Organ Donation Project

I added a couple of new links to my "Blogs of Interest" area over on the right hand side of the page. Brent messaged me after he saw my blog on Becky's "Chopped Liver" to tell me about his blog. Brent is a guy who tried to become a living liver donor to his father-in-law but was denied for medical reasons.

Since then, he has developed a project to raise organ donation awareness. His project, One-A-Day 2007, consists of him going up to a complete stranger every day of 2007 and starting a conversation about organ donation. He is then going to try to get them to let him take a picture of them to place on his photoblog. (Quite an undertaking seeing that he will have to get each of these people to sign a release.) He says that the project is not to change people's minds about organ donation (though I am sure he wouldn't mind), but to raise awareness and to get people thinking about organ donation. There is a major shortage of organs in the United States, and the list grows every day. I was one of the fortunate ones to receive an organ. I believe that it is my job to help bring organ donation awareness to the forefront.

The other link, Casual Effect, is his blog that primarily discusses living organ donation. There are some great stories and insight on his blog from the point of view of a living donor. Check out his links.

Brent has gotten me thinking about what I can do to help out with a project of my own or to help out with his. If you have any suggestions, leave me a comment. I have been thinking about maybe starting a smaller scale project like Brent's, but you all know how hard that would be for this extreme introvert!

Progression of Me

Figured I would post some pics of me showing the change from just before surgery until now!




3 days before surgery....nice tan huh?? haha!! Weighing in around 135!



2 weeks after surgery....probably floating between 125 and 130 pounds.



3 months after surgery



7 months after surgery




9 months after surgery....weighing in around 150 pounds now.

As promised

Here are the pics that I promised. The first is from about 2 weeks after surgery and the second is from last night.


You can tell how much swelling there was when you compare it to the second picture. I had forgotten I was that swollen.

The little bump on the left side (my right) of the pic is my liver still trying to get back into position! You can compare the right side bulge and see that it has gone down a lot since March. I am surprised the scar is fading like it is. I am pretty proud of it now....and to think that I was so scared! What a pansy!!

Long Time

Haven't posted in a while. Things have now calmed down a little after Christmas and I plan on posting more here soon.

Short Update: I have not been in the hospital in a little over a month (knock on wood). The doctors changed some of my medication at the end of November which caused some of my liver enzymes to become elevated. They have put be back on my original dosages and the levels are coming back down. It is funny to see how finicky the transplant process is when it comes to medication and rejection. Long story short, I am doing well. I had a great Christmas and New Year's, saw some friends, had a break from work, and enjoyed every minute. I am looking forward to the new year and the changes 2007 may hold for me. It feels good to be healthy!

Hopefully soon I will get a picture of the scar up.......I am planning on posting the picture of the incision (staples and all) and a recent picture of how it all is healing. Keep looking back!