In Service of Others: Jane Callahan's Journey of Service, Sacrifice, Fitness, and Hope

Chapters

• 0:50 Getting to Know Jane: From Childhood to Military Service
• 2:15 Jane's Journey Through Fitness and Military Life
• 6:28 Discovering CrossFit and Embracing a Healthier Lifestyle
• 10:28 The Power of Giving: Blood Donation and Organ Donation Beliefs
• 13:06 A Deep Dive into Military Life and Deployment Experiences
• 18:16 From Extreme Fitness to Life-Changing Decisions: Jane's Story Continues
• 22:05 The Decision to Donate: A Life-Saving Choice
• 26:36 The Journey Begins: A Call from the Hospital
• 26:48 Matching and Preparing for Donation
• 27:25 Detox and Health Optimization Before Surgery
• 30:02 Scheduling the Surgery: Planning Around Life
• 33:00 Family Reactions and Support
• 36:02 Post-Surgery: Recovery and Reflection
• 44:25 Meeting the Recipient's Family and the Impact of Donation
• 48:48 Final Thoughts on Organ Donation and Its Imp

Transcript

0:21

Welcome to the podcast, everyone. Uh, I mean, the, you know, we, we get an opportunity to interview and talk to a lot of people on this podcast and from different walks of life, uh, to doing different things. And today I have a very special guest. Uh, you know, she has an amazing story that I want you to get to know. Uh, she obviously had a moment in time where she decided to make a very selfless, uh, decision, uh, to benefit another human being. And I mean, that is just directly core to what the whole healthy simplified movement is all about, which is servant, uh, leadership. And I, I, Jane, I can't thank you enough for being here today, but most importantly, for agreeing to be on the podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm, I'm happy to be here. Happy to share. You know, one of the things I, I like to do when I start out is, is I want people to get to, to know you a little bit about your family, a little bit about, about your, about, about your ba, about your background. Uh, you can tell I'm a little nervous, you know, I'm actually excited about this one'cause, uh, you and I haven't had a, got a, got a chance to really meet each other all that often. I mean, we've only met a couple of times, but we haven't really got a chance to know each other. So I want the, the listeners to really get to know the real Jane. So if you would just tell us a little bit about who you are and where you come from. Sure. Well, I grew up in Houston, Texas. I was born in Chicago, but only there for a few months. And my family moved, um, moved me to Houston. So I grew up here in Houston, I went to private Catholic school my entire life from kindergarten till I graduated high school. And, um, when I graduated high school, I was lined up to go to college. Um, But I didn't do that right away, but a little bit before I go into that, um, I am currently living in a suburb just south of Houston. Um, I'm a third grade teacher and I'm a single mom with two kids. I have a 16 year old daughter and an 11 year old son. But yes, so my journey, um, I went through school, like I said, private Catholic school, and then I was accepted into college, but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. I just knew that I was like supposed to go to college. So, um, I got accepted into college, but then that summer before when I was waiting to start school. Um, I actually was working at a, at a gym for my star job. And one of my friends just walked into the gym with a T shirt saying first jump army second jump college. So I was like, what is that? And she said That she joined the army and she was going to go jump out of airplanes and I thought that sounded pretty cool I'm, like and then I just thought well, I don't really know what I want to do when I go to college I just kind of feel like i'm supposed to but And I was also um accepted to a private college, which would have not been very cheap So I thought about it and I said well I can You Either go to college and not sure what I have to do and have this huge, um, tuition. Or I could join the army and it could be a pretty neat experience. I could travel, I could get paid to jump out of airplanes. Oh, and by the way, they're going to pay for my college. So, um, I made a last minute decision to join the army. I enlisted into the army. I was only 17 years old. Um, when I joined, because I have a late birthday, I have an October birthday. So I did that. I got to get paid to jump out of airplanes and it was a pretty cool experience. Um, and so I've always been, um, pretty, you know, so obviously I was fit. I've always been fit. I was a four sport athlete. And, um, and then of course being in the military, I was expected to maintain a certain level of fitness, which I did. And, you know, anything about being among paratroopers in the airborne, we tend to be a little bit, uh, a little heavier on that side where fitness is just a little bit, um, I don't know, maybe more elite than, than others. I don't know if that's the best words to use, but I, I did my completed my enlistment and I decided, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to get out of active duty. I got out of active duty, but I still wanted to serve. So I, I stayed in the national guard while I was going through college. Um, but actually during college, I decided to join the ROTC program. So I completed the ROTC program in college. I ended up getting a degree in a human nutrition and foods and a minor in military science. Um, and then my, my, uh, my, my military boss, my colonel, he suggested that I should go back to active duty. So I became a commissioned officer in the, in the army and I went back to active duty. So again, through all of this, I've always had to maintain a, a, a A certain level of health and fitness. So I did that and, um, I love the military. I did that for another, I, I lived in Germany. I went to Germany right after college. I got married and went to Germany and then my ex at the time went to Iraq and I went to Germany. So, but that was an awesome experience to get to travel every weekend for sure. Um, Well, but so I know we had an active service. I'm so I just, I'm, I'm, I'm dumbfounded. So I actually retired. Yeah. I actually retired from the military. So I did about 10 years, active duty, 10 years, um, in the reserves. Um, but I found when I went out to deploy Afghanistan in 2016, um, Actually, the military base that I was at in Afghanistan, I was in a nicer part. I was very fortunate. The base I was at had CrossFit there, so I found CrossFit while I was deployed to Afghanistan and was able to do that regularly on my time, on my free time. There wasn't much else to do, so why not