YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME?!!!!!

Well the time has finally come....my brother and I check into the hospital tomorrow morning, Sunday, July 16th at 7am for pre-operative testing and will be wheeled into the surgical suites the next day, Monday, July 17th at 7am to undergo the actual, long-awaited kidney transplant. For those of you who believe yourselves to be prayer warriers, let the praying begin! In the interest of being specific, as you all already know, my name is Sharon and my brother's name is Roy [but we call him Dee]. Your prayers are both wanted and appreciated so advance heartfelt "Thank yous" to you all.

Right now, I'm doing okay if a bit frantic as I am compulsive in some ways whenever I am required to be away from home. I have this unsuppressible urge to leave my home sparkling clean as this is how I like to return to it; thus I am always in a cleaning frenzy before leaving home. As the mother of a teenaged boy who will be staying at home during my hospitalization, I also become somewhat obsessive about making sure he has plenty of food that he can prepare for himself in my absence which necessitates one of my least favorite tasks: a trip to the grocery store. Add to that, all that had to be handled to wrap up the loose ends at work until my return sometime around Labor Day, and suffice it to say, I am a bit hectic right now to say the least.

Emotionally, I'm holding up okay, but I have awakened in the middle of the night every night since last Saturday in a moderate panic. In an attempt to alleviate some of the anxiety I am feeling during these episodes, I did the only rational, logical thing I could think of:

1. I called the closest thing I have to a pastor (as I do not belong to a church), my close friend Traci. Traci is a minister of a church in Columbia, Missouri and though I know I was risking a lot as I awakened her at a time that only someone she truly loved could get away with, I called her anyway. As I knew she would, she talked me down from the ledge I was precariously hanging on to and returned my spirit to a place of peace. I Love You Traci!
2. I developed the following list:

Top Ten Reasons To Give Your Brother One Of Your Kidneys

10. Because African-Americans represent 33% of all the patients currently on dialysis due to kidney failure but only 11 - 18% of the patients who actually receive kidney transplants. This is at least partially due to the high rates of hypertension and diabetes in our race which drastically reduces the number of eligible donors, as well as the reluctance to be a donor amongst those who can qualify; a consequence of little to no awareness of the power some of us possess to help save and/or improve the quality of life of others.

9. Because you love your brother (Duh!).

8. Because you know it is the right thing to do and you always try to do the right thing.

7. Because you have two kidneys and your mother raised you not to be selfish.

6. Because you are almost out of vacation time at work and the doctors said this would be good for at least 4 to 6 additional weeks off from work.

5. Because you heard it was a great way to get flowers and you LOVE flowers.

4. Because if you are a "Boudoir Diva" like me [defined by Webster's as one who loves the idea of laying around in the bedroom (my favorite place on earf!) wearing pretty PJ's and satiny ling-A-Rie], then you already get it.

3. Because even though you're watching what you eat [as you eat TOO much of it], AND you got a personal trainer, you STILL need to lose 3 pounds.

2. Because sometimes the kidney hides behind the bottom rib [a.k.a. the "floating rib"] and it has to be removed; leaving you with Janet Jackson's body when you wake up....don't hate the playa, hate the game!

1. Because if you don't, you might hit hard times and decide to sell it on the black market for $10000, $15000, or $20000 which is on average what a good kidney goes for....wait, what the hell am I thinking....Hey Dee, we need to talk, see what had happened waz....

Anyway, after coming up with my Top Ten list, I felt infinitely better. Unless the hospital will let me access their wireless internet, I will be incommincado through next Friday. However, shortly thereafter, I plan to once again become the infamous Microphone Queen....the beloved moniker that Original Oldgirl Ladylee [who herself seems to be MIA] bestowed upon me. So, until then, please keep Ms. Just Write Now, her brother Dee, and her family at large [which includes each and everyone of you!] in your prayers.

Oh, and one more thing.....

Please BLOG like hell for the next 4 to 6 weeks as I will have nothing but time on my hands and reading the magic that spills forth from all of your beautiful minds is about the best thing [okay maybe not the best thing, but pretty damned close to the top of the list ;)] I can think of to do with it!