Steve called me yesterday morning while I was at work and told me he’d gotten the call we’ve all been waiting for. He had to get to the hospital for some final tests and if all went well he’d be on the table that evening. Well, needless to say, the tests did go well and Steve is now out of surgery and as far as we know, he’s gonna be all right. This whole episode has put so many things in my head and trying to describe them is no easy task.
The first thing that pops in today is the fact that for Steve to have a chance at life, someone had to lose their own. I think it goes without saying that I’m a big supporter of donating ones organs. I don’t know if the family of the donating person has any clue as to what they’ve done for my brother but I certainly do. If given the opportunity to somehow attempt to pay these true heroes back I would gladly spend the rest of my life in their servitude and it still wouldn’t be enough. Someone lost a loved one and allowed my family the chance of not losing one of ours. How is that not heroic? I only hope that the pain you feel at the loss of yours can somehow be tempered by knowing that what you’ve done has allowed me the chance to see and feel my brother again. My family and I are forever in your debt and please don’t think that any of us will ever forget it. Thank you.
Something else that’s floating around in the old noggin today is this incredible group of friends I’ve got. Some I haven’t seen since high school and others I’m seeing on a regular basis, yet all of us are in contact through this little box I’m writing this on now. The word gets out that Steve is sick and I get all this support from them. I then let them know that he’s going under the knife and the support only grows. I then let them know that he’s out of surgery and the groundswell of support that ensues can only be described as overwhelming. I know the same is true of my mother, Karen and David. You guys are our rock and the appreciation we all feel for you will only grow as time goes on. Yes, you are our heroes and no, the word is not used loosely.
Finally, I need to say a word or two about the biggest hero in this whole ordeal. Steve was literally given a sentence when he was diagnosed with hepatitis c a number of years ago. More recently he was told he had liver cancer. During the entire time, and I lived around the block from him for two of those years, I never heard him complain or moan about his situation once. He’s been such a stand up guy throughout that I don’t see how can you not consider him a hero. He’s my big brother, it’s just as it’s supposed to be.
3 comments:
Thank you Kevin for writing the words we are all feeling. I wish there was a way I could thank the family of the individual who donated the liver. Perhaps by playing it forward, and signing a donor card, in some way it's saying thank you. Throughout this ordeal we were all praying for the phone call telling Steve to get to the hospital. It's so sad someone had to loose their life in order for Steve to live. We are hopeful Steve has a full recovery. We also in our own way mourn the loss of the donor. Karen
I'm so thankful that our prayers were answered. I'm especially thankful to the donor and the donor's family. By giving life, their son lives on as you said, a heroe. Hope he has a speedy recovery!
Continued blessings to your family. I included your donor's family in my prayers. Unfortunately...well...words don't work sometimes. I am glad for Steve and your family. OK, so not everybody sucks :) Thanks for reminding me!
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