exercise, right? Um, and so I did that, I, and then when I came back from deployment, I just, I was the fittest I'd ever been, and I've always been fit, just from doing sports in high school to going to the military and staying in the military for so long. I, I was always, um, Pretty fit, but I did not want a, what I've seen so many, what happens to so many people that when they deploy, they get super fit because on their off time, they do end up exercising a lot. I didn't want, but then they don't, there's this decline. When you come back, you like you lose it all because you're not working out as hard as you were when you had nothing else to do with your, your free time. Um, but I didn't want to lose that. So I continued CrossFit when I came back stateside. And even after I ended up retiring. CrossFit instructor. So I'm, I'm a CrossFit instructor. I currently, I've been coaching since, um, 2018. Umm still doing, I'm 46 years old, so I'm not, I'm not young, but I can tell you that, um, I am. Younger than I've ever been, healthier than I've ever been than in my twenties. I'm doing things I never imagined that I would be doing now. So I think that's pretty cool that I found so shortly after actually it was in 2018, I think I found ID life. Well, earlier, a friend of mine kept for a year telling me about ID life. Um, but I just thought it sounded neat. Thought it was something I could do, but definitely didn't think it was something that I could afford. Um, so I, finally I was like, you know what? I want this for myself and I wanted ID life really, because not because necessarily because I was looking to lose weight, um, but I just have always wanted to be as healthy as I possibly be. I wanted optimal health and I wanted longevity. I mean, I've always wanted to. Um, uh, you know, be around for a long time to be there for my kids and for my grandkids. And that's what, that's the value that I saw in ID life. I, I already knew that I was not taking in all the nutrients that I should every single day. So the idea of the vitamins, um, was really appealing to me. That was the most appealing thing to me initially was just to get on the vitamins. And I signed with ID loft really not with the intent, um, to build it as a business, but I knew that I. Would enjoy the products and I and I would be buying the product so I might as well get them at the best cost and then a little extra money on the side is is always nice and as well So but once I started loved the products since I mean i've been on ID nutrition since 2018. I haven't got off of it and Really? I just I mean, I know that i'm doing I know that i'm doing my body good when even now um, I am Just a couple of days ago, I've lifted heavier than I ever have in, in one of my lifts and this is post surgery at the age that I'm at. So, um, that's really what I like to preach is just, you know, a good quality of life, healthy living. I love that. You know, my son who's 11 and about as tall as I am fell asleep at, at our best friend's house and I'm able to pick him up, cradle him and put him in the car while he's asleep and I, I'm only five foot three, I'm like 120 pounds, so I'm not a big person, but I can definitely lift a lot more than, um, Then a lot of people that I know, so that's, I mean, I don't know. That's kind of me. I've always been, um, I grew up a faithful person, but I just remember even when I was 16, I was always interested in organ donation. I just never can understand how, I mean, it didn't make sense to me that people wouldn't be willing to be an organ donor when they die, I don't understand what. People think, uh, they should do with your organs or what should happen to perfectly good organs when they pass. So even soon as I was 16, I could have this license. I wanted it put on my license that I was willing to be an organ donor. Um, and I'm just so grateful for my health. I'm truly, truly grateful for my health, and I say that all the time, but so for me, I actually give, I've always been an avid blood donor. As soon as I was old enough and weighed enough to give blood, I Give blood as regularly as I could. Um, I, before I donated, I, um, was donating before I organ donation, donating blood regularly. If I can do it every eight weeks, I'll do it every eight weeks. But if I couldn't, um, for me, I always made an effort to donate blood on my birthday, and I do that because that's just, to me, a simple reminder to myself that I am grateful for another year of life. And. So I just, and then just giving blood itself is, is sharing the gift of life. I love when I get little messages from my texts, when it says, um, your donation is on the way to help somebody right now. I think those are like the coolest little texts that I get, but that does, I mean, it's, it's so simple. And I'm healthy and I'm, and I'm grateful for being healthy. So, um, that's just what, what I do. That's what I did. I don't mean to interrupt you, but you just unpacked a lot that I want to back up on. Cause before we get to the donation part, I want to go back. Cause you mentioned that one first, I should say on behalf of myself and everyone at ID life. Uh, and all of our listeners, thank you for your service. Um, I mean, that was just, I didn't even know that about you when we're going into this and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, you know, last year, my daughter gave me the present for father's day. I'm not sure it was a present as much as something that she wanted, but it was to jump out of an airplane for the first time in my life in the military taught you how to do it as many times as you probably have. And it was the most, it was the scariest and the most exhilarating thing I've ever done in my life. And I've only done it once and you did it for the military. Thank you. Uh, I have heard a lot about the airborne. Um, unfortunately the, the world that I run in a lot, I get to deal with the seals a lot. So I get to talk to a lot of those guys and they, they, they like to think that they are the extremes of the world. And in some respects they are, but, but you know, one of the things that you mentioned in your story was that you were deployed to Afghanistan. What, why don't you talk a little bit about that? Cause I mean, being in a foreign country and especially during a wartime where you're serving your country, I mean, obviously, you know, you had a family at the time. So talk a little bit about that and that experience and how it affected you. Well, honestly, I was, I was definitely happy to go. I had been in the service. Let's see, 20, I joined in 1995 and I didn't deploy until 2016. So I was in the service