My View (By Braden Sullivan, 11yrs)

This whole kidney transplant between my mom and uncle is a very difficult time for me.

My mom is always going to the nephrologist and I can only imagine the stress my uncle is going through. I always feel bad because my mother shows me her little dots from where she gets shots and tells me how scared she was, and I feel like I should have done something. (even though that was clearly impossible since I am always in school when she is getting shot with a long, bloodthirsty, needle) I am very stressed out almost all of the time, even though I don't have to do anything! But it is also VERY relieving, knowing that after this my uncle has many more years to go.

Nathanial (my uncle) is one of the biggest role models in my life. Me and him are like cheese and crackers. Every Wednesday, from when I was little to fourth grade (when we moved to Wichita) he would pick me up and we would have 'guys night'. Nathanial would take me to a movie, or play a board game,or try out a new video game or, well, you get the point. I have memories of Nathanial and I for as far back as I can remember. I have always looked up to him and seen him as not just my uncle, but also my best friend and my hero. I am very excited to find out that he will be around for a while now!

My mom has been there for me since I was, well, a baby. I feel very happy for her, knowing that she has the chance to do a great and honorable thing like donating a kidney. But i also feel bad for her, because on top of normal, everyday stress, she also has to think, "oh no, what if this happens," or, "what if that happens!?" This also stresses me out. But, I will have fun messing with her rib.(which she gets to keep...BLECHKKK!)

All and all, I am very excited to see how this turns out. With Every inch of my heart, I want Nathanial to get better. I miss the guys nights, and guy trips, and everything we used to do together. I know that if i couldn't pee, getting a kidney would be at the top of my agenda, so i know how this is exciting for him. I wish him the best of luck in the near future so that everything will go according to plan. I want him to know that I pray for him and my mom everyday so that this will be okay.

Going Green

Typically, when you hear someone say they are 'going green' it means they are going to start using earth friendly methods for everyday activities. They plan on changing their old light bulbs for energy efficient ones. They are going to ride their bike more and use their car less. And, if they aren't already, they are going to start recycling. How fitting is it then, that the kidney donor ribbon is green?

Today as I was leaving the renal transplant floor of St Francis, I noticed a cute little quilt on the wall that somebody had sewn for the department. The quilt had different sorts of green material all stitched together to make a green "donor" ribbon. It occured to me that there are probably a large number of people out there who don't know what it means when they see someone wearing a green ribbon. We all know the yellow ribbon is for our troops. And the pink ribbon is for breast cancer. And we all remember red ribbon week at school to keep kids off drugs. But I'll bet few realize that when they see a green ribbon, it is in support of kidney donation.

Yesterday at mom's, as we were all sitting around eating lunch, she pulled out her little spool of green ribbon. Mom wanted us all to make little ribbons out of the spool and safety pin them to our shirts. What a GREAT idea!! We all wore our ribbons around the rest of the day. I have to say, it gives me a kind of proud feeling to own a green ribbon. I plan to wear my little green ribbon to death over the course of the next few months. I plan to get a green ribbon t-shirt. And I plan to get a green ribbon magnet for my car. I truly plan on Going Green.