Tuesday, February 14, 2012

16 Random Things (Kate)


16 Random things you learn when your husband donates a kidney 

1.      Things take 1,000X times longer then you want. God has been teaching me patience for the last year and a half.  Apparently, I have not learned so well.

2.      When they say it is a for sure thing…. It’s not. 

3.      Your husband loses interest in doing normal life things.  Like mowing the yard.  A big hug and thank you to my dad.  He came over last Saturday and helped me mow, edge and weed the whole yard – just so Jeremy did not have to worry about it.

4.      Acts of Kindness mean so much. All the blog comments, Facebook posts, phone calls, texts, special notes and gestures have really touched us.  It really does lift our spirits to know that others are supporting us, praying for us and thinking of us during this process.   

5.      Finding a temporary apartment is harder than you think.  But a huge thank you to my network of friends (and a great online newsletter – JAB) I was connected with Temporary Living Company.  Now we have our own little home away from home.

6.      Your husband does not care about the house getting clean ….. Wait that has nothing to do with donating a kidney.

7.      It is not a normal conversation when you tell people about your husband donating a kidney.  Donating a kidney really is not a regular answer to “what’s new”.  And, I still have not found a normal way to tell people why I am going to be out of town.

8.      Your family will come up with some creative ideas when you tell them “we have big news to share”.  The most common guess was “your pregnant” or “you two are becoming missionaries and moving to Peru”.  But the most creative guess was a sex change (leave it to my brother-in-law).

9.      It is immensely helpful to talk to people who have been in your shoes.  My friend Mary invited Jeremy and I over for dinner.  Long story short – they relocated to NY for 6 months while her husband went through heart surgery.  Not only did we get their priceless advice, but she also invited over a friend who had received a kidney from her mom a year previously.  It was such great insight to get answers from those who had been down the same road before.  Plus, the support from people who had been there before was amazing. Thanks MB!!!!

10.  As a wife, you have to shave your husband arms.  Helps reduce the pain of pulling off the IVs and such.

11.  Kidney donations are not for people who like to plan and have things organized.  I like to plan, create “To Do” lists, have everything in order, know what is going on and have things organized.  {Insert laughing here}.  Donating a kidney and those personalities traits don’t go hand in hand.  I have learned to bend (not enough) and have driven myself a little bit insane.

12.  The only conversations you have with your spouse/family/friends/etc are about the kidney & surgery. Really nothing else comes up in conversation.  Every day, we talk about the surgery and when it might happen, and what we are going to do.  One day I am going to buy a bunch of People, US Weekly, Entertainment and all those other tabloids magazines so I have something else to talk about (plus my JL friends say I am way too out of touch with the celebrity gossip)

13.  We don’t actually have that many pictures to document all things you blog about. When Jeremy started blogging about the journey, we kept looking for pictures to document it.  Well, we are not very good at taking pictures!  We even bought a “nice” camera to take to Europe.  Now I need to start snapping shots.

14.  It is difficult to come up with gift ideas for a Valentine’s Day, husband birthday and a surgery all within one week of each other.  Luckily Jeremy is not much of a gift guy, so he will be happy with anything (and probably not remember what the gift was a year later).

15.  We don’t pack lightly.  Already there is so much to take!

16.  I have an AMAZING husband!

1 comment: