Jeremy and I (Kate) started this blog back in January of 2012 to document his Kidney donation journey. It has been an amazing past few months and we have been so blessed by those you have followed along. Really, this blog has been the perfect way to share our story.
For many of you, this is the first that you are finding our story. Recently the Ashley/Jeremy/Kidney Cutie story has been in the press. Catawba College, Ashley & Kate's alma mater, featured the donation journey in this article. And Ashley wrote this article for her local town newspaper.
A while back, Jeremy wrote a Cliff Notes version of the donation - that post is a great overview of where this journey has taken us and the time frame of all the events. The entire story of the kidney donation is just beautiful, and I would highly recommend you reading it all. You can simply click on the months and each post on the right side of the blog page. Below is my shortened version of the story with a ton of links. You can click through and read all the highlights of the donation.
If you are new to the blog, you can read where it all began in this post that Jeremy wrote. Jeremy told the story of him meeting Ashley really well in this post - make sure to read this one, it has been known to cause a few tears. The posts that followed were a way to tell the story and bring everyone up to date.... there was much talk about our engagement, our wedding (our love story according to Kate), trips, and the testing process to become the kidney donor.
There are some great posts and stories in all these entries, really I could link to each one. If you have a spare hour or two, start at the beginning and read the whole thing. I am not promising a perfectly written book, but it will be a great story that will renew your faith and inspire you.
This is a fun little post Jeremy did about the things you learn when donating a kidney. And this one is Kate's List.
So back to the Kidney Donation. After all the waiting and the waiting, this is where is all starts to really happen. This is Jeremy ready for surgery. And here is the Successful Surgery Update. February 21st, the day of the surgery, was a very emotionally charged day. We felt so much love and support from our friends and family and we knew we were wrapped in Prayer and God's protection. This is the post I wrote in reflection of that day - it still brings tears to my eyes reading through it now.
Once we made it through the surgery, it was on to recovery. The recovery highlight came when Jeremy and Ashley first got to see each other - another tear filled moment captured here. There are several posts talking about the long road to recovery. We talked about finding a new routine and the ripple effect of the surgery.
Throughout the blog, we also talk about Ashley's health and recovery. Her post surgery progress was a little bumpier, with a few set backs.... but she is now healthy, strong and doing better then ever. Ashley wrote her first entry in the blog back in May, and of course it was just beautiful. You can read all about her trip down to visit us here.
Now that the kidney donation journey is coming to an end - with much joy and praise that both Ashley and Jeremy are healthy - this blog is taking on a new purpose. As you read through the beginning posts, much of story began in Peru. And now we are heading back to Pucallpa for our 6th mission trip. Jeremy wrote all about it in this post, and I will be writing about it soon.
We hope to continue to post and share our hearts and our life with you all. Plus, we have some fun posts in the works - like recapping the wonderful birthday celebration Jeremy had for my 30th. So we hope that you check in from time to time and share in our life. We have truly come to cherish all those who have been praying and cheering us on during the kidney donation process.
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