Episode 30
30: Courage and Intuition: My Transformational Journey as a Living Kidney Donor
Welcome to a powerful solo episode of Spiritual Fertility, hosted by Alison Bucklin. In this heartfelt and deeply personal installment, Alison steps behind the mic to share her transformational journey of becoming a living kidney donor for her friend Lori. With her signature warmth and vulnerability, Alison takes us through the intuitive calling she felt, the challenges and fears she overcame, and the profound moments of courage, connection, and spiritual growth experienced along the way.
From the initial spark of intuition to the rigorous medical process, heartfelt family conversations, and the spiritual practices—including Reiki and the Emotion Code—that supported her through surgery, Alison offers a candid look at the emotional and physical realities of organ donation. She reflects on the meaning of living in alignment with her core values and embracing "courage" as her word of the year.
Whether you’re on your own journey of healing, transformation, or looking for inspiration to listen to your inner guidance, this episode is sure to ignite hope, self-reflection, and a renewed sense of purpose. Join Alison as she lights the way for others, encouraging us all to embrace our paths with compassion, faith, and authentic action.
00:00 "Podcast Editing and Spiritual Journey Update"
05:21 "Finding Comfort in Signs"
07:22 Healthy Lifestyle Enables Organ Donation
13:07 Successful Kidney Transplant Update
16:32 Prayer, Healing, and Gratitude
19:09 "Embracing Contribution and Spiritual Growth"
20:41 Farewell with Love
Links:
Transcript
Welcome to Spiritual Fertility. I am your host, Alison
Speaker:Buckland. I am a mother to a miracle and a highly
Speaker:intuitive and transformational teacher, coach and healer.
Speaker:I believe that each of our life experiences shape us,
Speaker:providing valuable lessons from which we can transform,
Speaker:expand and evolve in this lifetime. When
Speaker:we are armed with the right tools to bring about our own self
Speaker:awareness and shine a light upon some of our most
Speaker:darkest experiences, we then begin to experience
Speaker:an awakening and rebirth, a reinvention of ourselves
Speaker:and the conscious awareness to take action and co create the path
Speaker:ahead. Join me each week and listen in to hear
Speaker:my guests impactful stories. Along with their empowering
Speaker:tools to ignite and inspire, I'm providing a supportive,
Speaker:fun and collaborative space to collectively initiate and
Speaker:motivate change within you, spark your curiosity and bring
Speaker:hope and inspiration to your own soul's path. I'm
Speaker:excited for you to join me and see what we can discover.
Speaker:Welcome to Spiritual Fertility, the next episode. This
Speaker:is Alison Buckland, your host and I am eternally
Speaker:grateful for all of those who have tuned into this
Speaker:podcast already. I appreciate each and every one of you and
Speaker:I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome all of the new listeners
Speaker:who are coming in to experience what this podcast
Speaker:offers. And this is a place for healing, for
Speaker:transformation, for rebirth, for growth, for
Speaker:parenting, for fertility, for expressing the truth of
Speaker:who we are, remembering who we are, unlearning some of the
Speaker:things and really stepping forward into
Speaker:alignment with our values, into alignment of
Speaker:who we are having the courage to do so.
Speaker:And I have had a lot of courage recently.
Speaker:Courage is the Year is my word this year. I pick a
Speaker:word every year and I've talked about that on recent podcast
Speaker:episodes about A Word of the Year. It has been quite a
Speaker:while since I have released any episodes on
Speaker:Spiritual Fertility as I've been in really a hermit mode
Speaker:and a growth mode mode and so much has happened in my life.
Speaker:I have probably about eight
Speaker:episodes that I am working on editing
Speaker:to be released. Beautiful interviews with beautiful people
Speaker:and so I'm excited to edit those and get those out. I've
Speaker:been also working on kind of
Speaker:the next phase of Spiritual Fertility
Speaker:and this podcast and and looking ahead
Speaker:as to what I'm going to share and who I'm going to be connected with
Speaker:and what this all means. And so for right now I want to
Speaker:take a moment to just update those of you who are listening on
Speaker:what I have been called to do. I sit here
Speaker:today recording this. It is July 27th
Speaker:and three days ago I had
Speaker:the most transformational Experience
Speaker:of my life. So to take a step backwards, about a
Speaker:year ago, I saw on Facebook that
Speaker:a person that I had worked with for one year after I
Speaker:got into teaching and started with at Baltimore City Public Schools,
Speaker:I worked with a teacher as her support for one year and she went
Speaker:on to move to another school. But we became super close
Speaker:because of our alignment of values, that of compassion
Speaker:and love, our love for animals and how we treat others, having
Speaker:empathy and our joy of teaching and the
Speaker:standards that we have for children and that foundation of
Speaker:learning. So we worked together in pre K and she became a very
Speaker:good friend of mine. And although we were apart for the next couple years,
Speaker:we would occasionally keep in touch. We weren't the best of friends, but we
Speaker:would keep in touch. I have a lot of those people in my life that
Speaker:we keep in touch with. And about a year ago, I saw
Speaker:on Facebook that my friend Lori was looking
Speaker:for a living kidney donor. Now, I had
Speaker:never considered being a living kidney donor. I
Speaker:didn't ever think about that there were living
Speaker:kidney donors in need until I saw that post. And my
Speaker:intuition knew right away that it was going to be me. I
Speaker:just felt that whisper and I. I
Speaker:knew that it was going to be me. It's no other way to describe
Speaker:it. However, it took a long time for my
Speaker:conscious mind to catch up with that intuition
Speaker:because of all the fear that can come
Speaker:from considering such an act.
