..Music..Energy...Connectedness

Time is passing very quickly although I feel very clear and calm. As you read in the previous post, time became compressed on this past Thursday and I'm cleared for transplant on THIS MONDAY January 30th!

My past few days have been times of thought and reflection, of things that end and things that begin. In all of these things I've found opportunities to genuinely celebrate! I'm hoping that you will join me in my celebrations just before phase two - transplant begins early Monday morning.

My first celebration revolves around the simple joys of spending time with my donor, Ann. We're both curiously private persons and this was a low-key opportunity to share thoughts and information about our upcoming surgeries. In these discussions we've decided to have me participate in a study that will give me alternative drugs to prevent rejection which will avoid the lifetime use of steroids to help prevent rejection. I hope that the studies with me, which have similar risks with other traditional therapies might help pave the way to have most all transplants done without extensive and lifetime steroid use.

I covet your prayers for me, as I covet your prayers for Ann. As I mentioned, she is a private person as I am but I'd appreciate your joining me in making an attempt, albeit feeble, to thank her for her gift of life to me. You're welcome to send cards to my home address [Attn. Ann C/O Tim Waugh PO Box 1700 Bluefield WV 24701] which will be forwarded to Ann. I've tried to add my deep appreciation to her for her unbelievable generosity.

Second, I hope you will celebrate with me those who are on dialysis and those who work in the centers which provide a direction connection with machines which maintain life. In my short time at the Princeton Dialysis Unit I developed a deep appreciation and connectedness with those who are simply life-givers to all of us on dialysis. I joined a procession each Monday, Wednesday and Friday of people from all walks of life, mostly older, some in wheelchairs and on oxygen, each with a pillow and blanket to comfort the three hour plus experience of having ones lifeblood gently pumped out, cleaned and returned in one-cup portions. Dialysis is not a horrible experience. Little to no pain is attached. It's clear to everyone involved; technicians, nurses and patients that it's a necessary part of continuing life for three events a week, each about three to four hours. The staff often arrives before 5 am and cannot leave until the last patient is completed, as late as 8 pm. Only a few ever get the opportunity to celebrate the end of dialysis. I was one of those few this past Friday and was deeply moved by the joy that the staff shared with me in celebrating what could be my last dialysis experience! Pray and celebrate those involved in this lifegiving process.

Last, I was deeply moved and humbled to be strong enough to surprise my four All State WV-ACDA girls in Charleston WV for their final concert today at 2 pm. I kept my secret well and was there just before the concert to let them know I was there to hear them! The return surprise that *I* received was the joy and excitement that my vocal association colleagues expressed to me in celebrating my ability to be with them after a short 17 days after the departure of the kids. In the midst of the concert I became acutely aware of how connected we all are, and how important it is to express that connectedness through sharing of the energy created by prayer and by music, and by simply expressing these feelings with a hug or a pat on the back. When you add me to your prayers over the coming days, please find one person to share your music-energy with by letting them know just how much they mean to you.

Music and prayer create an energy that is overwhelming. When it's shared with another, unbelievable things happen! Each of you have made genuinely unbelievable things happen in the last 17 days of my life!! Thanks for continuing to share your energies with me!

grace and peace to each of you!

Tim