My kidney Transplant Journey | Alison hatch Photo

10 years…

was how long doctors estimated it would take my kidneys to fail.

I was 20 at the time.

It took 9.

1 year…

is how long it took from the day the doctors said it was time to get a transplant until the surgery actually happened.

This was in 2006…

long before the match system devised by Alvin Roth. An algorithm to help match donors and recipients in the kidney transplant system. He won a Noble prize for his math.

7 days in the hospital.

6 months of not driving.

2 types of immunosuppressive drugs that I would need to take for the rest of my life.

5 years…

was the goal. If I could get to that number of years with my new kidney then my chances of the transplant lasting was significant. (it’s hard to get that far)

17…

is the year that I am a few days into. 

Infinite…

is my gratitude towards my brother for being my donor, for the extra years I’ve had not hooked up to a dialysis machine every few days, for the care I received at the Cleveland Clinic by a massive team of doctors, nurses, and staff,

For Life.