I waited in Jacksonville, 825 miles from home. I was legally separated from my wife so I was alone. Fortunately, a home church brother had lived in Jax and gave me some numbers of people he knew in the church there. These people who did not know me helped feed me and house me in homes and a hotel. I drove to Orange Park three times a week to attend church. They helped buy my gas so I could. I was extremely uncomfortable. Pruritus was driving me crazy. I was raw from scratching. I had to unbutton my pants and hold them together with a belt due to ascites. I had a huge hernia in my groin from ascites and sitting was difficult. But I still got dressed and drove to church three times a week. They prayed publicly and privately for me and encouraged me greatly. The call for the transplant came while I sat in church. They visited me in the hospital. I owe my life to them as surely as I do the surgeons. My secret to surviving the waiting was to find people who cared and would help.

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