"Thank You" just doesn't seem like enough...

YThis morning....before I reloaded on meds, and while the tremors of last night's meds were just beginning to be somewhat controllable, I sat down and wrote a Thank You card to my donor's family.

I have been thinking about this since I emerged from the ether back on August 2nd and what I would try to say. And so shaking with the double shot of both very raw emotion and the drug induced tremors, I tried to say my simple "Thanks" in 163 seemingly insufficient words or so.

OK, this is pretty personal but if you've been following along here I think you know.....this is how I feel.

                                                                       My Pitiful Penmanship.

"Thank You" just seems to fall a bit short for the gifts, the chances, the years, that I've received.

Now, of course, I don't know my donor's family but through the 

Gift of Life Donor Program which is my region's nonprofit organ and tissue donor program, they arrange the delivery of all letters and correspondence between transplant recipients and the families of donors. It is then up to the donor's family if they would like to stay in touch with you or remain anonymous.

Gift of Life Donor Program, which serves Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, is one of the oldest and largest of 58 organ procurement organizations (OPO) in the United States.

Gift of Life is part of the nationwide organ and tissue sharing network run by the
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). They offer support programs to the family and friends of donors who gave the gift of life after death to help cope with the sudden loss of their loved one. These programs are offered free of charge in recognition of those who made the gifts possible. The donor program is also responsible for all aspects of educating the community about organ and tissue donation.

So the point of this post is to again pound the point home that if you ever even thought of becoming a potential organ donor, PLEASE do it today. Remember you, one of your friends, or loved ones could be moments away from needing a life saving transplant.

As I mentioned, the Gift of Life program serves my area, but through this link: organdonor.gov you can register with any organ donor network in the U.S.

119,501 folks are currently on waiting on transplants in this country.

Eighteen people die each day waiting for organs.

I was damn near one of them.

If you've left this life you sure won't need your organs anymore and you can give someone else, or several someone else's, (up to 8 people from a single donor!) a second chance at the life they still have.

Thanks so much for thinking about this and for checking in here.