There are others who aren't so fortunate. Their lives are so affected by sickness and disease that those of us in the 1st category can't really imagine.
My Mom falls into the 2nd category. Since i have been alive she has been affected by pretty serious (and uncommon) lung diseases. i guess i didn't know much different as a kid because that's just the way it was.
Plus i don't think i have ever once heard my Mom complain. she just goes on living life and enjoying life to the fullest. which is awesome and i have crazy respect for her.
My Mom has been an awesome Mom too. She was full of love for me and helped raise me to be what i am today (which some may debate whether that's good or bad, but she only gets credit for the good). Her focus was always on being an awesome and loving Mom, not on being sick... so i guess i just always saw her as an awesome Mom.
i was probably at the end of high school or starting college before i realized that her lung diseases took an extra severe toll on her life. she was in the hospital a lot. i learned later that the specialist doctors were saying she shouldn't have been alive this long. (and that was 10 years ago.)
i'm thankful that God has been so good because i can't imagine life without my Mom.
but i can remember praying constantly from the time i was 3-4 years old that God would heal my Mom. that He would heal her disease so she could live a "normal" life. i prayed every single day before i think i even understood what it was to pray to God. (or maybe i understood even better back then than i do today?)
as i got older i can remember starting to pray for a miracle. a miraculous, supernatural healing because that's what the expert doctors said it would require. They said there was nothing they could ever do to make her better. her lungs were at something like a 20% capacity. they basically started saying she was on "borrowed time."
so i would pray that God would heal her. miraculously. That He would override nature & make her well. let her enjoy life without these diseases that make it almost impossible for her to breathe.
i think it's what all of us would want for someone we love. Especially for your Mom who has poured so much love and influence into you.
the idea of lung transplants had come up before but double lung transplants weren't even opitions back then. they weren't possible. the technology hadn't been developed yet.
but a few years ago they did start doing double lung transplants.
my Mom became a candidate.
she's gone through years and years of prep and tests, etc...
Back in the summer she and my Dad packed up and moved to Durham, NC to live next to Duke hospital to do months of pre-therapy to prepare for the double lung transplant.
3 weeks ago she was put on the double lung TRANSPLANT LIST.
wow. what a journey. for her a crazy journey that i'm sure she could tell you tons of stories about.
but the journey from my perspective:
from a little kid praying that God would do a miracle to heal my Mom... i never dreamed that science and medicine developing to this point would be the avenue God could use to heal my mom.
she can actually get NEW LUNGS. that's crazy to me!
on Monday we got the call that 2 lungs were on the way to Duke for my Mom! Crystal and i hustled to Duke hospital as fast as we could to see my Mom. it turned out the lungs weren't good for my Mom, so she's back to waiting now.
but literally any day she could get the call again and go in for this amazing transplant. just waiting now...
it's still in God's hands like it was the 1st day i ever prayed for a miracle 25 years ago.
*if you would like to donate to my Mom's transplant you can leave a comment and i will contact you or you can click HERE to donate to her campaign through the National Foundation for Transplants. (the double lung transplant costs over $1 million and her expenses will be $100,000.) You can also ask to join the "2 lungs for Edith" fan page on Facebook.
i'm crazy thankful for my Mom. i'm thankful i've experienced her love and joy and positive outlook on life.
