Josh's Christmas Gift is Life-saving!

Our son-in-law Josh Postma was first diagnosed with kidney failure sometime in 2017 and by the time a live donor was found his kidney function had dropped to 19%.  Less than one-week after his surgery on December 17, 2021 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, his kidney function is 54%!!!  Our daughter Kaytee is over-the-moon excited, and we can’t blame her.  It has been a very long time watching her husband’s health decline and to see him coming back to full health is amazing … nay, miraculous. 

We are so grateful to a loving and omnipotent Heavenly Father who knew these kinds of medical advances would one day be available … and gave us all a second kidney as a spare-to-share when needed by someone we love or a total stranger

What we have learned in the process of watching and waiting for a kidney donor: 

·     1.  Only one kidney is needed for a person to function and be healthy.

·      2.  The most commonly transplanted organ is a kidney.  Second is a life-saving piece of a human liver from a matching donor. 

3. In 2020, about 20,000 people in extreme kidney failure received a transplant from either a live donor or a cadaver

·      4.  Only 1/3 (about 5700) of all kidney transplants in the U. S. are from living donors.

·      5. There are currently more than 107,000 Americans waiting for a kidney donation.  About 17 of them die each day after waiting an average of 3.6 years (Josh waited about 4 years).

·      6.  Every 9 minutes another name is added to the wait list.

This has been a particularly unique Christmas holiday season and he will need to remain close to the UofU until mid-January.

Josh’s new kidney wasn’t wrapped up in pretty paper with a brightly colored ribbon but it is most certainly one of the greatest gifts anyone could ever give or receive!  Thanks to Dr. Eddie from Phillipsburg, MT for being unselfishly willing – and able - to share this amazing gift-of-life. 

A little side note:  When Dr. Eddie first decided he could donate a kidney to our 9-fingered man (that's another story) he signed up as "Hope."  Kaytee was excited to hear Hope was found to be a match but neither she nor Josh knew anyone named Hope ... nor did we, so she remained in the dark until an afternoon last last summer when they were invited to dinner at Dr. Eddie's where they met and embraced Hope.  

Perhaps Dr. Eddie’s gift will inspire others to do the same!