Speaker:And so it took me about six months to. To
Speaker:figure out that I was in the right place to
Speaker:send in the questionnaire to find out and
Speaker:begin the process to see if I was her match. And
Speaker:there were some obstacles along the way. The first kit that they
Speaker:sent me, the University of Maryland Hospital transplant unit,
Speaker:the first, like, blood collecting kit that they sent me, actually got
Speaker:stolen from my. Out front of my house, which is crazy. But
Speaker:I got another one in and went towards
Speaker:the end of January of this year of 2025, went and did
Speaker:that blood work. And it worked out great because I was also having to
Speaker:get blood for also kind of figuring out my hormones as I'm in
Speaker:perimenopause. And so I was able to feed two birds with one scone
Speaker:and just get it done on the same day. And actually
Speaker:there have been so many signs that have brought me back
Speaker:to not being in fear and to give me that
Speaker:validation and that comfort that I'm on the right path, you
Speaker:know, on the way to getting my blood tested the first time, I saw so
Speaker:many repeating numbers and that brought me comfort
Speaker:along the way. And then I got home to see that actually it was
Speaker:Lori's father's late father's birthday
Speaker:in heaven. And so I was like, oh, there he was,
Speaker:like sending comforting signs. I mean, no wonder that was was
Speaker:it. And actually when I sent in my
Speaker:paperwork, I was wearing a passed down sweatshirt from my
Speaker:recipient. So I went through some extensive blood
Speaker:work just to see. After that first blood work, I found
Speaker:out that I was a match. Initially, they had to put both of our blood
Speaker:together and do something to figure out that
Speaker:she wouldn't reject me. However, there was many more tests that
Speaker:went ahead of that. I had to have 24 hours of urine
Speaker:collection, I had to do some more blood work and I had to go to
Speaker:University of Maryland for a donor day where I was giving
Speaker:some more tests. I had to talk to a social worker, do an ekg,
Speaker:a chest X ray, have a CT scan to
Speaker:determine how my body was, what it looked like, what the lungs look
Speaker:like. And I was able to do that and
Speaker:got the amazing results back that I was an
Speaker:excellent match and I was an excellent candidate for this.
Speaker:And that just made me so happy because you know,
Speaker:I've made so many choices along the way in my life
Speaker:for, specifically for my own health. Choosing
Speaker:what I put on my skin, choosing what I feed my mindset,
Speaker:choosing to be and live a plant based lifestyle,
Speaker:knowing that it is a proactive taking. I'm taking a
Speaker:proactive step toward my own health and well being.
Speaker:And so to see that I was healthy enough to be a living
Speaker:donor was just brought me so much
Speaker:happiness and, and recognition that
Speaker:every step I've taken along the way has led me
Speaker:to this moment. And so after that donor day,
Speaker:we had to wait for a committee, my, my team
Speaker:and her team to meet to determine whether or not we
Speaker:were going to go forward with the, with the
Speaker:transplant surgery. And along the way, since I'm connected to
Speaker:Lori, I've been in communication with her about the
Speaker:steps that I'm taking. And every time I met with my
Speaker:donor team and my coordinator, they would always tell me that I
Speaker:could back out at any time. Now, I wasn't going to do that because I
Speaker:was keeping in touch with my recipient and I knew my recipient.
Speaker:Along the way I found a living kidney donor support group that
Speaker:has been very helpful to me. And I've learned that there are many
Speaker:ways for people to donate. Sometimes they are
Speaker:doing that for a family member. Maybe they're not a match for their family
Speaker:member, but the hospital that they're working with has
Speaker:a. A program, a voucher program so that,
Speaker:let's say I could donate
Speaker:and maybe I wasn't a match for Lori, but that would give her
Speaker:a voucher to then get a kidney
Speaker:once her match was found. We could have entered this at a. As
Speaker:a pair if we weren't a match, but we were exact match.
