History V

I was put on the National Registry for Lungs.  16 days later I was called at 8 a.m.  Susan, with the Tampa Transplant Team, asked me if I had eaten yet.  I responded that I had a full bowl of cereal and milk, a cup of coffee, and a half of a banana sitting in front of me.  I had already eaten half of the banana.  She said good, stop, don't eat anything else.  They had a pair of lungs that looked good and were a good match for me.  The way that they match is though blood type, size of the body, and quality of the organs.  They don't want a smoker, nor anyone who has or has had cancer.  There are other disqualifying ingredients, but these are the major ones.  I asked her if I had time to think about it.  She said no, if I want them I had to tell her right then.  Wow, what a decision to make.  I was deciding whether to have someone fillet open my chest and have someone else's lungs put in my chest and hope they will work without being rejected by my own body.  Take a minute and think about that...................  In the end I said yes.  What was the alternative?  Death.  Susan said okay and that she would call me back in two hours.  What had I just agreed to?..................................................................