I wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Until, eventually, I hope to get THE CALL.

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You know, the one from the hospital that says, "Hey, we have some lungs for you. Grab your bag and c'mon down!"

Yeah, THAT call.

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The call that could change my life. Not only change my life, but give a healthy one back to me. 

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The one that will make the difference between sitting at home day in and day out, from being tethered to an oxygen tank, from getting out of breath just walking out to the mailbox. And that's on a good day.

When The Call finally comes, I have to grab my wife and head to the hospital. There, if the Gift from my donor are healthy and a perfect match, they will prep me for an 8-10 hour procedure where they remove my old lungs and replace them with the Gift of Life.

After surgery, they'll whisk me up to an ICU unit where I will spend the next few days recovering and giving my Gift a workout. They say they'll have me up and walking within 24 hours! Then after a couple of weeks, all of which my lovely wife, Krystn, will have spent at my side or in on-campus lodging, I'll get to move into the apartment with her. After about six weeks, if all goes well, we will finally get to come home. B

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But, that's not the end of it. I will need 24/7 care for another six weeks to watch that I don't go into rejection. During this time, I'll still need to have someone drive me back and forth to the Detroit (a 2 hour drive from home) weekly for checkups by the transplant team. Finally, if all signs are a go after the three month mark, I'll be able to be left alone and Krystn will finally be able to return to work. 

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After all this, I'll still need to go in for regular evaluations to make sure I continue to do okay as well as take a bevy of expensive anti-rejection medications for the rest of my life.

Is it a nerve-wracking situation? You bet it is! Like the transplant team says, I'll only be trading one set of 
problems for another; from struggling to breathe to taking a ton of meds daily, from not being able to do anything to regular checkups to check for rejection.

But, you know what? I'll gladly make that trade in order to live life to the fullest once again.

And I'll thank God every single day for the priceless Gift someone has given me, and pray for the family who made that decision in their time of grief.