Catawba Article

Here is the article from Catawba College's Campus Magazine.
You may also find the full issue HERE
and the article HERE

Thanks Catawba for sharing our story!

With Origins at Fair Catawba, "A Friendship Time Cannot Outwear"

Friendship, faith and a kidney have come together to irrevocably connect two Catawba College alumnae and the husband of one.
In February, Jeremy Morris of West Palm Beach, Fla., husband of Kate Merrell Morris '04, donated a kidney to his wife's best friend, Ashley Quinones '04 of Sanford. For Jeremy and Kate, the decision to donate the kidney was one grounded in faith.
"We just really felt like it was something we could do ... that God called us to do it," Kate explained in a phone interview before the Feb. 21 transplant surgery took place in Chapel Hill. "We have a strong belief that God has put us on a certain path back in 2007 and this has been the largest project for us to speak God in our life. It's much bigger than just a kidney."
Kate first met Ashley while both were students at Catawba. Kate remembered, "The first time I met Ashley, I was working in the Student Center doing my work study. Ashley came to see Jan Gillean [Catawba's director of student activities] and Jan wasn't there. Ashley laid down on the couch in the office down there and went to sleep. That was right before her double lung transplant.
"Later in the fall of 2002, Ashley and I sat next to each other going over on the plane to England. We went over and studied for the semester. Ashley and I really struck up the friendship on the first plane ride. She was adventurous like me."
Ashley's Cystic Fibrosis necessitated her double lung transplant in 2001 while she was a student at Catawba. Her studies were interrupted for most of the year due to her illness and recovery from the transplant, but the campus rallied around her. In April of 2001, her fellow students in Dr. Karl Hales Discussion and Parliamentary Procedures class organized a fundraising dance for her, "65 Roses for Ashley Quinones."  All proceeds went to the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) in Ashley's name. The name "65 Roses" was chosen because many children with CF cannot say "Cystic Fibrosis" and the term comes out sounding like "65 roses."
While Kate and Ashley became dear friends while students at Catawba, Jeremy entered the picture after their graduation. Jeremy, a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University, and Kate attended the same church in West Palm Beach, Christ Fellowship. Ironically, Kate recalls that her relationship with Jeremy also really started when she sat beside him on the plane ride to Peru in 2007, where the three of them were going on a mission trip. The relationships formed on that mission trip in 2007 resulted in the marriage of Jeremy and Kate in 2009, where Ashley was a bridesmaid.
"In Peru, we talked about how we had this sibling type connection to each other," Ashley recalled about Jeremy in a phone interview shortly before this year's transplant operation. "Now, he and I are  going to share an organ — something that I can't share with anyone else.
"It hasn't been easy. It's been a rollercoaster this past year and a half and they've [Kate and Jeremy have] stuck with me. They've had every opportunity to pull out of this process. It's something that the three of us over this process have really had to come to terms with — that God is going to take care of it — we have to accept life on God's terms not on ours. It has been daily new lessons in our life that this process has taught us. They've chosen to stick with me. If Jeremy's scared, he doesn't show it — he's been a rock. Through my eyes, I see a really brave, courageous Christian man, and I see how lucky my best friend is and I'm happy for her. He says, 'Don't worry.'  He says that no matter what happens he'll never regret this decision.
"We very rarely talk about what this means in the big picture. There are certain things you can't express in words and this is one of them. At the end of the day, a thank you doesn't cut it, but Jeremy doesn't want any thanks from me. He's doing it because it's the right thing to do, not because of recognition or approval."
Ask Jeremy why he decided to donate his kidney to Ashley, and he will tell you because it was the right thing for him and Kate to do as a couple. The couple learned that Ashley needed a kidney when they visited her in the hospital on her 30th birthday in 2010.
Ashley remembered that visit and telling her friends about her dire situation. "Kate and Jeremy came to visit me and once they were face to face with me, I told them I needed a kidney transplant. It didn't take them 5 minutes to offer to donate. They both asked me what blood type and I told them A+ and so are both of them. They knew how sick I was — they saw me. I shared with them how scared I was to go home."
The hospital would only test one person at a time as a possible kidney donor match for Ashley and Jeremy stepped up. "I knew Kate was going to do it, but we discussed all the pros and cons and decided I was the best option. It is something I can do, not only for my wife but also for a dear friend.
"You can't make a decision based on the  what ifs and fears. We just really felt like it was something we could do and that God called us to do it. We wanted to share our story and our faith during this journey. That's why I've written the blog [jeremy-kate.blogspot.com] about our decision and process," he said.
That decision came to fruition on February 21st at UNC Chapel Hill. Both Jeremy and Ashley's surgeries were better than text book, according to their transplant surgeons. Two days after the surgery, Jeremy walked down to Ashley's room for what proved to be an emotion and tear filled reunion. There is an undeniable bond; "I am quite smitten with your husband" Ashley admitted to Kate. To which Kate replied "For you, I am ok with that."
The trio even named the kidney — JASH — a combination of Jeremy and Ashley.

