05/06/2024
💕It is with an incredibly grateful heart we share this message. 💕
First of all, "thank you" does not sufficiently describe the gratitude we have - THANK YOU to Alex Lynds for so generously donating what has been deemed a "beautiful" kidney. Bernadette's creatine levels are at an impressively record low for her, and both Alex and she are healing beautifully.
It is difficult to comprehend the gift that Alex has given us - and the generosity to our family from the community does not even begin to end here.
Thank you to the wonderful team at St Paul's Kidney Care Clinic. From the very beginning of the process, the staff have been supportive of living donor applications and their treatment of their patients has been exemplary. They are continuously understanding of the stress of the process and endeavour on every level to make it as easy as possible for everyone.
Thank you to the team in day surgery and recovery - for keeping spirits high and sending photos of mum and allowing her to talk to her beloved Max while in PACU.
Without a doubt we thank surgeons Dr Eng and Dr Wong for their dedication and skill - literally carrying life from one of our loved ones to another. Thank you also to the teams that supported them - the nurses and anesthesiologists and attending staff Dr's Gill and Siemens for their positive and compassionate updates. Thank you also to the attentive pain management team 😉
Nurses Alana, Fiona, Wendy, Kim, Jaime and Joy - thank you for being there with us for the first 24 hours - you made everything so easy and we could rest deeply last night knowing that our loved ones were in your care.
Thank you to Honor House for hosting our first nights in the city for testing and for Debra for opening her home to us for the week - it's been a perfect home base - thank you for your generosity.
To the lovely Pierre for his incredible generosity of a place to stay for the first many weeks/months of biweekly testing. May your travels be blessed - all of our love to you and your family.
If you've read this far - it's worth it - because I have a direct quote from Rick that probably could have summed this whole thing up best:
"I can't believe how well it all came together for Bernadette. It is truly amazing. We couldn't have done this without so much support"
To that end: Thank you to our Mayne Island community, our extended friends and family for their continued love and support.
Thank you to Sherrie McDonald and everyone who was able to support her fundraising initiative. Thank you to the lovely Hannah for being a wonderful source of support to Janine during this process. Thank you to Blayne, Kim, Brian, Jo and countless others for their outpouring of love, endless generosity, shared stories, laughter during ALL of the feels, unimaginable generosity, kindness and continuous cheerleading.
Rick is right - we couldn't have done this without you.
THANK YOU. From the bottom of our hearts and healthy kidneys.
