Boomer1967
Verified Trader,
My newest addition
here is the reason this card will never leave my collection
It was over 11 years ago, Feb 24 2002 to be exact. It was a cold and quiet Sunday. I was going to be taking full advantage of my day off of dialysis. See I was on dialysis for a failing kidney. This day was different though, there was an excitement that surrounded this day. The 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were wrapping up and the last event was the Men's Gold Medal Hockey Game. It was going to be epic, Canada versus the USA winner is declared best in the world at the sport. As a rabid hockey fan this was a day I had only dreamed about. The game got closer to starting and the excitement and nerves started to build. Little did I know there would be something bigger about to happen. Being on dialysis for almost 2 years now I had gotten used to the routine of going to the hospital Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 4 hours each time to be dialyized. I was hopeful to one day recieve a kidney transplant but I wasn't holding my breath. About an hour before the game was about to start the phone rang. It was that long distance ring, you know the one that you have heard before but always peak your curiousity. My mom answered. I heard her say yes he is here I will get him. This really got my interest, wondering who it might be. I heard my mom call for me to pick up the phone which I did in my room. I said hello, the voice on the other end was not familiar. He asked is this Chad? I said yes it is, he said well then I have some great news for you. We have found a match for a kidney transplant for you. In shock I asked him to repeat what he just said. He kind of snickered did so and then asked me if I was interested. I said yes I want it. We went over a couple of things I would need to bring with me to the hospital and what are some of things I should expect when I get there. He then said we will see you soon. I hung up the phone and shocked I went to tell my parents the wonderful news. I hurried up and packed the essentials for any long hospital stay. As I was packing I realized I was going to miss the game. The hockey fan in me was dissapointed and wanted to stay and watch the game but the reality of being on dialysis for the last 2 years sunk in quickly and helped me pack even faster. We packed the car and headed off on the 2 hour ride to the hospital. It didn't seem like it but it had taken over an hour from the time I hung up the phone, got packed and headed off. The game already had started. I made some phone calls to friends and family to let them know the news. Most of the time I interrupted them because they were watching the game. We searched the radio in the car for the game. When we found it Canada was down 1-0. The ride up to that point had been pretty quiet and after finding out the score it got alot quieter. The tension I felt was immense both for the game and for the event that was going to take place in my life. We were about 45 minutes from the hospital when Canada scored 2 goals in 4 minutes. I was cheering as loud as possible in a car. It was around the second intermission when we lost the signal, we searched the stations for a good 10 minutes without luck. The game was tied when we had lost the signal. When we finally pulled up to the hospital after what seemed like a 12 hour drive, the magnitude of what was about to happen starting to really sink in. This surgery would mean no more dialysis, no more stric diet, no more feeling sick all the time. It was all about to stop and my life would be normal again. When I walked into the front doors of the hospital, it was like a ghost town not a person around except for a young guy at the information desk. He was watching the game on a little black and white tv on his desk. I asked what the score was before asking where I was supposed to go. He smiled and said 4-2 for Canada and there isn't much time left and you need to get to the transplant unit on the 4th floor. As I got on the elevatora calm came over me as I knew Canada was going to win the gold medal in hockey and what was going to happen to me would be life changing. When I walked into the transplant unit a nurse greated me and said you must be Chad. I said yes I was, she said we have been expecting you and then she showed me to my room. I got changed into a hospital gown and hoped up on the bed. She came back in and asked me a bunch of questions, took my blood pressure and other vitals and any other important medical information. I was going to need an IV so she started one and drew blood to have tested to see if I needed to be dialyized one last time before surgery. We waited about a half hour for the results to come back and in that time I was able to watch Canada receive their gold medals. The results came back and I did not need to dialyize. She got the doctor and brought him in. He went over what was going to take place, the complications, the recovery and life after transplant. He was going over my file and he got a puzzled look on his face. He asked if we would excuse him as he had to double check something. He left the room and a very weird feeling fell over the room. He came back in a few minutes later not as excited as before. I noticed this and asked if there was a problem. He said yes it seems when double checking anitbodies bewtween you and the donor kidney we noticed there was not a match with 1 of them. I was missing 1 antibody that the donor kidney had. So he said if I was to take this kidney there is a good chance I would develop the disease from the antibody and it could lead to lymphoma. If this were to happen we would stop all efforts to sustain the kidney and treat the lymphoma. doing so the kidney would probably fail and you would be back to where you are right now but with a chance of cancer. He said the decision is yours to make I will be back in a couple of minutes to get your decision. While the rest of Canada was celebrating a moment to remember I was having a moment to forget. I needed to gather myself after having my life changing surgery pulled from beneath me and decide if I still wanted to do this. After a few minutes of talking it over with my parents we were all in agreement that not taking this kidney was the best thing to do at this moment. The probability of me getting a kidney that matched perfectly were slim to none. But when the doctor came back in I very confidentally said I wasn't going to take this kidney. He said not a problem we have another person who can take it. He left and the nurse who had been with me since I walked into the unit came back in to unhook the iv and the other things that I was attached to. As I packed up my stuff and headed out of the unit. The nurse said with a weird confidence I will see you back here real soon. I said I hope so and left the unit and the hospital. I thought it was a quiet ride down but it was an even quieter ride back home that night. The next day I was back at dialysis and the talk was all about the game and about me and my decision. I moved on rather quickly with the decision I had made and was fortunate enough to get a kidney later that August. When ever that game comes up in a conversation and I say I have never seen the game people are shocked and say well I taped it and if you want to watch it you can. I always politly decline as I don't want to re-live that day. I have seen highlights and that is enough.
