Finally, a call back!

I have been patiently waiting (or at least trying to) for the past week to get a call back from the Mayo clinic. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit frustrated that it has been a week since I gave them my information to start the registration process and I have yet to receive a phone call. Then, at 4:55pm today they finally called! It turns out the lady who I've left messages for is still not back in the office and will be out for a few more weeks, so I had sort of fallen through the cracks. I talked with Rhonda, who was the person I initially spoke with at Mayo. We went through a lot of the same information that we did before (height, weight, blood type, etc) but this time I was able to complete the initial health screening. She went through a pretty extensive list of diseases and illnesses with me, to find out if I had ever had any of them, and thankfully I was able to say no to every single one. So, I passed my first screening! One hurdle down, many more to go. Since this whole process is not something she does on a daily basis, she said she would put a call in to the doctor to find out what needs to be done to have my testing scheduled at the clinic. She said she should have some information for me either tomorrow or Wednesday. I was able to ask her a couple of my questions. First of all, once I'm tested, am I matched against a national list, or just with people who are on the Mayo Clinic's list? She said they share a program with some other locations around the country, so I will matched against their combined list. My next question was if the recipient is not someone local, would I have to travel to wherever they are for the surgery. The answer is no. I would have the surgery here in Jacksonville, and they would fly my kidney to wherever the recipient is. She also mentioned that as a non-directed donor (meaning I have decided to selflessly donate my kidney, with no one specific for it to go to) I have the opportunity to start a donation chain. I had heard of this, but honestly I wasn't really sure how it worked. I still am not quite sure about all of the specifics, but the basic idea is that in order for someone to receive my kidney, they have to have someone in their life who is willing to donate a kidney to someone else. In order for that recipient to receive the kidney, they have to have someone willing to donate to someone else, and it goes on and on. The country's longest chain is actually currently going on, with 42 donors and recipients who have taken part between December 2013 and June 2014. It's a cool idea, and definitely something I'd like to learn more about.

Another cool thing that happened today is I learned from my mom that a girl from my hometown in Ohio

happens to be donating a kidney tomorrow! She is a friend of my younger brother, and I was able to get in 

touch with her earlier this evening. I don't know much about her story and why she's donating, but I know

she's do aging to a complete stranger. How awesome is that? I'm wishing her the best, and looking forward

to hearing about her experience and recovery first hand!

I'm glad things finally seem to be progressing, even if it's just a little bit! Again, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and share this. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have this amazing outpouring of support.

If you'd like to learn more about the kidney chain I was referring to, you can read more about it here.