For my wife, Vivian Fried, this day began like every day has for nearly three years now.
She’s up at 6:15 this time. She readies herself and fills two huge bags with the things she’ll need for the day’s dialysis session.
At the dialysis center, they’ll stick a huge, 13-inch needle in her arm and begin recycling her blood through a purification machine. They’ll drop her blood temperature to 45 degrees just to keep her blood pressure manageable.
When the process is done, she’ll drive herself home and take the rest of the day to recover.
And tomorrow, she’ll do it all over again.
To you, this may sound like a hopeless situation, but it isn’t. As my wife battles end-stage kidney disease, we’ve found new strength by partnering with a fabulous organization called Renewal, a comprehensive resource for kidney donors and recipients.
On Vivian’s behalf, Renewal is hosting a program on Dec. 17 at The Shul in Bal Harbor. There, they will explain the power of kidney donation and how you can give the gift of life.
For instance, they’ll show how you only need one kidney to live, and that you don’t even need to be a match for Vivian to help her.
You see, through a process called paired donor match, when you give a kidney to someone else who is a match, it frees up a matching kidney for Vivian from another donor.
To date, we’ve had about 15 generous souls agree to be tested as potential direct donors for Vivian, but nothing has yet panned out for various reasons.
The Dec. 17 event by Renewal will show you how to help Vivian by helping someone else.
Now, I’m not looking for sympathy. Nothing that I’m experiencing remotely compares to the battles that my wife is fighting. But you have to know that all of this is hard on me, too. I’m continually on social media trying to raise awareness of our situation. I’m doing everything I can to save my wife.
So, email me at jim@friedonbusiness, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know about the upcoming Renewal event.
Come out and meet Vivian. See her in person. Let her story come to life in front of your eyes.
You can give the gift of life to someone whose sole purpose in life is spreading goodness. Vivian is still here, I’m convinced, because she brings light and life to everyone around her.
Visit http://www.life-renewal.org for more information about this wonderful group.
For information on kidney donation, email R1125@renewal.org.
To learn more about Vivian and her story, watch her interview on WPLGTV10 in Miami: http://bit.ly/Viv10.
May the Lord bless you, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