Sorry for the long read but wanted to share why this card is kinda cool to me
here is the reason this card will never leave my collection
It was over 11 years ago, Feb 24 2002 to be exact. It was a cold and quiet Sunday. I was going to be taking full advantage of my day off of dialysis. See I was on dialysis for a failing kidney. This day was different though, there was an excitement that surrounded this day. The 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were wrapping up and the last event was the Men's Gold Medal Hockey Game. It was going to be epic, Canada versus the USA winner is declared best in the world at the sport. As a rabid hockey fan this was a day I had only dreamed about. The game got closer to starting and the excitement and nerves started to build. Little did I know there would be something bigger about to happen. Being on dialysis for almost 2 years now I had gotten used to the routine of going to the hospital Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 4 hours each time to be dialyized. I was hopeful to one day recieve a kidney transplant but I wasn't holding my breath. About an hour before the game was about to start the phone rang. It was that long distance ring, you know the one that you have heard before but always peak your curiousity. My mom answered. I heard her say yes he is here I will get him. This really got my interest, wondering who it might be. I heard my mom call for me to pick up the phone which I did in my room. I said hello, the voice on the other end was not familiar. He asked is this Chad? I said yes it is, he said well then I have some great news for you. We have found a match for a kidney transplant for you. In shock I asked him to repeat what he just said. He kind of snickered did so and then asked me if I was interested. I said yes I want it. We went over a couple of things I would need to bring with me to the hospital and what are some of things I should expect when I get there. He then said we will see you soon. I hung up the phone and shocked I went to tell my parents the wonderful news. I hurried up and packed the essentials for any long hospital stay. As I was packing I realized I was going to miss the game. The hockey fan in me was dissapointed and wanted to stay and watch the game but the reality of being on dialysis for the last 2 years sunk in quickly and helped me pack even faster. We packed the car and headed off on the 2 hour ride to the hospital. It didn't seem like it but it had taken over an hour from the time I hung up the phone, got packed and headed off. The game already had started. I made some phone calls to friends and family to let them know the news. Most of the time I interrupted them because they were watching the game. We searched the radio in the car for the game. When we found it Canada was down 1-0. The ride up to that point had been pretty quiet and after finding out the score it got alot quieter. The tension I felt was immense both for the game and for the event that was going to take place in my life. We were about 45 minutes from the hospital when Canada scored 2 goals in 4 minutes. I was cheering as loud as possible in a car. It was around the second intermission when we lost the signal, we searched the stations for a good 10 minutes without luck. The game was tied when we had lost the signal. When we finally pulled up to the hospital after what seemed like a 12 hour drive, the magnitude of what was about to happen starting to really sink in. This surgery would mean no more dialysis, no more stric diet, no more feeling sick all the time. It was all about to stop and my life would be normal again. When I walked into the front doors of the hospital, it was like a ghost town not a person around except for a young guy at the information desk. He was watching the game on a little black and white tv on his desk. I asked what the score was before asking where I was supposed to go. He smiled and said 4-2 for Canada and there isn't much time left and you need to get to the transplant unit on the 4th floor. As I got on the elevatora calm came over me as I knew Canada was going to win the gold medal in hockey and what was going to happen to me would be life changing. When I walked into the transplant unit a nurse greated me and said you must be Chad. I said yes I was, she said we have been expecting you and then she showed me to my room. I got changed into a hospital gown and hoped up on the bed. She came back in and asked me a bunch of questions, took my blood pressure and other vitals and any other important medical information. I was going to need an IV so she started one and drew blood to have tested to see if I needed to be dialyized one last time before surgery. We waited about a half hour for the results to come back and in that time I was able to watch Canada receive their gold medals. The results came back and I did not need to dialyize. She got the doctor and brought him in. He went over what was going to take place, the complications, the recovery and life after transplant. He was going over my file and he got a puzzled look on his face. He asked if we would excuse him as he had to double check something. He left the room and a very weird feeling fell over the room. He came back in a few minutes later not as excited as before. I noticed this and asked if there was a problem. He said yes it seems when double checking anitbodies bewtween you and the donor kidney we noticed there was not a match with 1 of them. I was missing 1 antibody that the donor kidney had. So he said if I was to take this kidney there is a good chance I would develop the disease from the antibody and it could lead to lymphoma. If this were to happen we would stop all efforts to sustain the kidney and treat the lymphoma. doing so the kidney would probably fail and you would be back to where you are right now but with a chance of cancer. He said the decision is yours to make I will be back in a couple of minutes to get your decision. While the rest of Canada was celebrating a moment to remember I was having a moment to forget. I needed to gather myself after having my life changing surgery pulled from beneath me and decide if I still wanted to do this. After a few minutes of talking it over with my parents we were all in agreement that not taking this kidney was the best thing to do at this moment. The probability of me getting a kidney that matched perfectly were slim to none. But when the doctor came back in I very confidentally said I wasn't going to take this kidney. He said not a problem we have another person who can take it. He left and the nurse who had been with me since I walked into the unit came back in to unhook the iv and the other things that I was attached to. As I packed up my stuff and headed out of the unit. The nurse said with a weird confidence I will see you back here real soon. I said I hope so and left the unit and the hospital. I thought it was a quiet ride down but it was an even quieter ride back home that night. The next day I was back at dialysis and the talk was all about the game and about me and my decision. I moved on rather quickly with the decision I had made and was fortunate enough to get a kidney later that August. When ever that game comes up in a conversation and I say I have never seen the game people are shocked and say well I taped it and if you want to watch it you can. I always politly decline as I don't want to re-live that day. I have seen highlights and that is enough.
Sorry for the long read but wanted to share why this card is kinda cool to me
