Ray McMullen Fine Art Photography

I can attest that there’s nothing more exciting than finding your organ donor. But imagine coming home after a hard dialysis treatment and wishing you didn’t have to do them anymore and there was no light at the end of the tunnel; only to have your best friend, soulmate and wife tell you that she got a call and that she was an excellent match for a kidney transplant.  I had been battling cancer and dealing with dialysis treatments 3 days a week for 2 years. I had been given the news that my cancer was in stringent remission however, I still needed to do dialysis treatments until I could get accepted into a transplant program. I finally did get accepted into the transplant program at Vanderbilt University, the only problem was with my blood type. I was looking at a six to eight year wait. I was happy just to be in the program.  My journey continued, day after day, dialysis treatment after dialysis treatment. I felt like the walls were closing in on me and there was no end...

When you are lying in a bed without the ability to get up and walk away, it makes you to really face the feelings of hearing the words “you have cancer”. You don’t truly know the seriousness of the situation until you hear the words “you are within hours of expiring” and that everyone is going to do everything possible to give you a fighting chance. I was told that the type of cancer I had, Multiple Myeloma, was not going to be a sprint to the finish, where they could just remove the affected area and work with the chemo drugs. But a marathon, and that I needed to pace myself for a long process of treatments and recovery, and even after all the treatments I would always have the cancer. We would have to control it for the rest of my life with drugs. On top of all the cancer and treatments, I was additionally told that the cancer had taken my kidneys. So not only was a now a cancer patient I was also a dialysis patient. The reality in my mind was, had I gone in as soon...

Two weeks after my final test for my kidney transplant, I received a call from my oncologist. He was reporting to me that the PET Scan test came back and everything looked as he had expected. However, he wanted to know what was going on with my right foot, more specifically my right big toe. Without disclosing this to the doctors or testing staff, I felt as though I had an ingrown toe nail and that I was going to go to a pediatrist when I returned home. I laughed and told my oncologist the situation. He prescribed an antibiotic to help with the infection, and I told him I would go see my doctor. I was able to get with my doctor a few days later and had him look at it. It was determined that we stay the course with the prescribed medication and the he wanted to look at it in a week. A week had passed and the toe felt the same. My doctor wanted to try one other type of antibiotics to see if they would help, and if not, he would get me in with a Pediatrist. Needless to s...

After being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, I found a new desire to connect with people. I learned that talking to people is one of the most valuable things we as humans can do to grow and develop. No pre-conceived judgements or thoughts about anyone. You can’t judge a book by its cover. Just a one on one discussion about life and sharing time. It’s one of the most valuable things to me. We’re not guaranteed tomorrow, we only have right now. If you are reading this, contact me. Let’s talk and get to know each other. You might just be surprised how much you like it. Start living your dream and share your passions…