for a really long time and had never deployed overseas in a wartime environment. And yet a lot of people that I've worked with alongside me had deployed many times, multiple times and were in some pretty tough situations. And just somehow, I was just in the, in the, in the Duty stations that I was given. It just never, it never happened, but I didn't really want to end my, I just felt like my career wouldn't have been full circle because I just felt like I spent this whole time over a decade of my life training and training. And all you do is you train for a deployment, you train to go to war, but I had never experienced it. And then I definitely had soldiers beneath me who had had the combat experience, um, And, you know, and there I was in charge of them who hadn't had that, had that experience. So I just felt it was definitely, I mean, I didn't want to leave my family for sure because my kids were young. I think my son was two at the time and my daughter was six or maybe, oh, my son was not even two yet. And my daughter was about six because they're five years apart. Um, but I knew that my son really wouldn't remember the time. And it would be hard on my daughter, but she would be okay. I was blessed that one of my cousins who had just graduated a nursing school was looking for, you know, she was able, she was living in Missouri at the time, but Houston has, I mean, the medical center here is just amazing. And I knew there'd be so much opportunity for her that she agreed to stay and help with my kids in Houston when I deployed. So that gave me a lot of ease knowing there was someone else to help with the kids. Um, and I mean, it was don't appreciate it takes a family when, when our military is deployed. I mean, cause I mean, you had a cousin, thank God, but there's a lot of people that just don't realize when on a deployment, you know, children, uh, are usually raised by family. Uh, and so I can only imagine, and it's not like you're getting a chance to talk to them every single day. I mean, you're in a war zone, so I'm sure it wasn't easy. I mean, it wasn't, I definitely, I won't lie, I definitely had a, I had it nicer than most that deployed because I was already working, uh, in a division headquarters. So it was where all the primary, I worked in the building, the general that was overseeing the area. So, I mean, fortunately for me, I was, I had, A nicer situation than most. I mean, obviously I had CrossFit available to me, which a lot of the soldiers don't. And that was definitely a luxury. Um, but anytime you're away from your family and a combat, so yes, it's, it's challenging. So we had our, I mean, I'm, I'm a faithful person, so I made sure I was, uh, going to church on Sundays and, um, if I could, if it was available. But just, you know, doing the best I could with the, I mean, we were, it was long, long hours, we were working, you know, you know, easily over 13 hours a day, if not more, um, and that type of environment, but so, but when you had free time, we were playing volleyball and working out. And that's what, what we were doing. So thank goodness we had those outlets. Um, but, and we were fortunate enough that for the most part, we could communicate with our families pretty regularly. Well, that's, that's good. Cause I have spoken to a lot of, uh, ladies and gentlemen that have deployed and they did not necessarily have that luxury as you, as you've made clear. It's. It's, it's just amazing to me, the, the, um, service that you guys provide, uh, most importantly to people like myself, who've never had the opportunity to serve as, as I've told the story multiple times, I tried to serve three different times in my lifetime and all three times, something happened that stopped me from doing it. One, my vision was 2520. So the Naval Academy and its flight program was not for me. So I had to, I had to bypass that. Then I thought Jag Corps was going to be it and I tried that twice and both times, you know, it was on a hiring freeze and that didn't happen. So, but, you know, at the end of the day, it is because of people like you that we do get our put our heads on the pillow at night and not have to worry about our freedoms. So, again, thank you for that. But when you. Found CrossFit. You were already fit. You already kind of, you know, in into the health craze. You already had that bug. You come back stateside and now you've decided, okay, CrossFit is going to be, you know, something I'm going to get certified in, but it wasn't just CrossFit. You were also doing, you know, kind of what I'm going to call the extreme sports types events like Spartan races and things like that. I mean, you, you were pushing yourself to, to see what you could challenge your body to do. Yeah. Yes, for sure. So I, um, my ex beforehead, um, mentioned Spartan to me before I deployed. And I just thought that's, I mean, I'm fit, but I'm not that, but I'm like, I, that's not something that's not a challenge I'm ready for, but then when I was. Then when I was becoming more fit and doing CrossFit, I was like, you know what? I think I can do this. So we ended up signing up. So I came back at the beginning of March, end of April, beginning of, oh no, end of February, beginning of March, I think in 2017. And, uh, Uh, we were signed up for our first race in March. So it was just like a couple of, a few weeks after I came back, states had, um, we were signed up for our first race and then I did my first race and I was, it, it was, it was fine. I was able to do it and I. And I realized that actually some CrossFit workouts were harder than, this was only a 5k race at the time, but obstacle course race though that you're running and you had different obstacles and I was, I was hooked since then, because there were some things that were difficult for me. Um, I was able to do, I was able to do all the obstacles at the time. I think the only thing I failed was, uh, the spear throw. There's a spear throw, but I don't consider that an obstacle. Um, it's just the spear throw was literally hit or miss. That's one of the obstacles. And, but that was the only thing that kept me from technically having a hundred percent completion. Um, but I didn't, the first time I ran it, I didn't run it competitively, but when I ran it and I realized it really wasn't that bad and I was only continuing to get fitter, um, ever since that. Race. All of my other races have been competitive. My first since then, my non competitive race was when I was able to run with my daughter, my daughter turned old enough to, to race with me. She turned 14 old enough to do the adult races. Cause my kids would do, they have