Since the transplant surgery, Ashley and Jeremy have reached all their recovery milestones nicely. Jeremy has returned to his job as a systems administrator specialist and Kate to hers as owner and operator of Katydid Designs, a business she established while a student at Catawba. Ashley, who has used her undergraduate and graduate degrees in theatre arts and  master's classes in mental health counseling to work with marginalized communities, returned to work as an ESL Instructor and CAP worker this spring. Ashley and Jeremy were even able to plan for Ashley to make a surprise trip to Florida for Kate's birthday celebration Memorial Day weekend.
"I keep asking God, 'What are you teaching me in all of this?  Aren't you tired of giving me lessons?' " Ashley explained. "I always assume that's all about me, but this whole thing going on with my kidneys could be about someone else. The world doesn't revolve around me, and I forget that sometimes. Realizing that has helped me get through it. It's helped me fight to get through it. I've had to fight to get through it, fight to get the insurance, but it's never crossed my mind to ever give up on any of this. I look at Jeremy and see how brave he is through it and that helps as well."

EDITOR'S NOTE:Although Medicaid funded the cost of Ashley and Jeremy's transplant surgeries, many medical expenses remain. Those who wish to assist with this effort may make donations to COTA.
Friends may contact Ashley at www.facebook.com/kidneycutie and Kate and Jeremy at www.jeremy-kate.com.

Kidney Cutie in Print

Kidney Cutie is making headlines again!

The kidney donation of Jeremy, Kate and Ashley was featured in Catawba College's Campus Magazine.  Catawba College is both Kate & Ashley's alma mater, and the birthplace of their friendship.  Catawba is very dear to our hearts and we are so blessed to have them share our story.

   Click HERE if you would like to open the entire issue of Campus Magazine. Page 20

Truth be told, this is not the first time for Kate or Ashley to grace the pages of the Catawba's magazine.  While in school, Kate wrote an article about a mission trip to Mexico, had a feature article Katydid - the business she started at Catawba and was pictured at graduation.  Ashley graced the pages several times for her theater performances and had a featured article when she graduated (which showed Ashley fixing Kate's hat..... which is REALLY funny, considering it was Kate who just finished getting Ashley dressed properly in her gown... but that is a whole post in itself).  If I can locate these said article, I will make sure and post them.


Ashley was featured in The Sandford Herald. ; her local newspaper.  In the article, Ashley recounts her journey through Cystic Fibrosis and the many blessings to be thankful for.

Check back tomorrow, we will try to have the full articles in an easier to read format!

Ashley Comes to Florida for Kate's 30th Birthday

Normally I turn to Jeremy and Kate to be the public voice of our transplant, but today I decided to venture out and actually write a blog post myself. You’ll have to forgive me as I can’t quite capture humor in writing as Jeremy does, or details like Kate. They are both weighing heavily on my mind right now. I’m sitting in the Atlanta airport waiting on my flight to North Carolina to board. I’ve just left from my first visit to see them since the surgery. It is actually my first time flying since I spent a month in California with my family in 2009. Jeremy and I (admittedly, mostly Jeremy) have been secretly planning this trip for over a month. Kate turns 30 on the 30^th, and this visit was a birthday surprise. What a great husband, right?! And yes, I’m required to sing his praises since he did give me a kidney and all.

