My best friend is an advocat for organ donation & a completely selfless person. I have asked her to share one of her blog posts with momstown Mississauga this holiday season, to raise awareness about organ donation and to inspire us all to think of ways we can give meaningfully to other people during the holidays (and anytime of year).
In June of 2011, I donated my left kidney to a stranger.
Throughout my journey, I kept a blog so I would remember all the thoughts and
feelings I had along the way. One of my favourite posts was Christmas and Family (partially below). I think it really
helped me explain to my family and friends part of why I was wanting to make the
choice to be a living donor. What I didn’t know is that it should be a real
turning point for me in the process as it was my first post to really get any
kind of attention or comments from strangers. It opened up a world for me that
helped me understand the impact of organ donation (living and otherwise) on
families, especially during the holidays. It was the start of many stories I
would hear along the way that pushed me forward when I wasn’t sure about my
choice and in the end, encouraged me to help someone else have a better
life.
Living donation isn’t for everyone, but it is easier than
some might think. Alternatively, there are other ways you can help people facing
critical illness this Christmas. The first, is to register to be an organ donor
(beadonor.ca in Ontario) and talk to your family about your wishes should they
be faced with that decision. The second, is to look into donating blood. It is
easy, takes less than an hour and can mean the difference between life and death
for someone. It can also help cancer patients like my Dad have the strength to
be home for Christmas via blood transfusion treatment.
Wishing everyone in the momstown family a happy and healthy
holiday season and 2013!
~ Lauren Herschel
Regardless
of whether or not you are religious or what religion you practice, this time of
year is about family. It's about spending time with people who are important to
you, taking the time to call loved ones who are far away and remembering special
people in your life that are no longer with us.
This year is the 15th anniversary of my Dad's last Christmas. In July of 1995, he was diagnosed for the second time with Esophageal Cancer. That time around it was inoperable and terminal. He chose to fight it and did a pretty good job of it well into the fall of that year. But by Christmas, the disease was taking its toll on him. He was becoming a shadow of the man I knew and as a 20 year old, that was pretty hard for me to understand.
Despite how sick he was, there are good things I remember about that Christmas. For one, his illness had slowed all of us down enough that we had time to stop and really get to know each other better. I think I had more conversations with my Dad in those last few months than I had in the five years prior. One of the really good memories I have of that time is the shopping excursion we took late in December to get my Mom one more present. My dad was a creature of habit and every year his gift buying formula for my mom was exact-there was always a fancy Christmas decoration like a wooden antique Santa or some kind of festive table top display. There was also some kind of orange and chocolate sweet (bleck..not my thing). The third part of the formula was that he always got her something nice to wear. No longer able to drive, he needed me to take him to downtown Oakville to a little boutique, where he found a pretty purple silk blouse for her. The snow was falling, the picturesque streets were bustling with people walking past well decorated store fronts. It was something out of a Disney movie and more importantly, it was wonderful to spend that kind of time one on one with my Dad….
This year is the 15th anniversary of my Dad's last Christmas. In July of 1995, he was diagnosed for the second time with Esophageal Cancer. That time around it was inoperable and terminal. He chose to fight it and did a pretty good job of it well into the fall of that year. But by Christmas, the disease was taking its toll on him. He was becoming a shadow of the man I knew and as a 20 year old, that was pretty hard for me to understand.
Despite how sick he was, there are good things I remember about that Christmas. For one, his illness had slowed all of us down enough that we had time to stop and really get to know each other better. I think I had more conversations with my Dad in those last few months than I had in the five years prior. One of the really good memories I have of that time is the shopping excursion we took late in December to get my Mom one more present. My dad was a creature of habit and every year his gift buying formula for my mom was exact-there was always a fancy Christmas decoration like a wooden antique Santa or some kind of festive table top display. There was also some kind of orange and chocolate sweet (bleck..not my thing). The third part of the formula was that he always got her something nice to wear. No longer able to drive, he needed me to take him to downtown Oakville to a little boutique, where he found a pretty purple silk blouse for her. The snow was falling, the picturesque streets were bustling with people walking past well decorated store fronts. It was something out of a Disney movie and more importantly, it was wonderful to spend that kind of time one on one with my Dad….
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