kids races also. So my kids would do the kids races. But when my daughter turned old enough to do the adult race, I didn't race competitively and I just raced with her, which that was even more awesome. Getting to do that type of event with my daughter jumping over, you know, a fire pit, you know, holding hands with my daughter, it was just, and then I got to like, she would, we knew some, I had some ran through some obstacles with her on my back. It was just so fun. And I have like the best pictures. Like those are the best memories for me. Um, but so my last race was November, October of last year. It was, that was a 21 K obstacle course race. Um, or 20K, 20K obstacle or 21K obstacle course race. That was my last one, um, before, before my kidney donation, but now I'm signed up to race again. I want, I would have been ready to race again already, except just with my schedule and my kids activities on the weekend, I wasn't able to do it. But my next race will be, um, In May, mid May, the weekend of May 19th, and then I have another CrossFit competition I'm doing June, June 8th. So, and I feel, I mean, I'm, I could, I'm sure you want to go into that more later, but I just feel fantastic. I'm, I'm more than 100 percent from where I was before my surgery. And I know that's like a load, like I love ID life. Like, it's just. It's all the products I could go on and on. You know, it's, it's, it's amazing to me. You're, you're so humble. You just kind of blew through. I mean, you're talking about the, the races that you're signing up for the CrossFit competitions. Oh yeah. After I donated my kidney and just get, and it was like, you blew through the whole kidney donation part, like really quick, um, it's, I want to talk about it because we started to, we started to talk about your, your belief early on. As a teenager, Hey, donation, at least, at least let me give blood. Yeah. And you always wondered why people aren't organ donors. You know, it's, it's always been strange to me myself. I mean, I've, I've been a, a, a donor for a long time. I mean, if something happens to me and I have things at work, give them to somebody. I'm not using them anymore. Fine. But you, you saw something, you saw a need and it wasn't, you were done using something. You made a decision to give something that was perfectly fine and perfectly working that you still had. So talk a little bit about how you learned about this need that this child had in in the process of making the decision that you were going to reach out and help. Sure. So, I mean, I was just literally in my living room and something, some story popped up on my phone. I think I get like news break notifications and the story popped up on my phone and I just kind of saw the title about, you know, some, Kid needing an organ. And so I clicked on it, but I also, I imagine that the reason that story popped up on my phone is because I'm an avid blood donor. And those are the kinds of stories that your phone knows your life, your phone knows everything that you do. So it probably figured that that would be something I'm interested in. So I, I just clicked on it. And when I started reading it, it said that the boy was. So what happened was, was that they live, the family lives in Austin and out of nowhere, his transplant center just closed. And this was the summer of last year. So this was the June timeframe last year. And they said that. The center planned to open up sometime in 2024, so basically putting everyone on their transplant list, basically in limbo. And so his family moved him to the Houston Medical Center, also called the Texas Medical Center, um, for, for care. And so as I continue the story, it says that the boy is A positive, and I'm A positive. And then it said, well, it needs to be a smaller person, because obviously he's two. And I'm like, well, I'm a smaller person. And then I thought about it, and I was like, well, he's in the Houston Medical Center. Well, he's local. I mean, I'm local and I know that for an organ donation, I mean, they're willing to fly you across the country, um, for someone who would be willing to donate. So I just, it just spoke to me. I mean, I just felt like I just need to see, I'll just, I'll call. But honestly, it truly just spoke to me that I, from the moment I read that, I was certain that if I tested, that I would be a match. I knew if it came to the point that I tested, I would be a match. I mean, someone, to be honest, I was already just from reading the article, I was emotional about it. I call my best friend, um, immediately when one of my friends and I said, I think I'm going to donate an organ. And I was, I mean, I hadn't even tested. I haven't even called, but it was just, I just knew if I did, I would be a match. So I decided that I would call the next day. I saw that I'm going to call the next day. Cause then I'm also thinking, let me just, maybe other people will. Maybe other people will call and maybe, maybe this isn't for me. And I was actually on the beach with my daughter that very next day, cause we had already had plans to go to the beach, but I was thinking about it the whole time we were at the beach. And I was just like waiting for time to go by before I would call. So finally I called afternoon, noon came. That was like my cutoff. I'm like, okay, I'll call afternoon. It gives people time to call if they're interested. And when I called, they said, actually, a lot of people have called about this boy. So we're just going to put your name on the list. It's like, um, we have to test the people in the order that they call. So if, um, if none of those work out, we'll call you and see if you're interested. So I was okay. Maybe, maybe this is, maybe I thought it was for me, but maybe someone else is gonna, maybe it's for someone else. I just love that. And I just figured if it's meant to be, it's going to be, and if. If it was going to be because it's the summer time depending on how quickly they needed it. I'm like, I would like to do it over the summer because I'm a teacher. Um, but three weeks, about three weeks went by and I got a phone call and it was from the hospital. So I knew it. They asked if I was still interested in testing. Um, and so I said, yes, I would. And the first test is just to see If our, if our blood, if our blood would match, if, um, and they would, they would mix our blood to see, um, if it would be a good match and then other testing would go from there, but that was the first step. So that's, that's what I did. I tested and I'm sure enough, I was a match, but I was not surprised. I wasn't surprised because I, I just felt it inside of me that I