We just passed our 3 month anniversary, or more aptly, our 3 month transplantversary on May 21^st. Perhaps that is why I felt so full of emotion on the flight down. Every time I visualized the look of surprise on Kate’s face I would well up and have to swallow down any urge to cry. I’m not big on ugly crying in public. The closer we got to West Palm Beach, the more anxious I began to feel. For a reason I cannot explain, part of me felt afraid. Eventually I reached the airport and went to meet them outside. When they pulled up, Kate sat blindfolded in the front seat of the door-less Jeep.  Jeremy had blindfolded her so she wouldn’t be able to guess her surprise. When he took her blindfold off, a huge smile took over her face and we hugged for what must have been a good 5 minutes. I could hear the people surrounding us laughing. I imagine we were quite the sight!  I would like to say that all of the feelings I was having on the plane melted away when I saw their Jeep pull up to get me, but that was not the case. When I realized I was going to have to ride in a Jeep without any doors, I can honestly say I knew exactly why I felt afraid at that moment! I buckled myself in securely and would occasionally close my eyes on the ride home whenever I was sure we were going to wreck and I was about to die.

We spent my time there in a timeshare on the beach in Delray, Florida. We relaxed, shared wonderful, if not enlightening, conversation, laughed, and ate some delicious food. Kate and I were both reading The Hunger Games, she was finishing The Hunger Games and starting Catching Fire and I was finishing Catching Fire and starting Mockingjay.  Our first night there, we stayed on the beach until dark reading. Then we stayed to catch up on one another’s lives, while periodically going on tangents and laughing at ourselves. You know ... the kind of moments memories are made of. I got to see her family, who are as close to my heart as my own family, and I got to meet some of the people from Kate and Jeremy’s small group. When we went to church on Sunday morning, one couple from the small group gave me a card that was from everyone in the group. Inside the card was a beautiful message and a very generous gift. I was pretty surprised and very thankful.

On Sunday, Kate’s sister Amy, her husband Nathan, and their children Alivia and Jackson came to visit us in Delray. Both Alivia and Jackson were little water bugs. Jackson, being not even a year old, stayed in my arms the whole time we were in the pool … and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. He was the most precious thing I have experienced in a long time. He just laughed and squealed and enjoyed the world around him. It’s that kind of genuine happiness that I think most of us lose as we get older. It takes more and more to make us feel even the slightest bit of complacency.  We just want and want and want, without even noticing the simplest joy. Even Alivia was alternating between enjoying the water herself and taking in the antics of her little brother. 

While they were there, we had ourselves a little barbeque. Or at least, we attempted it. Jeremy manned the grill while Nathan cut and prepared the watermelon and the rest of us prepared the sides, plates and drinks. Nathan and Amy took turns feeding Jackson. We had ourselves a nice little feast: shrimp, chorizo, bratwurst, corn on the cob, chips, potato salad and watermelon. The meat and the corn were on the grill still cooking when the bottom fell out of the sky. I’m not talking about a little rain, or even a medium amount of rain. I’m talking about lightening, thunder and rain so heavy it flooded the canopy we were huddled under…plates in hands, hopelessly devouring the food Jeremy and Nathan were running out to the grill with towels draped over their heads to secure for us. I think I may have actually eaten almost an entire pound of shrimp. No exaggeration. I also helped myself to the chorizo, a brat, some corn, and a big helping of potato salad. When it became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to get my hands clear of all the shrimp debris until I was able to get under a faucet with some soap, I had Alivia hand feed me cool ranch Doritos. She was a bit cheeky, feeding me mere morsels while saving the large chips for herself. I can’t blame her though, they are delicious. Once the rain had died down and we had cleaned everything up, we all went to Dairy Queen. I was way too full to eat ice cream, but everyone else seemed to be in Hog Heaven

.

The experiences I had over these past few days remind me of why Kate and I became friends in the first place, how we grew so close and why it was so easy to welcome Jeremy into my life with open arms – even before I knew he wanted to date Kate. There is easiness between us. We don’t have to try, we can just be. We don’t have to talk, we just automatically understand. Kate and I, by all superficial accounts, are polar opposites. She is a Florida girl, almost everything in her wardrobe is either pink, sea foam, or turquoise. I’m Carolina born and bred – I could live the rest of my life in the middle of nowhere riding a horse and reading a book and never once complain. Unless someone asked me to do those 2 things at the same time. But, we think the same and we love the same … without abandon and without the care of taking a risk. We both believe that without the risk, it’s probably not worth our time and definitely not worth repeating as a story later on! 

