Repost: Do I look like I need a liver?

Day 19:  Grab a post from your archives and re post it! Add a few sentences at the beginning to frame it. Why you chose it. Why you liked it. And why it should be shared again.

In doing this challenge, there is one thing that stands out even more than ever.  There is not a lot of talk about liver disease or organ donation.  As I've said before, I don't mean it to belittle any other sickness, but Liver Disease is very serious and there are 112,624 as of today 10:22pm waiting for a life saving organ transplant.  I think sometimes we get brushed of, because well, many of us just don't look "sick".  Yes we all have our bad days, but its not until we are deathly ill that it shows.  That's when we turn yellow from jaundice and swell up with fluids from ascites.  We start to lose weight...see, I'm not that sick yet!  I haven't been confined to a wheel chair and I have not had any hospital stays.  But its coming.  And for now, while I look and feel OK, I am going to live life to the fullest.  Cherish every moment with my family and share with the world my story.

Do I look like I need a liver?

Yes, today is April 1st. Or as many call it April Fools Day. But for me and around 110,000 others today is something else. Something bigger than jokes and pranks. Something very close to our hearts. Or in my case Liver. Yes, today is April 1st. The first day of Donate Life Month!

If you were only a stranger, passing me on the street or in the store. Or if you were a telemarketer or hell, a bill collector, they call me all the time. You would never guess that I am on the Liver Transplant list. Most people when I tell them have the same come back. “But you look fine” And yes its true, I am still able to function on my own. I am not lying in a hospital bed with tubes everywhere. I am not in a wheelchair. I still smile. I take care of my kids. I laugh and love just like anyone else. For the most part.

But on the inside I am not fine.  My liver is swollen with blood.  It hurts.  It doesn't filter out the toxins in my blood so they travel to my brain leaving me confused and unable to concentrate.  Slowly I am getting sicker and sicker.  I live each day as its the last.  Praying that my family knows just how much they mean to me.  And and that my children don't forget me or how much I loved them.  Each night I give hugs and kisses.  I always say I love you when hanging up the phone.  I remember the good times and I forget the bad...

There is nothing else I can do.  But there is something you can do.  Please take a few minuets to stop by the Donate Life website and register to be an organ donor.  Ask your friends and family to do the same.  

So what is someone on the transplant list supposed to look like? Like me :-)





This post was written as part of NHBPM - 30 health posts 30 days:  http://bit.ly/vU0g9J