was going to be a match. And then I ended up doing my. I knew I was going to start testing in August. My tests were scheduled for August after my, the initial checking to see if we're even a match. So I was already doing our detox regularly, quarterly, but knowing that I was about to start testing, I'm like, let me just go ahead and start a detox because I mean, I feel like I'm, I maintain my health anyway, but I wanted to be optimal if I'm going to donate an organ to them, especially a child, a two year old. I just wanted it to be in the best health it could possibly be. So I started my detox, but I was only about, I mean, I had, I knew I would have several rounds of testing and they would be spread out. But for my, one of my first tests that I did was about three days into my detox. And obviously it's a. 30 day detox phase and I know that I have come across the phase where my kidneys had been detoxed yet But it's okay. I still wanted to do it I didn't know how soon I would be donating and Within the within three days into the detox they had tested my kidneys for their kidney efficiency how efficient Efficiently where they, um, filtering things out. And my, my value had to be a minimum of 80, but my value was 96, something like that. So I was already good. I was good. No matter within those first three days, I hadn't detoxed my kidney, but I was already good. Um, and I know some people know more about that, the GFR, but there's different ways to test, um, things. Kidney efficiency. And typically they say if you're a more muscular person, the blood work isn't necessarily as accurate as a 24 hour urine sample. So my numbers came from a 24 hour urine sample. So that was one of the tests I had to do. I had to literally lug around a giant jug with me all day long that I kept in the school nurse's office so I could go pee in there for 24 hours. But so that was the test as my value was 96. And about three weeks later, they were like, well, we need to do the test again, just to make sure that, you know, it's truly, your kidneys are truly functioning properly. So by three weeks later, certainly the detox would have cleansed my kidneys. And when they did the test again, my value went up to 112. Wow. I don't know if that's normal for someone's numbers to change so drastically, but I thought, I mean, I already knew that the detox worked. But I was like, this is definitely proof that, that it works because I don't know how, I mean, I'm sure I can adjust my diet a little bit and it would improve it for my, in my, I thought that was a pretty drastic increase. Um, and that was a good thing. So that was through the month of August. I did that. Um, and it turns out that as the donor, you get to decide when you want the surgery to be. Um, because it's out of, they're wanting it to be out of my, for my convenience. Well, at this point, it wasn't going to be able to happen before the end of summer. So I was like, I would like to plan to do it, uh, during Christmas, during Christmastime or Christmas break, because then I, at the time I was only working part time teaching. And as a single mom working part time teaching, I could not afford to miss work because I didn't get paid for the days that I missed work. So I was like, but I'd be willing to do it during Christmas break because it, it shouldn't have been a long recovery. I knew that I'm healthy. I would recover quickly. So. That's what I did. But actually, before I ended up donating, I was fortunate enough to get a full time teaching position. So that didn't matter at that point, but that was my plan initially. But it also had to work for the recipient. The timeframe, because originally I wanted it to be December, but they weren't sure if he was going to be ready. If his body was going to be ready to receive the organ at that time either. But I just knew that it was, it would all work out. Like I just, I'm a faithful person, trusted God. If it's meant to be, it's, it's going to work out. Um, so I don't, so I ended up donating. Oh, so, but before the, the tech, the donation ended up being still for December 20th. So since I typically detox quarterly, my last detox was the end of August. Well, then I figured I would detox again, mid November and then finish it. mid-December, so I'd have detoxed a second time before the donation. And so they didn't test. I didn't test again for kidney efficiency, but I still again, just wanted my, I just wonder my organ deep, as healthy as it could possibly be for this little boy, because, um, I wanted him to have it for a long time. It turns out that if you receive an organ or a kidney from a deceased donor, the organ is typically only good for about 14 years. But if you receive an organ from a living donor, then it could be good up to about 26 years. So the doctor, which is huge for me because he's so young, right? Um, but the doctor said, well, you're doing, you know, a couple of things that the father, the boy's dad was actually a match, but he was too big. His was too big for the boy. So he said, well, you're doing the boy a favor because he's. Because he was born with, um, this kidney disease already with bad kidneys, that he would probably need another transplant in the future. So the doctor said, you're buying the boy time. Either you're giving him time to grow up so that his dad can donate him again in the future, or you're giving science time to figure something else out. You know, you never know what science can figure out before then that he may not need another transplant. So, so that was great. I mean, I was happy to do that, but I was just going to ask, what did your family think of your decision when you, when you basically decided you were going to tell him, Hey, by the way, mom's going to, mom's going to give a kidney to, to, uh, to your little boy that I don't really know, but is in need. Well, for my daughter, um, I mean, you know, I'm not married. I didn't really have anyone else to ask other than my kids for my daughter. She just didn't really say anything, but I think that she knows me and she just knows if this is what mom's going to do, this is what mom's going to do. And I don't really. Have much say in it. I think she didn't she didn't really express anything about how I mean I tried to ask her how she felt but she's just basically said she felt fine But for my son, it was a little tougher because he said when I told him about it He said but mom what if they mess up? And then I just felt so bad because I didn't want him to feel scared you know, I mean for me, I you know, I just I just trusted God. And if that's what he wanted me to do, that I was going to do it. Um, then