I wrote in the beginning about my fears and nerves when it came to telling key people in my life about my decision. As much as I have always seen myself as a very independent "lone wolf" kind of a person, obviously their opinions mattered greatly to me, hence my hesitation in letting them in on the secret.
Eventually the key people were all told and I felt a little more confident about my choice. So I told a few more people. I'm still being selective in who I tell when for a few reasons. The first is that you need time to have a decent conversation about it-its not something that lends itself well to elevator conversations. And secondly I am still trying to get past my own shyness and unease with attention being on anything related to me. As a result of this I think I personally have told about 15 people directly and a handful more have been made aware via Facebook.
I have to say I am absolutely overwhelmed by how much support I have been shown by so many people. People have gone out of their way to share very personal stories about how kidney disease has impacted people in their lives. I've had more than one person (!!) tell me about how they themselves or their spouse have just one kidney and they are very healthy. There have been emails sent from family members and friends that have been filled with so much love and support I get teary reading them. I've also had at least a couple of friends share my story with their other friends via social media to help generate awareness and the need for more living donors. There was the crazy test Doctor and ultrasound tech who told me I was doing a good thing and wished me well so enthusiastically. I had an amazing post dedicated to my story by Robin, a friend I haven't chatted with in over 2 years, on her blog. There have been offers from people willing to drive me to work after the surgery which isn't even a sure thing yet (I can't drive for a month). I have to say it kind of feels good as the "lone wolf" to turn around and see that I have such a wonderfully strong and supportive "pack" behind me backing me up.
Regardless of how this journey moves forward, I wanted to make sure I captured and paid tribute to all of you who have contacted me directly or even just supported in spirit by reading and following my progress.While there have been a few "negative nellies" which we'll talk about another day, the kindness I have received from people has been pretty awesome.
Thank you so much.
