A New Direction

Last week we received unexpected news from the transplant center- Patrick's dear friend, Morgan, may not be eligible to be a kidney donor.   This is another example to us of miscommunication with UNC.  It seems like we may have been under the wrong impression for months...  and still there is no clear outcome.  The decision may be overturned, or it may not.  We don't know what will come next.  

I have been amazed by Patrick's attitude since hearing this news.  Rather than holding onto anger and disappointment, Patrick has a sense of relief knowing that the surgery is not impending, and that he and Morgan can get on with their lives, ending the wait for a transplant to be scheduled. For Patrick, this means continuing on dialysis, possibly with a new procedure that will allow him to have treatments at home.  And we will begin examining other medical options.  In a way, being back at the start of the search for a donor is a chance to start over fresh and with a renewed sense of life purpose and well-being.  Patrick wrote a message, below, to let everyone know what's happening. Please continue to support Patrick and Morgan, with grateful hearts and loving and prayers.    

~Kate

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope that you are all well and happy as we watch the winter fade to spring. First, I want to thank you for the support, prayers, positive thoughts, and well wishes; they have been a blessing to me.  

I know that many of you had heard through the grapevine that I was very near to receiving a kidney transplant from my dear friend, Morgan Marshall, but we will both have to continue to be patient and wait for this mile stone in our lives. His continued devotion to be my personal hero is testimony to friendship and beauty.   

In recent months I have found it very difficult to be in touch/share myself with friends and family... believing that I was so close to recovery it seemed easier to suffer in silence than to expose the hardship and pains of life with End Stage Renal Disease. With the recent developments (again having to wait for and unknown amount of time) I was released from the anxiety I had been feeling...I was able to see more clearly the joys in my life NOW... not focus only on the good things that I will have. Yesterday i had a proved experience and the desperation that i had been dealing with faded, and tears of joys flowed for hours.
There is a light that shines in the living, and I am so grateful that mine still is.  

~Patrick