I knew that my kids would be taken care of. I mean, their dad lives. In Texas, he's probably a couple hours away from them. And so, you know, I just let him know, but my family, my family was very supportive. I told him what I was, I mean, basically I didn't ask. I just told them, this is what I'm going to do. Uh, but with your mill, with your military background, this is what's going to happen. This is what I'm going to do. Yeah, I mean, I mean, I wasn't worried about it and it's my, you know, it's, it's my organ. My best friend, she said, well, what if your kids need your kidney one day? And I said, well, if that happens, and I would hope that someone would do the same thing for me, but I can't hold on to my kidney in just for the what if, I mean, someone needs it now. And so I, you know, I just, I just wanted, I just wanted to get that. I mean, again, I'm just, I'm truly grateful for my health and I, and I honestly feel like there's. No better person. I mean, what better person to donate than, than me? Honestly, I feel like, um, I mean, I talked to Dana, you know, Dana, I told her, I said, I honestly feel like one of my kidneys is probably healthier than all functions, better than people that have two kidneys. My one kidney probably functions better. So, and I knew that I'm healthy and I knew that I had all the resources I need to help me recover from it. So I wasn't worried about that. Um, and honestly, I really tried to, um, build as much muscle as I could before the surgery also because I did want a quick recovery. So I tried to build as much muscle as I could, um, so that I could just fight the atrophy of, um, however long I'm going to have to go before being able to work out. Um, but I'm, I'm kind of. A little bit psychotic when it comes to working out and things like that. So I, um, literally I was only in the hospital one night after surgery. I only had to stay one night. And of course, after surgery, they want you, they encourage you to get up and move around. If you can, they don't want you to just laying in the bed. So as soon as I could, um, I mean, I didn't have to have any morphine or anything after the surgery, it was only on my own. But as soon as I could get up, I got sat down on, I got out of bed. I sat on the chair next to the bed and then I stood up and then I sat down slowly and then I stood up and then I sat down and I just kept standing up and sitting down repeatedly. That was my modified version of squat. Um, because I just wanted to remember as quickly as I could, um, All of the products all I use all of my ideal life supplements prior to Um the surgery my of course my vitamins. I was using my slim my collagen, whatever it is I was using, you know, definitely my lean Um, however, I the pharmacist was fine with me using lean um after having only one kidney, she just wanted me to Stop for a little while when they were just making sure that my Numbers would come back to him because of the kidney disease Creatine and they didn't want it to throw off my creatinine numbers. Um, but, but I only, only after my first test post surgery did I stop taking the lean, but for all of my, I've already been tested a couple more times after that, using the lean and my numbers are fine. So, I mean, I definitely don't want to stop my, my lean. I didn't want to stop my lean after the surgery, since I know it wouldn't be working out right away. But I just moved my body as much as I could just doing body weight stuff right away. Um, And so, yeah, now I'm, that was December 20th. So I'm almost six months up surgery, but like I said, I'm feeling better than ever, I'm lifting heavier in, in a few lift than I did prior to the surgery. So I, I mean, I just definitely credit ID life for that. Um, the load, I know, I think, I mean, cause a lot of my friends are like, your muscles are already like, They're they're back. Um, I think I was able to just build back, work harder with the load and, you know, everything else. I used to work. I use all of it, but, you know, I have to, I have to ask a question. I'm just grateful for my health. I'm happy that I could share. Well, I have to ask you a question because when, when I listened to the story, I mean, you knew you were going to match. I mean, you knew it in your heart, you knew it in your gut. Uh, you, you've said multiple times that you have a very strong faith. You know, you even grew up in, uh, in Catholic school and you have a very strong faith, which guides you. I'm a big believer that, uh, God prepares us for events in our life. Uh, and, and it's amazing to me when I piece together the story and I hear you tell it, uh, That, you know, you, you basically have this military service that makes sure that you're physically fit, then, uh, you have to serve almost 21 years before you actually get deployed. And then when you do get deployed to a war zone, you get deployed to an area where you get to find CrossFit and find your health in a way that you've never had it before, basically preparing your body, uh, for, uh, the future. You get home, you find CrossFit as a trainer and you get yourself in the greatest shape of your life. And then when you're ready and it's time, all of a sudden, you just get something that pops up on your phone. And now you've donated a perfectly healthy kidney to a two year old boy who has life because of a decision you made. And I can only believe that all of that is tied together in your faith in preparing you for that moment in time. And it's just a testament to, um, you know, your selfless act, but more importantly, you know, what, what is it you've kinda learned along the way about yourself and, and about, you know, all of the, you know, upbringing that you've had and all of the experiences you had before the transplant. What, what did you learn through that, from all of those experiences and in that gut feeling and, and how it all turned out? Well, I mean, one thing I've definitely learned to live, learn to do with just life struggles in general is I just, I just surrender. I surrender to God and give him everything. And, and I will tell you, I, even at this point in my life, I don't know what my purpose, I feel like I don't know what my purpose in life is. And when this opportunity came up, uh, I mean, I felt I was confident, but there's still that side of me, that human side of me that I'm worried. I'm like, but what if This like with my son, what if they mess up i'm like this is something that is done all the time Um people live healthy lives, but I was got a little bit nervous when it was close to surgery I'm like, but what but what if what if this is it? What if this is my