“The road is long
With many a winding turn
That leads us to who knows where
Who knows where
But, I’m strong
Strong enough to carry him
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother
So, on we go
His welfare is my concern
No burden is he to bear
We’ll get there
For I know
He would not encumber me
He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother💙

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother – Bill Medley

I did not want to trick anyone for a few seconds but couldn’t think of a more fitting title to this post. Lol

OMGOMGOMG!!!

I received some HAPPY news!! It made my heart skip a beat, literally lol. It’s like something inside me shifted in a deep way, and I’m not the same me I was before. And, I just have to share!

I’m not having a baby, but…

It’s a……BOY!!! 💙

And I’m glowing!
🤣😂

I just found out I have a kidney brother!!!

I’m overwhelmed.

It’s the most heartwarming thing, to find out about the person I share a set of kidneys with.

This must be the same feeling expectant mamas feel when the ultrasound tech/doctor says “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl.” (Yeah, I know they can’t actually know til the gender identity develops a few years later, but it’s still a happy moment) A surreal, awe-inspired feeling. And, it doesn’t even matter the personality or anything or if it’s mutual, just unconditional love.

Last year, I volunteered to give my kidney to the next person on the waitlist in the U.S. who I matched with.

It was given to a fifty-something-year-old man in Minnesota.

I just found out!

I knew he’s in Minnesota (I’m in Pennsylvania) and that his transplant was a success (our kidney began working instantly after it was connected to his body), but did not know the age or gender.

I had a feeling all along that my kidney would go to a man. It was like a gut feeling.

I did not care about the gender or age of the person who would receive my kidney; everyone wants to live & be healthy, no matter our age/gender. But, I was slightly curious. At first, I was a little bit curious. Then that curiosity began to fade to where I was almost indifferent. Then after almost a year, the curiosity came back and more intensely. I thought I would never know.

I feel like an identical twin missing my other half as if we were separated at birth, a feeling that just crept up on me after around a year. Lol (I guess we’re not identical though as we don’t have the same exact anatomy 😆)

Now, I learned through my transplant team that he’s a 50-something-year-old man. We’re anonymous strangers, so that’s all I know.

It made me so happy to receive even just that little bit of information. Like an indescribable feeling. Happiness & warmth. Awe. It adds to my experience and makes the person less an abstract concept and more human in my mind. Just to have a general idea in my head of the person who traveled this journey with me and laid on an operating table the same morning I did, a few states away, so our destinies became one.

It made the whole experience really sink in.

To receive this news makes me even happier than I realized it would. 💙💙💙 It’s one of the most amazing happiest experiences of this whole life of mine. I did not know just what I was missing til I found out. There’s no way to even put it into words.

It’s like having a long-lost brother out there somewhere. He’s a complete stranger to me, yet he’s my own flesh & bl0od. He literally has a piece of me inside of him.

Now, I want to meet him 😆😭😍

I have two kidney brothers now because my kidney voucher recipient is also a man. Lol When we donate our kidney to “the next person on the waitlist,” we get to choose any specific person in the country to also receive a new kidney through our donation (we can choose five people, and the first one to receive the kidney, the others get canceled out. I made sure to only choose one so as not to get someone’s hopes up, then someone else gets it first, or so he wouldn’t have anxiety all along that maybe someone else would get it first and cancel out his place).

I looked for another stranger in need since I did not know anyone who needed a kidney transplant. I heard about a man who lives close to where I do who was in urgent need. After I donated my kidney to an anonymous stranger, he got his new kidney through my donation. I did get to meet him in person, and we’re friends on Facebook! 💚

Two new (kidney) brothers. How lucky am I?! 😁 Never had a brother before! 🫘

Xoxo Kim 💕