Gift From A Stranger -There Can Be a Miracle When You Believe.

Posted by Easther Sudharta on Dec 10, 2011 6:45 pm

Dedicatedto the anonymous donor~Thank you To the family and their loved one who, as A total stranger donated his kidney to me..

“How do you say thank you that means that because of you and your loved one , I will never be able to tell you all the feelings that I have for your family, but I want you to know how very grateful I am. The importance and immense meaning of the gift you and your loved one have given me, truly cannot be expressed in words”

Throughout history the word heroism refers to people that, in the face of danger and adversity; or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice, for some greater good.

My Name is Easther Sudharta, I was diagoned with Lupus nephritis since I was 9 years old. Lupus nephritis is a kidney disorder that is a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. Since I was 9 I ‘be been in and out of the hospital so many times. I sometimes feel that I am a disappointment to my parent.

My kidney problems worsen over many years, my health declined to the point that dialysis was my only option.

I began dialysis 2.5 years ago.. Now, I was blessed to receive a kidney.. A total stranger donated his kidney to me, liberating me after 2.5 years on dialysis.

Before The Transplant…

If you can imagine it, before this precious gift , it was becoming very challenging to do anything in my life. I was away from my full time work a lot, because of appointments. I cannot go out and stay out late with my friends because I have to dialyze in the afternoon as well as dialyse overnight, I could not travel overseas, without having to organizing my equipment to be send over. . I opted for peritoneal dialysis, which is a home therapy that offers more flexibility but is a daily process after having a emergency hemodialysis treatments. In peritoneal dialysis, a special solution is entered into the abdominal cavity and all of the toxins flow into the solution. I needed to insert 1.5 liters at a time, so it gave me a sensation of being full.

Yet my results were still not good. so they’ve asked me to have a fistula implanted, and do a hemodialysis instead, the word fistula wasn’t in my vocabulary…I kept putting it off.

It was so exhausting for me, but I refused to let dialysis stop me from leading a normal productive life.

I was listed for a kidney transplant but the wait time here in Australia was 5 to 7 years. I thought to myself, am I going to ever receive a new kidney? But I believe that One day, that sooner or later, I will have a new kidney.

The Call From the Hospital

Long story short, On the 22 October 2011, at 10.30pm I have received a phone call from the hospital -Monash Medical Center , It was from the head of a transplant doctor, he said “Easther, I think we have found a new kidney for you”

I was stunned, I didn’t know what to say, at the same time overwhelmed. Told my mom, and tears started coming down her eyes. I believe that this was a miracle..I never thought that I could receive a new kidney at all..

The joy of hearing the unbelievable good news, swiftly followed by the desire, almost panic, there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation.

The Big Day!

On the October 23 2011, I underwent a surgery at Monash Medical Centre. I knew the risks, but I genuinely felt that my life was about to change dramatically as I was transported to the theater. The joy at regaining a functioning kidney is overwhelming.

The surgery was a success! I came out of the theater with a neck line a wound drip and a catheter. The catheter stays longer than what a normal transplant patient would have, as there was blood in my urine and there were clot in the bladder, so they had to do a Cystoscopy to remove the clot and healed up any scars that causes the bleeding around the bladder.

Whilst I was at the hospital, my doctor told me that my creatinine was not going down, they needed to be below 100, this show that there could be a rejection of the kidney. However they could not be sure this is what is was, so I had to have a biopsy which is where they insert a needle into the new kidney and take a bit for examination. There was risk with this, such as internal bleeding but it was the only way they could find out if the kidney was actually rejecting.

Whilst we were waiting for the result of the biopsy, the next day, doctor told me that the creatinine has gone down below 100 without them doing anything. It was such a relieve, this means the anonymous donor new kidney worked, it just needed time J

The difference in me was immediate; my color was better, my energy increased and I was eating better!

Now I am undergoing a post treatment. The doctor says everything is progressing extremely well. I have had no signs of rejection and the kidney is functioning extremely well. I visit the hospital 2x a week for a routine test.

I no longer have to do dialysis. And the only dietary restriction is grapefruit and grapefruit juice, because it affects his anti-rejection medication and everything, food wise has to be low fat, low fat milk, low fat mayonnaise etc.

The recipient was anonymous to me, all I was told was “a Young Man, around my age”.

It is nice to know that there are such special people in this world who care about other people so much.

How do you ever find the words to express our gratitude.

I of course, had written the most heartfelt thank-you letter, which was forwarded to the donor’s family. They never reply.

But I sincerely hope they realize just what it is that they’ve done. Out of their loss ? in circumstances I don’t want to imagine – came this amazing gift to me.

All the people from my childhood have always told me one thing… NEVER GIVE UP. The pursuit of happiness can be a long and rocky road, but having a family, friends, dreams and inspiration will always make me get back up no matter what. Hold your goals and your dreams dearly, never let anyone take them away!

I believe Everything happens for a reason! Nothing happens by chance or by means of good luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits

of your soul. Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere, safe and comfortable but boring and utterly pointless.

I Believe Everything happens for a reason. Because if GOD brings you to it, he will bring you through it!.

You should appreciate the value of life that you’re currently have, you live life once, Now, in this world, God has given you a chance to plant good seed that will brings good karma in you.

Whenever you get knocked back, and I have had some real setbacks with my kidney disease, you have to keep going and get on with it. “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it”- William Arthur Ward

I like to thank everyone, who visited, sent get well soon messages, cards and gifts to me while we were in hospital. The support was fantastic and it was great to know that so many people were supporting me all over the world. Thank you very much to everybody.

So if someone reads this that has any question as to whether God really exists I hope you will know without a doubt that he DOES and he still does miracles.