It truly does get exhausting, more so mentally than anything else. The constant questions of “Why are you doing this?” “Why are you donating to someone who is not a relative?” “Are you being paid to do this?” (This one really pisses me off, because they don't know me from a hole in the wall and it insinuates that I am not a moral or ethical person at ALL!!!) “How well do you know the recipient?” just grate after a while.
From what I heard, Mt. Sinai (which is where I am going to do the donation assuming all goes well) is the hardest on donors. Wish I understood why. Here we have a relatively healthy person of sound mind and body wanting to give a part of herself, and it is like they are trying to convince me not to do it. Maybe I do understand why. In Judaism, when someone wants to convert to Orthodoxy (which, in the religious sects of Judaism is the ONLY way to really convert) the Rabbis do everything possible to try to dissuade the convert because once you convert, there is no going back. In my head, I am equating the two. THAT is WHY they are trying to make it difficult for me, but it is still hard.
I just hope that when they see that I am serious by the very fact that I will be making a follow-up call on Friday to see how the tests were (I have to call, because they don’t want me to feel any pressure.) that they will stop asking me all the above mentioned annoying questions and just get down to doing it.
So the deal is that I have to lose 10 pounds and I have to be healthy with all my other tests. If I am, I am going to do the donation, because I am a match. Today I had a chest x-ray, EKG, meeting with a social worker, blood test, urine test (on top of the 24-hour urine sample I had to collect all day yesterday) and a meeting with the nephrology department. In addition, because I have white coat anxiety (which means my blood pressure goes up in a doctor’s office), they have me doing a 24-hour blood pressure test. This involves wearing a blood pressure machine for 24 hours that tests my blood pressure every 20 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night.
I realized that this is not the most entertaining blog entry I have every written, but at least it is concise!
This testing is very taxing on any person, and it is something that is not really spoken about, even on donor sites. I know, because I checked. I really hope this works, but if it doesn’t, I plan on signing up with the HOD Society (see www.hods.org for more information.)
There is so much of me that I want to give to help the world, and this is only one way to do it. I wish I knew what drove me in this manner. What compels me to do things that I KNOW a sane person wouldn’t even contemplate. I don’t think I am a huge risk take, by nature. I just feel like my life has no meaning unless I am actively making a difference for other people at all times. I encourage all my readers to look around them and see the world for the good place it is. Sometimes I think we sit and complain and watch the world go by when really it is only a matter of standing up to make life, as we know it, so much more bearable. Bearable not only for ourselves, but even more so for those around us.
Wish I could say that that was the end of the testing, but I am not so foolish as to think that. It truly does get exhausting, more so mentally than anything else. The constant questions of “Why are you doing this?” “Why are you donating to someone who is not a relative?” “Are you being paid to do this?” (This one really pisses me off, because they don't know me from a hole in the wall and it insinuates that I am not a moral or ethical person at ALL!!!) “How well do you know the recipient?” just grate after a while.
From what I heard, Mt. Sinai (which is where I am going to do the donation assuming all goes well) is the hardest on donors. Wish I understood why. Here we have a relatively healthy person of sound mind and body wanting to give a part of herself, and it is like they are trying to convince me not to do it. Maybe I do understand why. In Judaism, when someone wants to convert to Orthodoxy (which, in the religious sects of Judaism is the ONLY way to really convert) the Rabbis do everything possible to try to dissuade the convert because once you convert, there is no going back. In my head, I am equating the two. THAT is WHY they are trying to make it difficult for me, but it is still hard.
I just hope that when they see that I am serious by the very fact that I will be making a follow-up call on Friday to see how the tests were (I have to call, because they don’t want me to feel any pressure.) that they will stop asking me all the above mentioned annoying questions and just get down to doing it.
So the deal is that I have to lose 10 pounds and I have to be healthy with all my other tests. If I am, I am going to do the donation, because I am a match. Today I had a chest x-ray, EKG, meeting with a social worker, blood test, urine test (on top of the 24-hour urine sample I had to collect all day yesterday) and a meeting with the nephrology department. In addition, because I have white coat anxiety (which means my blood pressure goes up in a doctor’s office), they have me doing a 24-hour blood pressure test. This involves wearing a blood pressure machine for 24 hours that tests my blood pressure every 20 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night.
I realized that this is not the most entertaining blog entry I have every written, but at least it is concise!
This testing is very taxing on any person, and it is something that is not really spoken about, even on donor sites. I know, because I checked. I really hope this works, but if it doesn’t, I plan on signing up with the HOD Society (see www.hods.org for more information.)
There is so much of me that I want to give to help the world, and this is only one way to do it. I wish I knew what drove me in this manner. What compels me to do things that I KNOW a sane person wouldn’t even contemplate. I don’t think I am a huge risk take, by nature. I just feel like my life has no meaning unless I am actively making a difference for other people at all times. I encourage all my readers to look around them and see the world for the good place it is. Sometimes I think we sit and complain and watch the world go by when really it is only a matter of standing up to make life, as we know it, so much more bearable. Bearable not only for ourselves, but even more so for those around us.
posted by energynorm at
10:57 PM
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