I've been wondering since Day 1 who my donor was, and was overjoyed Thursday to meet her, a wonderful woman named Robin Gilmartin.
I was glad to hear my fellow recipients say when they saw other patients waiting for appointments they would look at them and try to guess if they were their donor.
I did the exact same thing!
At a pre-surgery appointment I noticed a woman seated with her family and I convinced myself - incorrectly of course - that she was about to be my donor.
The need to know is human nature.
Here's a photo my daughter took of me (at right) and Robin at Thursday's press conference at Yale-New Haven Hospital:
We were part of an 18-person kidney exchange!
I had no idea so many transplants were involved. It's wonderful and overwhelming all at once to be a part of it.
As a prospective donor, I made a number of trips to Yale-New Haven for medical testing. I sometimes felt nervous in the waiting area (how much more blood do they need, what's the contrast dye going to feel like, would my blood pressure be too high etc.). What always helped me was getting out of my own head and paying attention to others waiting for appointments. I could tell who the patients were and see the worry on their loved ones faces. I've been so lucky in my life to have good health and to now be able to share it.
ReplyDeleteDear Robin,
DeleteWords cannot express just how grateful I am for what you did for a perfect stranger, which happened to be little ol' me.