Speaker:But there are so many people out there that need organs,
Speaker:and not enough people are on that list. And
Speaker:some people wait for years and years and years to get their
Speaker:donor. And it is a better
Speaker:outcome for the recipient to have a living donor than
Speaker:someone who is deceased. I do have that box checked off on my
Speaker:license to show that I'm an organ donor
Speaker:when I die. But
Speaker:now I'm alive and I have the ability to donate
Speaker:one of my kidneys. And I've researched the risks that are
Speaker:involved, but for me, the rewards fully
Speaker:outweighed the risks. And my husband and my daughter,
Speaker:we all talked about it, and they were made fully aware
Speaker:of everything. But there was still that fear of
Speaker:that next step wouldn't happen or. Or that
Speaker:fear that would cause me to look at my mortality and look
Speaker:at those around me. And had I expressed what I needed to express
Speaker:and you know, those thoughts cra. Cross your mind. And that's
Speaker:perfectly normal in this process. But I'll never
Speaker:forget during spring break of
Speaker:2025, I was in Breckenridge, Colorado for
Speaker:a ski vacation with my family. And I was. Happened to be sitting out
Speaker:in a hot tub in the woods in this beautiful environment.
Speaker:And I got the call from the hospital that I.
Speaker:The committee head said, this is. This is a go.
Speaker:Like it is official. We get to pick our. Or I
Speaker:got to pick are my donation date based on my
Speaker:schedule. I wanted to finish out the school year. I know Lori wanted
Speaker:to finish out the school year. And so that.
Speaker:And I wanted to do some traveling during the summer. I'm in
Speaker:education, so I do have about 10 weeks off in the
Speaker:summertime. And so I wanted to fit it into that time frame so that
Speaker:I could have the time to rest and recover. And so we chose a
Speaker:date, and that date had to be changed because of the surgeon
Speaker:schedule. And. But I'll never forget what
Speaker:it felt like to be able to call Lori on the phone
Speaker:from Colorado and tell her it's happening,
Speaker:we are moving forward. We are. I am a match for you. You
Speaker:are going to get a new kidney. And I mean, I'll never forget
Speaker:that we just sat there in silence almost. And.
Speaker:And it was just so, so so
Speaker:beautiful. I'll never forget it. She then shared that on
Speaker:Facebook that I was a match. I shared it. The love
Speaker:and support and outpouring of
Speaker:just surrounded us. We moved forward,
Speaker:and here we are. I'm three days post
Speaker:donating, and I wanted to share this because
Speaker:I've had an amazing experience. I mean, right before this, it
Speaker:encouraged me, as I was looking at my mortality,
Speaker:it encouraged me to. To
Speaker:have discussions with my daughter about
Speaker:maybe what would happen if I would die and let her know
Speaker:how proud of her I was and what I. That I loved her. We even
Speaker:talked about signs of what I would come back as. We didn't settle on
Speaker:one which. That. Which is quite okay. But
Speaker:I think this experience just brought us closer and
Speaker:also brought me closer to my mom and dad. Like, they drove me to the
Speaker:hospital. I wanted to keep Evelyn's schedule as
Speaker:normal as possible. And so she was in camp, and my husband
Speaker:brought her to camp, and they were able to visit me, you
Speaker:know, after surgery. But I had surgery and
Speaker:am now healing at home and ready for this journey
Speaker:that lies ahead. My recipient has accepted my kidney,
Speaker:and that is going well for her. She's
Speaker:in the hospital still. They had to remove. Initially, they
Speaker:thought they would have to remove both of her kidneys, but they only had to
Speaker:remove one. And she's adjusting to my new
Speaker:kidney, and all of her signs are
Speaker:going up. Her benchmarks
Speaker:are going up to that. Her kidney is being
Speaker:accepted and not being rejected, but she still has a very long
Speaker:road ahead of her. And so
Speaker:the day of our transplant, which was July
Speaker:24, 2025, so also a new moon
Speaker:in Leo. I'm a Leo, so new moon, fresh
Speaker:beginning. During this process of going to the hospital and getting
Speaker:tested and even the weeks leading up to it, I saw
Speaker:more repeating numbers than I ever have in my
Speaker:experience. And so those signs are there. That brought me comfort.
Speaker:Also, to prepare for this surgery, I am getting
Speaker:my Reiki Master. I have been trained in Reiki 1 and 2.
Speaker:You saw Holy Fire. And that was four years ago.
Speaker:And so this summer, I've done two out of the three
Speaker:sessions to become a Reiki Master. And actually my
Speaker:teacher was Diane Bavolino, which was in an earlier
Speaker:podcast episode. And so it's been wonderful
Speaker:to have that healing energy to be in for
Speaker:myself. I was able to bring Reiki to
Speaker:my left kidney specifically while it was in there.
