Giving Thanks

I've thanked everyone for praying for us and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, but there's more going behind the scenes of the Kidneybeanboy productions. Currently a group of our close friends are putting together a campaign through an organization called COTA - Children's Organ Transplant Association (www.cota.org). It provides fundraising assistance for children and young adults needing life-saving transplant and promotes organ, marrow, and tissue donation. You can visit their site to learn more about them and if you click on "patient campaigns," and find Joaquin's campaign. We only recently got our campaign up and (not completely) running, but I feel so blessed to have the great team members who have graciously given their time and energy into raising money for transplant related costs for Joaquin. Meredith Richmond is the campain coordinator, Bob Beaudoin is the trustee, and Brooke Noel is the media coordinator. Many of our close friends are also involved - you know who you are. Right now they are working on throwing a raffle and a concert to raise money that is scheduled to happen October 15th.

So I wanted to take this opporunity to thank everyone who is involved in the campaign and thank them from the bottom of my heart for everything you've doing and everything that you're doing. It's humbling to ask for help from people but always know that we would and will do the same for them.

And my Mother, who has also been here to help both Joaquin and myself through transplant and even before transplant, when Joaquin was born. She's taken off the time from school to be out here with us, as well as travelling well over a thousand miles - which means she's that far away from my Dad, her Mom, and her friends. Thanks Mom. We really appreciate all you've done for us.

Today it has been one month since Joaquin's transplant. It feels like it's been a lot longer. At times I have to remind myself that we are done with dialysis. Like my Mom has said, it's like I'm disappointed that I don't miss dialysis more. It's not that I don't miss it, I guess I was just expecting this huge change or difference. I think once I've returned home to Reno then maybe I'll notice. We had a fire alarm go off Wednesday morning around 7 a.m. - someone's waffles got a little too hot and so everyone in the RMH was evacuated into the surrouning parking lots in their finest nighttime attire. I remember thinking at one point that had this happened a month ago or when we were here last year what would I have done because he would have been hooked up to the dialysis machine. I had always been prepared in the back of my mind for if something happened during the night while Joaquin was on dialysis - what would be our escape plan as far as getting him off the machine without risking infection. But thankfully that never happened.