Happy World Kidney Day! What? You didn’t know!? It’s not on your Google Calendar as a recurring event? My goodness. Well, now you know. Truth be told, I didn’t know about this day dedicated to the celebration of the kidney myself until yesterday when it just happened to come up in conversation with a colleague. Pretty odd conversation. I was at first skeptical that such a day existed, so I read up on it.
“World Kidney Day (WKD) is a global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide.” — Wikipedia
Well, there you have it. If there is anyone who would like to properly celebrate World Kidney Day this year, it would be me. My whole family, really, but I will speak on their behalf since one of them is just starting to make conversation like “Oooh – look at it! Moon! I found it! Where did it go?! Moon hiding? I miss it! Find it, Mommy! Find it!”
Eight months ago this week, our sweet baby had her left kidney removed. She also had her adrenal glands and lymph nodes removed, too. Fortunately, the nasty cancer that lived inside her kidney for her entire life was also successfully removed from her body. We are and will remain forever grateful to her pediatricians, her oncologists, her surgeons, her nurses, and her healthy right kidney for keeping our daughter alive. Today, I wanted to do something to honor Mary Hazel in addition to helping others. One of the baby’s favorite activities right now is reading books. She reads on the potty, she reads in the car, she reads on the changing table, she reads in the tub, and so on. Russell’s mom enjoys recalling the days when her own bookworm toddler dragged the World Book Encyclopedias to the bathroom with him to keep him company during long spells. Our baby comes by it honestly.
I thought it would be appropriate and meaningful to donate books to the Children’s Hospital where Mary Hazel was diagnosed, treated, and healed. Though we didn’t stay there as long as some, we definitely took advantage of the goodies the Child Life specialist brought to the room each day. Sometimes, there were toys. Other days, it was a fun CD. But every day, we always took a few books to read (over and over again).
The Greenville Hospital System has this savvy website that enables charitable-feeling folks to make donations toward toys most requested by the Child Life specialists who work with the kids. Though I plan to visit the Children’s Hospital in person soon, toting baskets of treats, I will make my donation today through the virtual world. (Today is my long day at the office.) I trust that the gift we make today in Mary Hazel’s honor will soon find its way to another eager child who looks forward to seeing the Child Life specialist walk through the door each day just as much as she did.
After I made my donation to the Virtual Toy Drive, I saw a link which allowed me to set up my own personal Toy Drive. So I did. If you happen to also feel like making a donation today, please click on the button below which will take you directly to Mary Hazel’s Toy Drive page. (Look in the top right-hand corner to see her picture and name.) She set a modest goal of $100. Perhaps if everyone gave just one book, she could reach this goal sooner than it takes her to read Go, Dog, Go! one hundred times in a row. (She’s already started.)
This could be a fun little experiment. Go ahead, click the button. After all, World Kidney Day only happens once a year.
Two Possums and a Bug 