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Jan’s side of the story.

This was written by Corey’s kidney and pancreas recipient.  When reading it, please keep in mind she is completely blind.  Every word, every punctuation mark, and every pause she writes is spoken into her I-phone.  She had to memorize everything she said as she wrote so she wouldn’t repeat herself.

A labor of love.

Jan

💌🎈❤️💙💚💜💘💌Some may believe in God, and miracles, including Angels the Guardian type! When I was 18, barely, God had a plan for me to be a mother! He laid a five day old baby boy in my arms to raise as my very own! At that time, I was young, and immature, and had no type of responsibility about anything! At that time, I did not pay attention! Now, 29 years later, God gave me a Nother blessing! I had been suffering from the complications from juvenile type one diabetes that I had gotten diagnosed when I was 11!! In March 2010, I had renal failure and had to start kidney dialysis! So, I was feeling like I was living on borrowed time at that point! My life basically consisted of going to dialysis three days a week, sleeping that entire day afterwords and through the night. The only days I was good to do anything was the four days I was off from having to have dialysis treatments! I lost my husband in March 2013 from cancer! I had been approved and placed on the kidney transplant list on July 2, 2013! And to my surprise, I received a call on July 29, 2013 that the Midwest transplant network had a pancreas, and a kidney for me! All of the testing was done, and I was told my donor was a perfect match! For some reason, there were two people ahead of me on the transplant list, but they at that time were not available for transplant! I received a call later that night at 9 PM that I would be having surgery the next day! That is how fast my life changed again, just barely 4 months after my husband’s death! I did not have any words to say at that time, because it was such a surprise, and a blessing! At that time, I was testing my blood sugar every two hours because of the complications I was having from the diabetes! Like I said before, I was living on borrowed time! After my transplant surgery, as I was in ICU, my pancreas, and my kidney were almost working instantaneously from the time of them being placed inside of me! That, is why I am saying, God gives us blessings, but we do not notice unless we are paying attention! This time, I was paying attention. There are so many similarities in my story between me and my family, and my donor and his family! First of all, my donors name is Corey! My sons name is also Corey! My donors mothers name is Michelle, and if you notice, my middle name is Michelle! The dentist that cleared me dental wise to be placed on the transplant network is also the same dental office that Cory, my donor, and his family went to! That is just a few of the similarities! One other point I want to make is, The Midwest area is covered by these states! Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas! I think I covered all of them. If you can imagine how many cities are in those states, That is how many cities they had to receive my organs from! They came from right here in Independence, Missouri, where I was born and raised, and still reside in. As a matter of fact, my donors family lives about five to seven minutes from me. Not only did my donor save my life, but I also have a really good friend now, and an extension of my family by four additional people, if not more than that! As far as angels go, I have a guardian angel in Corey! And his mother always says when she needed confirmation that God had not forgotten about her and her pain, he sent me to her to let her know that he had not forgotten! She now calls me her angel. I was on the kidney transplant list for only 28 days! It was because of my blood type, and me in the need for two organs! This is my testament that God is around giving blessings, you just have to pay attention and look for them, and be receptive of them! My life now, has restored my belief in God! I now have a future to look forward to, and three grand babies that I am going to be around to watch walk the stage and graduate from high school, if not college! Just remember, in the month of April, to make sure you sign up to be an organ donor are. There is a great need for organs in our area, and all over the United States! And please do not forget, donate life!

Gwen Carver

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