Posted by Mickie STreets
on 7/13/2009, 12:35 pm
My father had a lung transplant yesterday morning. He is a purple heart recipient from the VietNam War and a very special person to me..
When I was born 45 years ago, my biological father walked out of the hospital because I was born a girl. He still has no relationship with me.
Fast forward.. My mother had divorced and met a newly returned Marine. At the age of 5, I can remember asking him if I could call him Daddy. He, with a tear in his eye, gladly said yes. This man has been with me through everything. His extended family accepted me without question.
I felt like I belonged somewhere.
He had made some poor choices in regards to his health and smoked as did many soldiers of his time. He, like his mother, contracted emphazima(sp). His mother passed when I was pregnant for her first great grandchild. But my dad, was placed on the organ donor list.. It has been many years coming and lots of preperation to lead to this day.He had actually wieghed in at a mear 107 lbs when he went into surgery. We all knew his time was dwindling and chances were getting slimmer, but we kept hope.
He got the call 11pm (July 11, 2009)Saturday evening. Confirmation of a viable lung came at 9:30 am Sunday morning.
I am so extremely grateful for the choice the donor and their family made at their painful time as well. It is not something I will ever take for granted. It is a choice that can change not one but many lives. I have 2 siblings, we all have a total of 7 children and there are 4, soon to be 5 grandchildren. So my dad is a great grandfather. He is just 63. He has been given a gift of life and we have been given a gift of him and TIME! Time is the one thing you cannot buy, but with the choice of an organ donation it can be given!
My dad is doing well today, just 24 hours after his transplant. He was taken off his ventilator and is breathing on his own.
I have been an organ donor long before we even thought we would need one.
I would love to know how to thank the family or just get any info on the donors life. They must have been special and loved so much that they could give to others who love too. I want the family to know how eternally grateful we all are.
With great admiration and Love.. Thank you whoever you are.. Mickie Streets proud daughter of Ernest Elder "Butch"
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