purpose? What if this is my purpose to donate this kidney and something happens and that's it? So I was a little bit nervous about that. But um, but I saw That day of surgery is when I, there's a lot of us, it was day surgery. So when I came to surgery, when you come up, um, all of the patients are just assigned a nurse to be your nurse. And when I, when I signed in, the nurse that was assigned to me happened to be a Catholic nun, which I thought was a sign to me, God was telling me it's going to be okay, like, you don't, you don't have to worry, because that's what I felt when I saw her, I'm like, out of all of these nurses here, um, I got the Catholic nun because I'm a practicing Catholic, so it just, it was just reassurance for me that I knew everything was going to be okay, and sure enough, Um, of course it was, but I always say that, um, you know, um, I don't have much, but I have my health and people say that health is wealth. And so I just wanted to share the wealth and share my health. But I mean, one thing that I just love to preach is, you know, I, it's discouraging to see so many people that feel like they can't feel better. You know, I've always been in pain. Decent physical fitness shape. I've never had to worry about losing a bunch of weight because for me, I believe that it's just easier to maintain than, you know, gain and then lose and gain than lose. Um, and so with my ideal life story, I didn't really feel like I had a big. Initially with my ideal life story. I just didn't really feel like I had a very convincing testimony because people look at me like you're small and bit, so they really couldn't see how ideal life is working for me. But I feel like, I mean, but it, like the things that I can do now at my age at 46, um, I mean, I'm, it's people, people that they're too old and it's too late to start, that's a, that's a. I mean, I think it's just people that just are afraid to try. I didn't want to be, I mean, I think about what I can do now and what I'm going to be able to do. I love following people who are in their eighties and nineties and. Um, you know, doing really hard things in their fitness just because they want that longevity and to live a good quality of life. It's not just about living a long life, but it's about living a good quality of life. I mean, I, I wanna be able to help my kids, um, with their kids. I see so many people my age that have their parents or grandparents that need their help. But it's hard to do that if you're having health issues as well, you can't help others who need help. If, if you don't help yourself, like, your health is so important. I don't want to be that one that I'm a burden to my kids when I'm older. Um, because I have limitations with, with my body and my personal health. So, I don't know. I'm kind of like going all around. Oh, no, no, you're, you're great. Uh, I'm, I'm really enjoying having the conversation because I'm, I'm getting to learn so much, but I, I do have a question. Uh, do I, and I don't under, I'm gonna ask because I, I really don't know the answer to this. When you're donating, uh, under organ to a family, do you get to actually meet the family, or, or is that something that comes later at, at their option? So it's, it's much later, actually, the family didn't even know that there, that I was willing to, they didn't even know there was a donor, because they had to make sure that I had to do all my testing that you don't want to give the hopes up to the family and letting them know Oh, there's someone who's willing to donate and then it end up not working out So they didn't really know that there was that I was there doing all this testing Um, whatever until a date was set until we were able to set a date. That's that's when it became real for them They didn't know who I was. I mean, I only knew who they were through the news article that I saw But when, so the, after the surgery, my transplant coordinator had, she was in communication with a transplant coordinator for the family. So the family had passed off a little note for me, a little letter, and they actually also gave me a stuffed kidney, which was really cute. Um, so the mom, um, wrote me the letter and she said, I'm actually stitching. She stitched the date on the stuffed kidney while her son was in surgery. And she was like, I'm stitching it, you know, right now as he's in surgery. And she thanked me and she said, you know, I'm sure that it was a tough decision, a tough decision for you to make. Um, but. And so, and then, you know, she said many things, but she left her contact information, her husband's contact information on the card, and she said, if you would like to, you know, we would love to meet you. And if you would like to reach out, you know, your contact information. And I knew that I wanted, I did want to meet him because I want to be able to know how the boy is doing in the future. I want to be able to keep up with him and know how he's doing. And so, uh, respond right away, but I did contact her about three weeks after. I mean, I knew that they, obviously the media knew about their story, but I did not really want to interact with the media, especially right away. I just wanted to know the family and meet the families. The first time I met them, knowing that we were meeting, I just. Went to the boys room and we had a really nice, intimate conversation and got to know each other. Um, I stayed for at least an hour and the mom was just, at the time the boy was, was sitting up in bed and she like, that was a huge thing. Mom was like, just for him to be sitting up is like huge progress. He couldn't do that before. And then, uh, And then I got to see him again, a later, a few weeks later, and the mom, he was well enough to go outside. He still had to wear a bag with him, but there's a few hours every Thursday that he doesn't have to wear it. So she would take him out. She took him outside and could like walk out in the grass and just see him. He could never do that. He's and she was like he's never known what it feels like to be well But just to see him like outside You know enjoying nature was that that was huge So it's it was definitely a gift to me to know that. Um, he's I gave him that that he could do that um They didn't yeah, I didn't they didn't know me and I didn't know them right away But but um, but but we know each other now and we're able to you know Staying in touch and I can know how he's doing. So, um, and actually his family, his dad's family also does Spartan races, so they're like, well, maybe next time we'll do a Spartan race together, So, um, that would be pretty cool. And you just, just, you just keep getting si you keep getting signs from all over the place. I mean, it, it's, it's just like one after the other, after the other that they. You know, it's, it's funny how to me, everything is linked in life and, and your story is a, is a testament to that you, you know, you said you don't have much, but, but you have so much, I mean, the, the gift that you gave, you gave the gift of life. Let's be real. You were donating blood saying that you were giving the gift of life, but you gave hope to a family that was hopeless and you gave life to a child that otherwise would not have had it. So I, I mean, I am. I'm dumbfounded by, by the gift. If, if you had a chance to tell people, uh, around the world that may be listening to this, any of our listeners, what would you want them to know about organ donation? Uh, that maybe they don't know, or they don't understand just from your perspective. Well, one thing is that, I mean, your health is so important. Um, and I try to encourage people, if you don't feel the need to improve your health, um, Think don't do it for yourself. I do it for others. Um, because you never know who you can help. And I'm, and I say that from the standpoint that just my family, I want to be in good health because I don't want to be a burden on my family, but you never know, you know, my health has allowed me to help this other family and you never know when that time might come. And the other thing is that maybe people, it's seen, it might seem scary, um, but Look, here I am. I just donated less than six months ago, and I'm doing all the things that I used to do. It hasn't interfered with my quality of life. Um, I mean, I'm doing all the things I used to do, and it's perfectly fine. If you just take care of yourself, so I think it's, it's that there's a lot of people out there that need it. There's a lot of people out there, so you can, um, you can just get on a general registry. And if they find someone that you might match with, um, then they can, they can call you, but it's, um, I actually ran into this quote, but I thought it was very interesting. It, it, the quote was you've never lived until you've done something for someone who can never repay you. And that's actually from Logan Stout. I randomly, um, was watching a video with him for whatever reason. And that was the quote that he gave, but, but that's what I would say. Um, you, you've never lived until you've done something for someone who can never repay you. So, um, it's, it's truly rewarding. And, but I feel like this body is not my own, you know, um, that this is, that it's for the tumble of the Lord. And if I can share it, then I, then I will. I mean, the human body is amazing. And the fact that it can do what it can do, the fact you can take a organ out of me and put it into someone else and give life to them, I'm sorry. It makes me emotional. It's incredible. It's take for granted how amazing the machine is. Yeah, exactly. So i'm just like this machine it's a it is a So much capability and if you can share it, I mean, we're not, I mean, why not? Well, you know, um, getting to know you has been an amazing, amazing, you know, Personal benefit for me today. I mean, we're talking about, you know, the service that you gave to our country, the service that you're giving every single day. I mean, you're teaching third grade, which you have to be a saint just for doing that. If we take everything out of the equation, you're a saint just for teaching third grade. Uh, the patience that that takes is, I can't even imagine. I definitely, I made the mistake one time of praying for patients and God did not give me patience. He just gave me a lot of opportunities to be patient and I'm still waiting. But, you know, one of the things I like to do is I like to give my guests the final word. Uh, and I like, you know, to do that because I think it's important that people understand who you are, but most importantly, people get an opportunity to hear what your thoughts are. And, you know, what I want to do is I want to phrase this in a form of a question. Uh, and I do it this way just so you have an opportunity to kind of think about what it is you want to say and how you want to kind of sign off this time we've had together. But if your kids, they're 16 and 11 now, you know, say 10 years from now, they're going back and they find this podcast and like, I want to listen to mom and I want to hear what she has to say. And I want to, uh. I want to learn life's lessons from mom and see her servitude that she gave and most importantly her selfless act that she did. But most importantly, you want to talk directly to them about life and the things that you would hope that they would learn from this podcast. What would you want to tell them? I think that I would tell them because this is life too. Um, as insignificant, as insignificant as you can feel in this world, that there's so much, um, negativity and hatred. I would tell them that, No matter how insignificant they feel that they can't make a difference, that one small act of love can change the world. And that's it. Every small thing can lead to something great. And that's what I would leave to my kids and to everyone. Well, Jane, I, I can't, I mean, I'm, I'm absolutely speechless. I really am. I've, I've met a lot of very interesting people in my lifetime. I, you know, one of my closest personal friends in the world, his wife is alive only because somebody in a foreign country, uh, Decided to register for the bone marrow transplant, um, whatever that is. And, and he was a match and flew all the way to America to, to basically save her life. And there's a two year old boy that's getting to, to walk through the grass in his front yard simply because you decided to be selfless. Uh, and do something and not just do it, but knew that it was going to be, you, uh, you never had a doubt in your mind. You knew that you were a match before you were a match. And I can only say it's because of your faith in your devotion. And most importantly, you know, your reward is, is going to be that, uh, you know, that reward that we should all search for, which is at the end, uh, uh, Well done. My good and faithful servant. And, uh, for that, I want to thank you, uh, on behalf of myself, on behalf of ID Life, on behalf of all of our listeners. Uh, I, I want to thank you for your service. I want to thank you for your selflessness, but most importantly, I want to thank you for sharing your story because I think it's going to touch and motivate a lot of people. So until next time, this is Mark Bennett on Podcast. I look forward to talking to you again real soon.