One Year Anniversary

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of my Dad's liver transplant. What a difference a year makes. What a difference the healing power of our almighty God makes. He truly orchestrated the entire situation - the weeks and months leading up to the surgery, the day of surgery, the selected surgeon, the donor, the nurse care post-op, etc. It was evident in the midst of the situation that God was working, and I can't help to continue to acknowledge it whenever thoughts of my Dad come to mind. I have never written about my Dad's sickness or surgery or healing. I never mentioned it on this blog, Facebook, or to many friends. So this seems... Maybe delayed, maybe awkward after so many months and events have passed, and maybe even weird to some that my family kept it such a private matter. I have decided to write about it, however, because I am eternally grateful for God's healing hand and guidance over the past year and I don't want to forget or ever take advantage of the blessings given to us. 

In the Fall of 2011, my parents were aware of possible liver disease. We only found out on Christmas Eve, and my Dad didn't want even us (his kids) to know - which I understood his reasons. The whole diagnosis process was so surreal. It felt like there was never anything concrete. He went to various doctors and all had to perform their own tests - which included a lot of waiting. I knew on one level that he had cirrhosis of the liver but the other parts of me were trying to take in all the unknowns. I was told that we still didn't know how extensive the damage was so I was under the assumption that there still might be other alternatives. My mom talked a lot about transplants, but it took so long to even get seen by the specialist of specialists even that lacked answers for me.  It sounds bad but a part of me still didn't know how serious his situation was. I mean I knew the diagnosis. But what the future held... I guess I wouldn't let myself think about it. There was probably denial there - and scaredness.  Dad wasn't even recommended to the transplant team until like March of 2012 - and that whole process is one of itself with more tests, tests, and tests. But even that didn't bring answers or solutions because he still wasn't on 'the list'. I needed a concrete "on the transplant list", "here is the timeframe" type of diagnosis. 

At that point though, I guess I knew what was ahead. Things started becoming more real. There was small amount of me scared of what-if he didn't make 'the list', but for some reason, I was confident he would be on the transplant list. [If you don't know much about transplants (which I admit I don't even understand it all), the country is divided up into regions. The organs you receive, the wait time, the surgeons, etc. are all based on where you live. North Mississippi happens to be in a region with Tennessee that (unfortunately/fortunately) has a lot of donors. The wait time is relatively faster than many other regions across the country. You can 'sign-up' in other regions; like people from all over get on the this region's list because there is such a higher supply. I really don't understand how it all works. But we are so blessed to be in this region.]  The transplant doctors talked very positive about success rates and recovery and wait times.

After the call and the drive to Memphis and the wait during surgery, it was really amazing to think back over those few months to see how God orchestrated everything. It felt like everything was lined up, certain things were taken care of before, we scheduled certain things without knowing what was to come...all to be ready on that day. The time at the hospital brought more worries and unknowns, but God provides and heals as we experienced repeatedly. It is a pure miracle where he is today considering the complications during surgery and post (1st) surgery. Our family had so much support and so many prayers during that time which we are truly thankful for. 

We get to celebrate this anniversary on the beach this year with the entire clan! 

I am so blessed and grateful!!

Happy Anniversary and early Fathers Day!