I am migrating my kidney donation blogs over here so that everything is in one place for you to read about my journey. This one is from January 2011.

I’ve got a good friend whose mother is really sick.  Her kidneys are failing miserably and she’s on a wait list to get a new kidney.  The list is 6 years long.  She won’t live to see that.

So, I figured, “Why not?”  I mean, I have two perfectly good kidneys.  I’m healthy, don’t drink or do drugs.  I don’t need both of them.  Might as well try.

There are a few reasons why I feel so strongly about this.  The first, of course, is that I’ve seen my friend worried for awhile about her mom.  I know if I were in the same situation, I would feel the same.  She’s not a match and can’t donate her own kidney.

Secondly, it reminds me of how I felt when my father was dying.  He had cancer twice and made it through with chemotherapy and radiation.  But the third time kicked his ass.  I was completely helpless; there was absolutely nothing I could do except wait for him to die.  He died just about 8 years ago, on the day before my birthday.  It was heartbreaking, not being able to help at ALL.  I know if there had been some way that SOMEBODY, anybody, could have helped, it would have happened if people knew about it.  He was only 57 when he died.  I had to tell him, via cell phone, that I would miss him when he died.  I had just started doing comedy and he had hoped to come out and see me perform someday.  He died before he got the chance.

Thirdly, it’s a good deed.  I’m a good person.  Why not?  They’ve filled my karma bucket, just for attempting to try to help out.  If I’m not a match, I will do everything in my power to get the word out on the importance of live organ donating.  Maybe that will get someone else who’s a match.

Oh, and for the rest of my life, I can use that as a comeback to anyone who says anything bad about me.  I am joking, of course.  Sort of.

So, do some research.  Think about it.  With surgery advances, it’s not a difficult operation.  I will be walking THAT DAY.

This week, I get some tests done to see if I’m a match.  They have to take some of my blood and give it to her to see if it makes her sick or not.  We’ll go from there.