Aye Poppi!

My mom's husband Earle was given a great gift this week. He finally got a kidney. It's been a long road and several failed attempts, but Sunday night they got the call that there was one available and that he was #1 on the list. They got the go ahead on Monday and he had a new kidney by the night's end.

The kidney is working great and if it weren't for a few unrelated complications, I think he'd start to feel better. He has developed a touch of pneumonia and it is that much harder to fight off infection when you are taking such high dosages of anti-rejection drugs. To make matters even worse, there was a point where the doctors thought that he'd had a minor heart attack, but apparently he was just experiencing a little distress. At any rate, he's sedated and on a vent (which they hope to wean him off today) and the prognosis looks good. He's been sick and on dialysis for so long, that it will be a welcome change to see him looking better and not so tired.

All of this "good" news does not come without some sadness. I think of the family that made such a selfless choice in their time of sorrow by donating their loved one's organs. Do they know how much of an impact they have made in our family? Do they realize what a gift they have given us? Do they know we pray for their family's recovery as much as we do for Earle's? It is such a priceless gift.

Julia & Jimmy don't know the extent of what has transpired over the past few days. Julia knew that Poppi needed to have a surgery so he didn't have to use his "machine" at night. They don't know the details that go into him getting a kidney. In all honesty, they have focused on the fact that when Poppi got his surgery, that we'd get to have Charlie (their dog). Which is really all I want them to think about now. They are lucky to have 2 Grandpas - Papa (my dad) and a Poppi that will be around for a lot longer.