Thanksgiving 2015

Welcome to the 2015 Thanksgiving edition of my blog.  I’m not going to give you a list of the things I’m grateful for – though there are many.  Instead I want to pay tribute to a group of people who for obvious reasons hold a very special place in my heart.

Organ donors.

And by that I mean everyone who made the decision in the first place to give up a part of themselves whether or not they were ultimately wheeled down the halls of a transplant surgery center.

By my count, about eight people have stepped forward in the last two years to get tested for me at UCSF.  In addition another handful took the initiative to contact me to tell me they wanted to donate and had discussed it with their spouse/family.  Then they discover preexisting conditions that preclude them from being able to donate.

Which has left me often pondering What motivates someone to want to donate in the first place?  Most want to help, but then to volunteer for a major surgery that brings no benefit to them? That’s a whole other level of generosity!  Love is the obvious answer, but not all of these people knew me all that well.  At least one didn’t know me at all.  Such a sacrifice is heroic and herculean.  And humble.  Many of them were testing anonymously.

When I look at this group of people that I do know, none of them live a life free of trouble.  In fact, quite a few faced tremendous crises of their own in the past.  One had breast cancer.  Two of them had a spouse who fought cancer. Another tragically lost her best friend, and another lost a sibling, both at a vibrant young age, each leaving behind a family with young children.  Another friend was a child herself when a major health crisis invaded her family and forced her to grow up too fast.

Despite tragic life events, bitterness and anger did not rob them of their spirit.  They continue to count their blessings.

One of my favorite videos on the American Transplant Foundation website features four altruistic donors.  They each gave to a recipient they didn’t know, just because someone was in need.

Adam Levanthal who gave to a father of five was asked, “How could you possibly consider doing something so crazy?  God gave you two kidneys for a reason.” His reply, “Yes, God gave me two kidneys, one for myself and one to give away to someone who needed it much more than I did.”

Then I met Matt in January this year.  We have exchanged a few emails.  He gave a kidney two years ago also as a Good Samaritan donor, and he tells me, “It was unequivocally one of the best experiences of my life.”

And in one of my previous post, I share the story of Reid Moran Hayward in the Bay Area who donated a kidney as a token of gratitude for his good health. His gift started a chain that ended up saving eight lives.

So I think a posture of gratitude plays a big role in a donor’s choice to give.   So while there is no physical benefit to the donor, the emotional one is immense.  And have you ever noticed the happiest people are the ones who live in constant gratitude, regardless of the hardships in their lives?

So to all you donors out there, thanks for giving.  And thanks for teaching us that a life anchored in gratitude is a life brimming with joy and generosity.