MyLeftKidney

It’s been a year and I’m happy to report that life is good here in the new guy. It’s great to enjoy happy family occasions like my new guy’s son’s engagement! @jonathankroll it was a great 52 years with you but life is pretty good here on Long Island.

I’m famous! Happy to have served my former guy @jonathankroll and thrilled to be serving my current guy, Eddie!

And now I’ve connected two families together. How great is that! I hope to see my former guy and his right kidney again soon. Until then, may we all be healthy and appreciative of the blessings in our lives. 6/6

I mean my former guy was appreciative of me too but I’m so glad he let me shine on my own. 5/6

It’s me again. The left kidney. More accurately, I’m now the third kidney. It’s been about two months and I’m now acclimated to my new home. And last night was a big deal. 1/6

Discharged from the hospital, just a bit more than 24 hours after surgery. Home with the family for שבת. Thank you to Chad for helping transport me to the car.

HOW INCREDIBLE IS IT THAT SURGEONS REMOVED MY KIDNEY AND THEN 2 MINUTES LATER IT WAS IN ANOTHER MAN’S BODY!! I mean I love my job so much and wouldn’t want to do anything else. But a transplant surgeon is almost as cool as being a yeshiva high school principal.

And I’m also grateful to my wife and kids for making me feel like a million bucks for getting involved in this way.

So I suppose I’m saying that I’m thankful to my @SARHighSchool community for pushing me to make sure that the Torah is of ultimate value.

Before I go to bed, I’ll share some things that that moved me to do this. I’m not saying: this is why everyone should do this great thing that I did. I’m just saying why I personally felt compelled to do so:

And while this is definitely not my primary motivator, it really is quite a rush: my kidney is saving a person’s life. Nothing nuanced. Nothing complicated. No values in tension. Helping someone so starkly just feels incredible.

I don’t meant to feign that giving a kidney is no big deal. I get it. Especially right now as my stomach feels like I’ve done a million sit-ups.

Been thinking about something my friend and colleague @Doc_RPS talked about recently: why SAR food pantry is special: sometimes you need to do something that is uncomplicated,not nuanced, just simply good. Food pantry work is good. Get food to people who need it.