And that is where Jeremy fits so wonderfully into our puzzle, friend…husband…friend. He is identical to us in those respects. He is the biggest risk taker of us all. The man wielding metal tongs racing out in a lightning storm to rescue our barbeque.  The man who reminds the two of us, and anyone else in his life, to hold themselves accountable – not just to themselves, but to God. The man who wants to go skiing right before donating his kidney.  And there you have it … the man willing to lay his life down for those he loves…to allow the doctors at UNC to put him through test after test and then to trust them with his life knowing he will wake up in pain, with one less vital organ. And for what? For me? No, it’s more than just for me. It’s for God. The one being he loves more than anyone else in this world. That is the man whose kidney I now hold in my body. That is the friend I am leaving behind as I return to North Carolina. But there is solace in the fact that a piece of him remains, forever, with me. And a piece of my friend Kate who, without, I would have never gone on that first mission trip, therefore never meeting Jeremy, stays with me as well. Perhaps not in my body, but in my heart. And I think that’s as good a place as any.

I should write a blog post

One of the things about writing a blog is it becomes something you have to do, for a while it was very therapeutic to be able to talk about what was going on.  After the surgery it was a great way of keeping people up to date on the status, this was great because we didn’t have to answer a ton of calls every day and still people knew how we were doing.  At this point I seem to be healthy so people really aren’t as interested in the recovery process as is obvious by how many hits we receive on the page.  Or maybe the quality of the material isn’t quite as good, no that can’t be the case.

Today was the third day that I was back at work, the first day just seemed to fly by, telling people about how I was doing and how the surgery went?  The second day wasn’t quite as easy, one of my co-workers put in his 2 weeks’ notice the day before I came back and I need to learn a lot of what he does, so I spent at least 4 hours being taught his job.  Now first of all It is hard for me to pay attention for 4 hours in good health but on my second day back to work my head was swimming check that drowning in information.  I actually had to leave at 2:30 because I was exhausted and I’m not sure if I opened the door to the house before I hit my bed and took a nap. 

Today was good, I was able to get in the flow of doing some of my own work, they are crazy at work they actually want me to do some, I can’t believe it, don’t they realize I donated a kidney, doesn’t that give me some kind of break from working for a while (you mean the 6 weeks off for the surgery wasn’t enough).   Well the answer to that is no, and I wouldn’t recommend asking them either, not that I did.  If I had let Kate proofread this she probably wouldn’t let me put this in the blog, but I didn’t. 

Besides work I have started to get a little more active, last Wednesday I played tennis for about an hour.  I’ve never been mistaken for a tennis player (I would use one of their names but it’s not worth the effort to google them to figure out how to spell them, why do tennis players have such weird names) so let’s just say I did well for a guy who is not so good at tennis and had surgery 5 weeks ago.  It really felt good to move around, I think my muscles were starting to get love handles. 

Saturday morning I took the kayaks out to the Loxahatchee river, my pastor had told me a week or two ago that he liked to spend his Sabbath kayaking so I figured I would give it a shot.  It was a great time, we went further down the river than I had ever gone before, about an hour and a half, didn’t make it to trapper john’s house but did make it past the interstate.  It took us about the same time to make it back and I was absolutely exhausted after we were finished, not to mention starving since it was after 1 o’clock.

I forgot to mention that to get the kayaks on the Jeep I had to remove the lights from the bar on top of the jeep.  It was a fairly easy process and took me less than a half an hour, and the lights didn’t work anyway so it wasn’t that much of a sacrifice, but this means that I can put bigger tires on the jeep and it will fit in the garage, so if anyone has a connection to get big jeep tires please let me know.   Maybe I should put that in bold IF ANYONE HAS A JEEP TIRE CONNECTION I COULD USE A HOOKUP.  Have I mentioned that Kate’s Hyundai Sante Fe has bigger tires than the Jeep, which is just wrong?

It has been a good week, I feel like I am starting to get back to semi-normal function, most of the scabs are gone and I don’t have to worry about leaking on my shirt.  It feels like the muscles are starting to come back together as I get really sore in my stomach after sitting for about a half an hour.

We will try to have an update on Ashley later in the week, I’m either going to let Kate or Ashley write that one probably, but I have a couple other posts I need to do, it’s just a matter of finding time to do it.  I don’t know what it says about my personality that even if I like doing something, that I will think of it as work if I have to do it, I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing.