Drive for Five: Make Some Noise

A valuable lesson learned on this unexpected and unwanted journey with health issues has been the importance of being an advocate for self and others. Those languishing on transplant lists need not be shy and declare to anyone with earshot, social media and communities: I NEED HELP. I’M DYING. GUESS WHAT? YOU COULD SHARE YOUR SPARE AND SAVE MY LIFE OR THE LIFE OF ANOTHER!

What’s the ol’ saying? The squeaky wheel gets the grease? In the game of live organ donation? It’s true.

Some have posted billboards along busy traffic arterials, others created bumper stickers and, like your scribe experienced recently, organized softball tournaments. What fun to join? Monica and Tony Gautier for the second “Share Your Spare” tournament in Denver. It combined competition, camaraderie and compassion into a cord of three strands leading to Monica recruiting a donor for her planned transplant in a few months. Bravo!

The power of community and engaging with others. It’s good for the body, mind and spirit.

A little more than four months post transplant, your DFF correspondent is feeling well, gaining weight, sleeping better and getting back into the swing of things. It’s such a joy to share the story of meeting Cathie Hitchcock for the first time. It’s a hug I’ll never forget. The gratefulness resonating from my soul realizing a precious piece of the California native rests within this 66-year-old’s body and provides a new lease on life? Priceless. Recipient Dick Franklin, who received a kidney from DFF superstar and Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, Crissy Perham, said it well. “There are no words.”

However, the words for anyone in need and caregivers, children, relatives and friends close to the suffering beloved? To steal a line from another DFF stalwart, Olympian Randy Weber (kidney and liver recipient), “You gotta make some noise.”

Amen brother.

Here’s an example. Every Wednesday morning this ol’ jock leads what is called, “Old Man Spin” at a gym, Kinetics Fitness. One aging chap is enjoying decades of sobriety. Fun, witty and retired lawyer. Devoted to Alcohol Anonymous’ programs and a leader in helping others on a similar path. We all have our stories.

Anyway, this good buddy winters where it’s warm. Normally, we get a chance to catch up a few times a week through shared activities. With his recent departure chasing warmth? It’s email, texts and brief phone chats.

A recent email speaks to the benefits of engaging with others. The information spoke of another member of my buddy’s group. They receive a daily dose of spiritual encouragement from a respected source.

In the email a recent kidney donor recipient spoke to the joy of new life born from someone willing to share their spare and save his life. From a fellow AA devotee who lived in another state. But giddy guy had informed 30,000 others receiving these encouraging words. He made some noise. The grateful dude’s email wrap resonated within my marrow. The man stated about donor, “We are bound together for life.”

Double amen to that truth.

There is not a day when Mark David McIntosh does not offer a prayer for the Pueblo West resident who offered me a chance to get back to what I believe is my purpose in life: serve displaced men, low-income kids and awaken America to its growing kidney crisis.

Without the dog-loving and tender-hearted Hitchcock? Ain’t happening.

To those out there waiting on a list with hopes of receiving relief as soon as possible? Be bold. Don’t hesitate to let everyone you meet know about your challenge. Educate them. Many in America don’t know they can share their spare. There’s 93,000 out there on transplant lists. Tragically, many will die on those lists because we only have about 27,000 transplants a year nationally.

Shout to the rooftops. May many hear your plea and I pray some will take a cue from Sue Ferguson. Another DFF standout, the former University of Illinois volleyball player heard a cry for help through her college sorority alumni group about a hubby in need and declared, “Somebody’s gotta help this guy.”

It was her. It could become you. Here’s how: https://shorturl.at/vZUxA