Friday, March 3, 2006

Polly and the Kidney Bros

My brother in law Greg aka Prince Valium (a reference to the calming affect he has had on my usually high-strung sister) is the kind of guy whose strategy for falling asleep is to imagine what he would do with a few million dollars. 

Not how he would spend it but how he would distribute it others to do the most good. 

Yes he is for real!  When he was found to be the best match for kidney donation to his brother Jeff the possibility of risking his own life to save another must have seemed like a dream come true.

The recipient of a donated kidney generally heals quickly and feels good right away as though he has been jumpstarted.  The donor's body on the other hand must adjust to functioning on only one kidney so recovery is a considerably tougher.

An important indication that everything is working properly after the surgery is the passing of gas.  In the typical spirit of brotherly competition Jeff was bragging that he was having great success while Greg had been having difficulty which was a cause for concern. 

Polly, my daughter and I went to the hospital to visit the recovering brothers and to lend a helping fart machine! 

We did the usually fart machine in the elevator but its funny how nobody even looks at a woman in a wheelchair at the hospital even when she is making a variety of loud gas sounds!