LISTED!

Two days ago, Friday August 22, 2014 somewhere around 3 pm,  I was placed on the list for a heart transplant.  Hole E Cow!  What an amazing, sobering, surreal, unbelievable feeling.  It's been life long journey to get to this point, especially gaining momentum this past year, but to actually be on THE LIST... well it almost takes my breath away with the enormity of it all.

First thoughts are "Yeah for Me, now I have a chance, FINALLY, at a new start in life."  And "Drat, somebody is going to have to sadly, maybe even tragically, pass away, to give little ol me a chance to live beyond the next however long."   Is that fair?  Is it right?  Is it weird that I am not COMPLETELY freaked out by all this?  A lot of questions, but hopefully a lot of answers that work for me.  And maybe others too.

One of my guiding principles is this:  I think in the midst of a lot of trials and tribulations in life we worry about how events will unfold a whole lot more than we should, and when the... STUFF...actually happens, it is never really as bad as what we feared it would be.  At least that has been my overwhelming experience in life.  And trust me, I have been through A LOT of nastiness, health wise, in my 44 and a half years.

And I guess that's my mindset right now.  Life is one big adventure.  And why not try to enjoy this ride as much as I can, and maybe share my insights with others. Offer a little bit of hope and encouragement along the way, and make the absolute best out of the situation I find myself in.

The support and encouragement I have gotten thus far lets me know loud and clear that I am not alone. According to organdonor.gov, someone, just like me, gets added to the list every 10 minutes!  Now granted, that's across all organs: hearts, livers, lungs, etc.  But still, EVERY 10 MINUTES!  And as of today 123,312 people are waiting for a chance at a better life.  One Hundred And Twenty Thousand Plus!!  That's enough to fill your average football stadium twice over.    Sadly an average of 18 people will die today waiting.  Waiting for the gift, the chance, the new start...

So I guess the most important message for this very first blog post is please, please, PLEASE consider organ donation. Talk to your family, talk to your friends, do some research, search your soul.  But I sincerely hope you really do decide to become a registered organ donor.  One Donor can save 8 lives!! Maybe it will be mine someday.  Or your neighbor, or your cousin, or the guy at the gas station, or more than likely it will be a complete stranger.   But talk about leaving a legacy!!   I have been a registered donor since I was 16, as soon as I could get my drivers licenses.  And I did that at the DMV, but now it's even easier to sign up....just follow this link. 

Organ Donation Registry

That will take you to OrganDonor.Gov and you can click on your home state and sign up.  Easy Peasy. Keep in mind, it's also important to:

* Designate your decision on your drivers license
*Tell your family about your donation decision
*Tell your physician, faith healer, and friends
*Include donation in your advance directives, will, and living will

 I do hope you will join me on my journey.  For me it's very therapeutic to share my perspective on things, and I promise in the coming days I will add much more content, and share more of my background and the story of exactly how I got here.

Make it a GREAT DAY everyone!