A KIDNEY,TO DIE FOR.??

When you see the word 'kidney ',what comes to mind.??
Steak & kidney pie?
kidney beans ?
Kidney shaped dish ?

How many of you would have automatically  said kidney failure,or renal dialysis. ??

In Ireland the waiting list for kidney transplants stands at this moment,at two and a half years.
Depending on your blood group and tissue type,you could end up having to wait much longer than this,spending your time hooked up to a dialysis machine.
So what happens.?
Having been diagnosed with renal failure,you would die,so you are given dialysis,this takes out excess fluid and toxins from your blood,that in a healthy person,would have been done via the kidneys.
You also have to adhere to a strict diet and very strict fluid intake,as in acute renal failure,you cant 'pee'
 so fluids build up in your blood and tissues,dialysis removes it.
Why have I chosen to write about this,I hear you ask !!
The answer is twofold,Firstly a neighbour of ours,who had been on dialysis for over seven years,has just had a transplant.When I saw him recently,he said God had answered his prayers. **
  Also a member of the Castles household,is also on dialysis and waiting for a transplant and praying for a miracle. **
B had a transplant nearly ten years ago,but this kidney has now rejected and he is in renal failure again and back on the transplant list.
Last time he was only 29 yrs old and was only on dialysis for a year,now he is 40,and the waiting list has increased,so none of us know how long he will have to wait this time.all we can do is hope and pray** that a kidney becomes available.

You have probably noticed the little star markers I have placed in the post,these bring me to the second answer.
B. confided in me that he felt guilty praying for a second transplant,he had been given one,without really thinking of where it came from.He just got the call from the hospital,went and woke up the next day with a healthy new kidney,which has served him well for nearly 10yrs,allowing him a normal life and a career for that time.
To pray for a new kidney,means you are praying for someone else to die,even if you don't actually say that.Unless you are lucky enough to have a relative ,who is willing to give you one of their kidneys,the sad fact is someone has to die ,to help you.
Donations remain anonymous,we do know that B received his donation from a young man who died in a road traffic accident,but that is all he knows.He is and always will be grateful to this young mans family for allowing their sons body to be used for transplant.In the midst of all the terrible  grief and heart ache they must have suffered,they saw the better good their son could do after death.
As tragic as death is and all the pain that families suffer,If they could bring them selves to do what this one family did for B,so many more people could have transplants.
It is a fact that more people die from accidents,than there are people on the transplant waiting lists.Yet ,the list is two and a half years long.!!
I would like to urge those of you who are shocked by this post to carry a donor card,in the event of your death you could help so many. ( I am aware that some of you may have religious reasons for not doing this and I under stand. )
PS we have all offered B one of our kidneys,but the offer has not been accepted yet.
We will also have to re phrase our prayers.!!