Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Normal

For my transplant doctor to monitor my health, I have to do blood work every 3 months.

In Dec, the blood work was a bit off. They told me to take it again a couple of weeks later. I took the blood work second time in Jan 2. Normally they will call me and let me know the blood results. After a month of not hearing back, I left a voice message to make sure everything is ok.

Today, I got a call back in the afternoon. It turned out that my transplant co-ordinator just receive the blood results. The co-ordinator left a message with a numbers which I have no idea what is about. In the end, she say my numbers are normal.

On Sun, I had a dinner with a friend and I told her I will be going to Australia in Aug and be part of the World Transplant Games. This is an event where people with transplant from all around the world come and participate. Basically it is the Olympics for the Transplants people (sorry for the lack of better word). She asked me why.

Why? I shared that I see this is a way to celebrate life. It is also to give hope to those who are battling with cancer.

I read my post about my life story. At the end, I wrote:

As I came back from the Canada Transplant Games, I see that my life is more than ordinary. For I have a testimony that needs to be shared and to be told. A testimony that can give hope and encouragement.

I want to say...cancer is beatable and organ donation does work. I am a living example.

Next year, there is an International Transplant Games in Australia. A number of transplant recipients have encouraged me to participate. The competition there will be fierce. Transplant athletes from 55 countries will be battling for medals.

What a great reminder. I do not have an extrovert personality to share my story publicly. Though, it is hard to sit back and do nothing when I know some where, someone is struggling. Not just physically. Also emotionally and spiritually as to whether hope will be found. One of the tragedies in the world is to live without hope. In a way, it is almost an eternal damnation.

So as I struggle against myself, I hope this year will be different. That I can strive to let go of the self and give light to those who are in need. I just hope that I won't get distracted with other things in life.

After I hear the message that my blood results are normal, I smiled for a bit. It is good to be normal. Even in a world where normal is often seen as incomplete.

Thanks for reading.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

nice post. :-)

Anonymous said...

I'm glad your bloodwork is back to normal!

You are going to LOVE Australia!!

ShirleyPerly said...

Glad the numbers are good. Very excited to hear about your Australia trip. I want to go there someday too. Maybe I need to find a good excuse like to go to compete like you and Wendy ;-)

brendaj said...

I'm glad to hear about your results. And I feel like you share your story with a lot of people!

Jennifer P said...

I'm looking forward to reading about your adventure!

elaine s said...

when are you going to australia?

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

"Normal Cliff". That sounds good.
;-)
Great post, buddy. Glad you are ok.