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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAs she was both female and not a family member, Underwood was told there was a very slim chance of being a match. Still, she felt like this was the path God was calling her to, so she continued the testing process. Her persistence paid off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was picking up my son, Evyn, at school one day, out sitting in the car rider line, and the phone rang, and it said \u2018Saint\u00a0Thomas West Kidney Donation Center.’ And I was like, \u2018Okay, here we go,\u2019 and I answered it, and the lady\u2019s already crying,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cShe said, \u2018This is so-and-so from the kidney center. We have your results back,\u2019 … and, she said, \u2018You\u2019re a match.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only was she a match, but Underwood was the needle in a haystack \u2014 a 100% match. The process was by no means completed, however. Underwood had to go through a full checkup \u2014 head to toe, heart, kidneys, everything \u2014 to ensure she was in full health. It was all going well, everything falling into place, when Underwood got some bad news. Her husband had cancer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had to put things on hold,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cI can\u2019t lay my life on the table not knowing if my husband\u2019s going to be okay because we have three children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a hard decision for both families, but they put off the surgery until Underwood\u2019s husband was declared cancer-free in February 2020. Not one month later, the country shut down because of COVID-19, with the transplant\u00a0center only performing life-threatening transplants. Throughout it all, Underwood had complete faith that things would work out.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you go through something like that … sometimes you second guess, \u2018Am I supposed to be doing this?\u2019 And I never had that inkling at all,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cI had complete peace in what I was doing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, in July, they were able to have the full transplant \u2014 an over 9-hour surgery. It was a complete success. Gentry has three kidneys now, and Underwood has one, but both families are happy, healthy, and living their best lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[Gentry] is great \u2014 100% back at work, no dialysis, able to do activities with his children, [and] travel,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cThe only thing I have to be really careful [of] is [that] there\u2019s certain medications I can\u2019t take that would damage the one kidney. If I\u2019m out \u2014 if I\u2019m running or exercising or I\u2019m just out in the heat \u2014 I have to hydrate really well. That\u2019s really my only biggest thing. I have to take care of my body.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are always risks, Underwood said, but with faith and prayer, people can get through a lot of things that may seem too hard to overcome. Who knows? Perhaps someone\u2019s life may be\u00a0changed in the process. GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" IN 2020, less than 6,000 people across the United States became living organ donors, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Lebanon is proud to be home to one of those brave donors: wife, mother, and flower shop owner Tracy Underwood. It was a process that took years to get through, and life did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":22181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lebanon","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lebanon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2024\/11\/2-2-1024x683.png\")
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