Taking It For Granted

So remember back here when I told you about my friend, Jonathan?

I got a chance to check in with him this afternoon and find out how he's doing with the new kidney.

I'm happy to report he is doing extraordinarily well! Having recently returned from a family fishing expedition to Alaska whereupon he and his family members caught in excess of 300 pounds of fish, he is full of vim and vigor.

What he's not full of is...pee.

For the last 8 years, he's not been able to travel much and the little he's done has been after major planning...ordering supplies for his home dialysis equipment, getting medical waivers to travel with the core machine, making sure there were dialysis centers nearby to act as a back up if anything went wrong.

Just a few months before he received the new kidney, he actually flew for the first time in 8 years. It was an epic undertaking. And, I'm sure, exhausting.

But now! Now he doesn't have to worry about that stuff anymore. Now he can actually go to the ends of the earth and not care whether there is sufficient electrical power to run the machine and the diagnostics.

Yay!

Today he'd stopped by my office on his way to make a liter of diet Snapple lemonade. The conversation went something like this:


Me: Why diet? Are you on a diet?

Jonathan: Everyone's on a diet. Only people who are trying to change themselves call it a diet though. But yeah. I've gained prednisone weight and I want to make sure I don't gain anymore.

Me: *laughing* Oh! I thought you said pregnancy weight.

Jonathan: Yeah, it's kinda like that.

Anyway, as the conversation went on, he mentioned that he had to drink several liters of water every day.

And it struck me.

Before he got the kidney, he had not peed in 8 years.

Let that sink in for a second.

Now, while at first that strikes me as awesomely convenient for so many reasons, it's actually not cool.

Not cool at all.

Cuz you know what I nearly always am?

Thirsty.

And do you know what you can't do a whole lot of when you don't have functioning kidneys and have to have a machine do for you?

Drink a lot.

And that includes not drinking a lot of, oh say, wine.

Or coffee.

Or gin.

And I wanted to ask him - but didn't because it is oh so not work appropriate - if he was like still giddy every time he had the urge to go to the bathroom.

Because I'm pretty sure if I hadn't had the ability to pee in 8 years? I likely wouldn't get over the wonderful sensation of it for a good long time to come.

So the next time you go pee, I think giving a little thanks to your kidneys is not only a courtesy but an obligation.

Let's try not to take them for granted. They do a bang up job in keeping the wine flowing.