Hello! I’m Annie, Dan’s oldest daughter. This past week while in Chicago I attended the Liver Transplant Orientation with my family–and my dad talked to me about being a co-blogger, so here I am.
Like my dad I’ve never had a blog, but am excited to to help my dad document this journey, keep family and friends updated, and help others who might find themselves hearing the scary words “liver cancer” or “liver transplant.”
To tell you a little about myself…I am married to Will and have a daughter, Cecilia who is the cutest little kiddo ever. If you hear my dad refer to “Beanie” that’s who he’s talking about. He’s the only one that gets away with that nickname though 😉 We live in out of state, but just found out that we are relocating to the Chicago area for Will’s new job. YEAH!
This past week we traveled to Chicago for the Transplant Orientation meeting, which I found to be very helpful and informative. I think what I find most remarkable is my dad’s fantastic attitude. Yes, he’s concerned about his own health, wellness, the pain and recovery of transplant, but he’s also thinking about how to reach out to others when he is through with this challenge. I’m not surprised, it is so like my dad to look ahead and contemplate how he can help others with his own life experience. This, I really believe, is what grace does, when given the opportunity. Grace can take something really ugly and use it like fertilizer to make something beautiful, and that is what my dad is allowing. We don’t HAVE to allow grace to work like that, but the world is a far richer and better place when people like my dad have the openness to allow grace to work in their lives and in the lives of others. When the docs asked Dad what he planned to “do” after the transplant, he said he wanted to live his life, work and probably do some public speaking on livers. Go Dad!
As soon as I get WordPress figured out I will have posts under my name instead of my dad’s so you’ll be able to tell which of us has written any given entry.
Thanks, Dad, for inviting me to blog with you!