A look back at the minor frustrations I once treated as some sort of crisis and how kidney failure changed my sense of what truly matters.
Category: Kidney Recipient
Reflections on receiving a kidney transplant. About healing, gratitude, and the journey of living forward.
Things People Say to Kidney Transplant Recipients
A candid, humorous look at the things people say to kidney transplant recipients and the honest thoughts we keep to ourselves. Equal parts truth, comedy, and lived experience.
Receiving the Gift
A reflection on the courage of receiving. After years of finding joy in giving, I faced the humbling truth of needing a gift I could never earn a kidney from someone I’ve never met. This piece explores grace, surrender, worthiness, and the holiness found in accepting what arrives unasked for, yet perfectly timed.
Thinking about my Kidney Donor
A transplant recipient searches for words worthy of thanking an unknown donor whose gift reshaped his life.
Three Months Post-Kidney Transplant
A three‑month reflection on healing, renewed strength, and the small everyday miracles that mark life after transplant. A story of returning energy, widening freedom, and the steady grace found in each new day.
Things to Have Known Before a Kidney Transplant ~ Jack Fassnacht
This candid reflection from a two‑time kidney transplant recipient pulls back the curtain on the everyday realities that don’t always make it into the medical brochures.
Lifelong Challenges After a Kidney Transplant
Life after a kidney transplant becomes a lifelong classroom where healing, vigilance, and gratitude shape each day and teach me how to live with care and intention.
Movie Quotes That Summed Up My Kidney Journey
This post explores how iconic movie lines unexpectedly echoed the hardest and most hopeful moments of my kidney journey.
Sidney Goes to UNMC
In this imaginative classroom story, Sidney, the transplanted kidney, graduates from the whimsical One Kidney Academy, a place where organs learn resilience, purpose, and the art of supporting a human life.
What I Want Other Kidney Patients to Know
A gentle, hope-filled reflection for anyone living with kidney disease, dialysis, or the long wait for a transplant. These words offer comfort, courage, and the reminder that you are not walking this road alone.
Waiting for a Kidney Donor
This is the story of how waiting for a kidney donor reshaped me from the inside out. Through dialysis, uncertainty, and the stretches of hope, I discovered strength, faith, and a new way of receiving life.
This Time Last Year…
A reflective New Year’s look at a year shaped by healing, generosity, and the life‑changing gift of a kidney transplant, honoring both Jeff and the donor who made a second chance possible.
My Overachieving, Introverted Kidney
This is the story of Sidney, the overachieving and introverted kidney who arrived and changed everything.
Two Months Post-Kidney Transplant
Two months after my kidney transplant, life is opening up again. Medications are shifting, scars are fading, and I am finding my way back to myself through writing, small freedoms, and the victories.
Anti-Rejection Medications 101
A look at the serious world of immunosuppressants, BK virus surprises, and the daily balancing act every kidney transplant recipient knows well. This classroom-style post breaks it down.
How Creativity Is Helping Me Heal
A space where healing, creativity, and lived experience meet. This post explores what it means to rebuild a life after my transplant, find meaning in the mess, and let storytelling become part of the recovery.
Life After My Kidney Transplant
Life after transplant is a new normal filled with gratitude, humor, resilience, and hope in everyday victories.
The Search for a Living Kidney Donor
The search for a living kidney donor is a journey of near misses, patience, and hope, revealing resilience, & the generosity of those willing to try.
How I Imagine Meeting My Donor
I imagine an ordinary café becomes the stage for an extraordinary first meeting with my donor, filled with gratitude, connection, and the gift of renewed hope.