Our Hope Endures

As most of you already know, our transplant was unsuccessful. This was the second time in the history of the transplant program at UK that a renal transplant simply didn't work. Although results of testing are not complete at present, it appears that there were unforeseen and unexplainable issues with blood flow and clotting. So, it wasn't that Mark's body rejected my kidney or that a mistake was made in the process of transplantation. The kidney never started functioning appropriately and as a result was removed from Mark's body within five days of being transplanted.

I cannot begin to express all of the pain (physically and emotionally) that our family has experienced. I went from believing that my husband's health would be restored to seeing him on a ventilator to watching him being wheeled back into surgery to have my "gift of life" removed all in a matter of days. Although words can't express what has happened, I can tell you that we have not given up. We're not giving up on another transplant, on a healthy outcome for Mark, on a successful ending, and most importantly...we're not giving up on our Faith. Although it has taken me quite a while to reach this point, I believe that something good will result from this situation even if we never know what it may be. I remain grounded in my Faith and firmly believe that God had a purpose in mind for why things have happened the way they have. This has been the most difficult time in our lives, but our Hope endures.

Mark and I would like to thank all of you for the thoughts, prayers, cards, gifts, food, and other acts of love that have been showered upon our family. We feel blessed to have such a thoughtful church family and community. We have undoubtedly relied upon prayers and God's strength during these difficult days. We've also found encouragement in the following songs of praise: Mercy Me's "Bring the Rain" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU and Natalie Grant's "Our Hope Endures" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg6b5T7I6VE . We will post more information relative to results of testing and plans for the future as we learn more from the transplant team.