Speaker:And so that when it got to Lori, it was filled with
Speaker:beautiful energy. I've also been preparing by
Speaker:working with somebody to. To do the
Speaker:emotion code, and hopefully I will be able to in the
Speaker:future, have James Hyland as a guest on here to talk
Speaker:more about that. But he had identified some emotions
Speaker:that were trapped in my body. I had two sessions prior to my.
Speaker:My kidney surgery, my donation
Speaker:surgery, and it was just remarkable. The ident. How he
Speaker:identified the emotions that were trapped or
Speaker:stored in my body that I either were common emotions
Speaker:or those that I had absorbed from others, some of which
Speaker:were the kids in my classroom, the people I surround
Speaker:myself with, friends, even my husband. So having
Speaker:the ability to release those trapped emotions was. Was
Speaker:validating and for me. And I just believe in that, that
Speaker:concept and, and how it works. And so I hope to have him on, to
Speaker:be able to share that. And so I did a lot of preparation. I had
Speaker:so many prayers. My church was very integral in,
Speaker:in having a prayer service. I mean, from the beginning.
Speaker:About a year ago, we have something in my church called Prayers of the People,
Speaker:which, which I had introduced when we were opening the church,
Speaker:the Sunday services. And it's been beautiful to see that during
Speaker:our service, the congregation can offer and ask
Speaker:for prayers for those in their lives. And
Speaker:about a year ago, I started praying for Lori to have a
Speaker:kidney. Was able to ask for prayers for her, and so
Speaker:she's been prayed for for a long time. And then to
Speaker:go through the process to let my church family know that.
Speaker:That I'm a match and to have the continued prayers for both of us.
Speaker:The Sunday service before I went in for the surgery,
Speaker:you know, my pastor and the congregation was able to
Speaker:pray over me in such a beautiful way. I
Speaker:mean, I was crying and releasing and it was just
Speaker:so beautiful. And I'm so grateful for that memory
Speaker:and that I've had that opportunity
Speaker:to experience that. I hope to have my pastor on the
Speaker:podcast as well moving forward. But, yeah, now I'm at
Speaker:home and I am resting and healing and hydrating
Speaker:and knowing that I have a few weeks before I go back to school. But,
Speaker:you know, the purpose of sharing this is to
Speaker:inspire others to listen
Speaker:to their intuition. You know, you never know what's going to come up in
Speaker:your life. One day, here you are,
Speaker:the next day you are pursuing
Speaker:being a living kidney donor. I mean, that's what it was like,
Speaker:moving about your life. And these things can come into your life, and as
Speaker:you move through them, you gain the confidence. And I've had
Speaker:to really lean into my word this year. Courage. It takes
Speaker:courage to do that. And I am so
Speaker:grateful that I was a match for my friend
Speaker:and that our story is being put
Speaker:out and shared to inspire
Speaker:others that have this inkling to move forward.
Speaker:The Baltimore Banner did a story on us. We were interviewed.
Speaker:It's a beautiful story and I hope that
Speaker:we continue to be able to share. I recorded a
Speaker:podcast with my good friend Reena, Better Call
Speaker:Daddy Podcast and I know that will be released and she's been
Speaker:so helpful to me and in helping me with, with
Speaker:this, with this podcast itself and so shout out to Rena.
Speaker:But I, I wanted to be able to share
Speaker:this episode, this message prior to
Speaker:getting out all of the interviews that I have in the back
Speaker:burner. I know it's going to be bring my
Speaker:listeners such, such peace and such love and such
Speaker:motivation and that's really what it comes all down to. Living
Speaker:in alignment with your values. One of my top core values
Speaker:is contribution. And so in doing
Speaker:this donation in, in moving forward, I am
Speaker:activating that core value and I am experiencing love
Speaker:and connection and compassion and faith, leaning into
Speaker:faith and belief that this is all going to work out.
Speaker:And it is and it has and it will continue
Speaker:to be as long as this message is out there.
Speaker:Thank you all for listening to Spiritual Fertility. I invite you to
Speaker:like subscribe. Please leave me a five star review
Speaker:to enable me to reach more
Speaker:folks on their spiritual journey, on their fertility
Speaker:journey, on their life's journey of remembering, of
Speaker:awakening, of learning, of growing, of celebrating,
Speaker:of gratitude, of living in alignment with their values.
Speaker:I'm so, so proud to be a hero, to be a
Speaker:lifesaver, to embrace that for myself and
Speaker:to be able to remember who I am
Speaker:and that I'm here to share my light for others
Speaker:so that they can be sparked to share their own
Speaker:light, to stand in their power, to move forward
Speaker:with their own personal responsibility and their own
Speaker:courage and their own actions. To create,
Speaker:to love, to bring joy, to share their light and
Speaker:to be the best versions of themselves.
Speaker:Lots of love, take care and I will
Speaker:see you soon.
