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UPDATE to: Kidney Donation/Transplant - May 10th, 2010
Today, Sept. 22nd, 2011, we received the devastating news from his doctors that the kidney that I had the privilege of donating to my husband Eddie just 16 months ago is failing.
Eddie had dealt with kidney failure and dialysis for many years and my gift to him was one of the most profound and emotional experiences that I have ever gone through.
I STILL have no regrets.
I know that Love defines my life and that well-meaning doctors can make mistakes.
I am my husband's greatest supporter. I know that our experience will play out exactly the way it is supposed to.
His is an unusual circumstance - statistics have shown that transplant using the organ of a LIVE donor - even if donor and recipient don't quite match - has a much better prognosis than a donation using a cadaver kidney that does match.
Organ donation is a priceless gift, providing a vastly improved quality of life to friend, family or stranger.
If you have ever considered becoming a live kidney donor, feel free to convo me with any questions and I will answer them to the b est of my ability.

Profile:
Hello, my name is Susan Rivera. I am a wife, mother, grandmother, hospital technician, artisan and collector of beads. (Really, collector of all things with holes that can be beaded:)
I developed a passion for beads over two decades ago while browsing through a tiny bead store in Olympia, Washington. The colors, textures and shapes of the beads fascinated me...and I began to collect them.
My handful of beads grew to a hundred and I purchased my first craft box with small drawers to house my "beauties". My 100 bead collection grew to 1,000 and then to 100,000 beads.
My husband learned that a gift of loose beads was the way to my heart and our young son (he is 21 and a father now) insisted on collecting his own, keeping them in a small candy box that we decorated together.
I purchased wire cutters, pliers, a mini tackle box, bead findings and head pins then tentatively began to create earrings. Laughably HUGE things, more like deep sea fishing lures than adornments, my close friends received them as gifts, thanked and praised me for my creativity.
My skills improved over the years as all things do with practice and I began to realize that each act of my beading process was one of personal therapy "in disguise".
For since that first purchase, I have endured some amazing experiences including my husband's life-threatening illness to our son Patrick's transformation from 17 year young kicked-back kid to 21 year old father of beautiful baby Hannah.
My little tackle box, rattling with "beady goodness" has accompanied me through many a late-night ER visit.
I've done some of my best work in hospital waiting rooms.
So...now I sell the beads that I love and create my own unique style of jewelry when I find the precious time to do so.
Each piece, whether simple or sophisticated, is a culmination of the pain and pleasure that is my life. Pure therapy.
Thanks for coming by, have a wonderful day!
Susan Rivera