Stephanie

…The main reason I decided to is because I-I lost my brother to cancer almost six years ago and having that feeling of losing a sibling, it's not something you kind of just brush off and you know, it kind of sticks with you forever and I didn't want him to have to go through that. So when we got the tests back that, you know, we were a match, that night I ended up having this crazy dream about my older brother sitting next to me telling me you know if it was our family and we'd want anybody to help that could you know, that um- we'd want them to. So I did it for him and for kind of myself because she also is a mom of younger kids and since I have a three-year-old I figured you know us moms gotta stick together … I got the test results back that we were a match and all of my tests came back that I was healthy and it kind of made my decision on helping her a lot easier. And once it got closer to time it-- I was just more excited than I was anything else. It was just, you know, a lot of emotions.

Before I was a little lazy but I was a stay-at-home mom so I cleaned house, I did laundry, I would take, you know, go out for a walk with my daughter. After surgery, it took me a little while to get back on my feet…It was a little bit longer because after the surgery I-I didn't know I had the gall bladder issues but I was still feeling sick and dizzy and I lost my appetite. I wasn't able to eat. I want to say it was 9 or 10 weeks that it finally took me to where I could get up and actually start doing a little bit more than I was…Standing up and walking it really hurt so I was like if I was relaxed or sitting down I was okay, but once I stood up it felt like everything was-- it felt like things were falling out so I had to keep that pillow attached to my stomach for a while and I started by walking. I did short walks and then kept trying to push myself to see how far I could go. And after that, I kind of started getting back into the stay-at-home mom stuff. I started doing laundry and cleaning and trying to cook again. So it took me a little bit but I finally got to the point where I can walk to the mailbox and back and, you know, do a little bit more than I was.