Destiny

August 11, 1977 i had a fever of 104. We were at our family cabin on Lake Minnewawa in McGregor, MN.  I was just over one month old. My parents took me to the ER and they thought i had a kidney or bladder infection and sent us back to the cabin with antibiotics. A few days later i was not only not getting any better, i had gotten much worse. At 4:00 am my parents friends Jack and Raggedy drove my mom and me back to the Twin Cities to get me to Fairview Southdale Hospital. I was admitted and after tests they found i had encephalitis and meningitis.

Of course i have no memory of all of this, as i was only one month old. But i have heard the story my entire life. My mom would always tell me about how sick i was and how i had tubes all over my body and how there was a chance i could have died or been left deaf or with brain damage. Somehow i got better and healed without complications. Now, being the baby of the family my mom and dad always treated me as such, spoiling me and making me feel like the most special kid on the planet. Knowing that i had almost died as an infant always gave me a sense of purpose. Like my life was spared for a reason and that someday i was going to do or be something amazing.

I found a tremendous sense of purpose serving my union. It was something that i loved and that made me feel like i could make a real difference at my local. It was very gratifying and very difficult at the same time. I had so much passion and energy for protecting the rights of my members. But it still did not provide me with the sense of accomplishment that i was searching for. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when we were at my sister's doctors appointment that my mom said to me, "remember when you were sick as a baby? What if the reason God spared your life was so that 33 years later you could help Molly live?". In that moment i knew with so much clarity that my purpose in life was to help Molly.

I have never had so much clarity or peace about a decision that i have had to make. And at work i make hundreds of decisions each day. This one was so easy. There was no struggling internally or weighing the options. It was so simple.

Tomorrow and Thursday we have our first Pre-op appointments in Tucson. We have to get the standard blood and urine tests to check our renal functions, a blood cross match test to see how my organ will fair in Molly's body, and meet with the anesthesiologist. Then we will come home for the weekend and fly back to Tucson early next week for our transplant date May 12. There are so many things that have been going through my head the past week. I am excited, scared, nervous, and seriously elated that i get to help my sister get back to feeling better and living a mostly normal life. I have been dreaming about it at night. I wonder what my body will feel like with only one kidney! I am sure no different but i can't help but wonder if the left side of my body will feel empty!

I can't believe the day we have joked and talked about for the past 4 years is finally here next week. Through this whole process there are so many hurdles you must get over to get to transplant. I have always had this feeling that everything would work out this way. That this is the way it was meant to happen. I still hold that optimism going in to next weeks surgery. This is the way things were meant to happen. And while i don't have my own personal religious beliefs quite worked out all the way yet, i know i believe in God and the power of positive thought. I truly believe that all the prayers and positive thoughts sent out into the universe have helped us get to the place we are now and will help get us through a successful transplant and recovery. Thank you to all that have said a prayer, held Molly and i in white light, or had a moment of positive energy for us. It means more to me than you can know.