St. Louis Bound

I posted a blog about "Right or Wrong" not too long ago about donating a kidney to my boyfriends sister and now I am at Stage 3 of testing and the final stage, thank goodness.  This stage is the most important one up to now I guess you could say.  We knew from the beginning that we were not compatible because of our blood type, but we are doing the "Paired Program" so it gives her and someone else the chance to receive a kidney when their donor isn't compatible.

So, Monday night we are off to St. Louis, a five hour drive to somewhere I have never been in the middle of the night to make an appointment that has been set for Tuesday morning that had a time that non-negotiable. This test is to check my kidney function and is a four hour test, was I shocked to hear that one.  Then on Wednesday, I have to see a social worker, then the doctor, and then the big one is the CT Scan that last an hour and requires an iv with a dye that will go through me to show my veins of my kidneys.  This one was the wow factor for me because I thought it was like an ultrasound, boy was I wrong. 

I'm not complaining, I am glad to be doing it for her or someone else, but things are moving really fast and if they find a donor right away things will be going even faster.  I wanted to put this stage off until after midterms but she(his sister) played the guilt card on me and I knew she would, but hoped she wouldn't.  Her kidneys are only functioning at 11% at generally most people go on dialysis when they get they low and she informed me that she had been at an 11% for three weeks now, so then I spend two hours on the phone scheduling appointments, rearranging work schedule, e-mailing professors of the classes that I will miss, to find out today that it is a double wammy for me because she is going to give two quizes that day I'm going to be gone so I have to take them Monday before I leave without all the lecture material on one of them. The day was not getting any better, but the schedules are changed and I will be crunching all weekend studying for my Bio Quizes.  I just tell myself, I will be done with all the testing and have been right on it since she asked me to do this and after it is all said and done, we wait, but I will feel better waithing knowing that it isn't me she is waiting on if the inevitable should occur before a match can be found and she has to be put on dialysis.  I told myself that I did my part, now it is up to God to find the pair.

I hope it sooner than later, I don't want her to have to wait, but I will have done my part and the rest is up to the hope of another compatible pair.