The pitter patter of a thousand cushioned soles rose from the pavement, paralleling the ethereal mist rising from the Tennessee river 70 feet below. I turned my face toward the rising sun, enraptured by pinks and peaches streaking across the horizon – a pace not paralleled by my own slog through the fog. My smile widened as gradually as the sunrise, even as the 10K course wound back uphill and my legs threatened a coup d’etat for this unnecessary pavement-pounding with the goal of ending up just where I started, sweaty and tired.

Grateful. I am so grateful.

Six months ago, I was drinking laxative-laced Gatorade, listening to Mom hook up her dialysis for the last time.
Today, my body is carrying me through the foothills of the Applachians, managing fluid and electrolyte balances even as I challenge my physiological limits, all with half the renal tissue I had six months ago. And 4 miles into this 6-mile run, I thrill to see “my” kidney sitting at a corner in the course, its new owner waving and clapping in the brisk October air.

How marvelous! How wonderful! What a privilege to be able to run and move; to be able to choose to push the possible, limited only by fatigue and mild discomfort. I can look to the horizon and propel myself toward it, magical footstep after miraculous footstep.

And two days later, Mom walked up the stairs to my apartment — six months ago, stairs were a limiting barrier. What a joy to meet her there, six months after I was transported to her hospital room by wheelchair.

She’s endured some speed bumps – a post-op infection, abdominal pain, and months with a wound vac and wound care – but her outcomes are enough to make her care team smile.
My labs look nearly identical to what they were pre-operatively. I was given the go-ahead to return to “anything I did pre-donation”. So I stretched the limit a bit with the 10K. 😉 But that finish line signified more than a morning jog – it represented another stamp on the timeline of the miracle of sharing life, without losing vitality. How amazing it feels!