A Life-changing Moment

In an instant—my life was changed. 

I was standing in my closet on Christmas Day, pressing play to listen to a voice mail, when it dawned on me. This wasn't an option, it was a calling. An unshakable feeling down to the very last cell in my body that I had to act on the dream that had been placed in my heart years before.  I had no idea, in that moment, how or when I would make it happen. Or even more surprisingly, just how much it would change my trajectory, my future, my impact.

I pressed play on the voice mail not recognizing the number, but curious who would be calling me on Christmas Day. The number was a local number, so it wasn't a cousin or an out-of-town friend. The sound of the female caller wasn't immediately familiar to me. Her voice was husky. She identified herself quickly, stopping my breath.

"Hi Karla, it's Dr. Wright. Merry Christmas."

She had my attention. During an extensive evaluation done as part of the living donor program the previous Fall, it was discovered that I had a suspicious node on my thyroid. The possibility, based on tests, of the node being a rare thyroid cancer was real. Most thyroid cancers are contained and treatable by removal of part or all of the organ. This particular cancer metastasizes when malignant. Multiple diagnostic and biopsy tests had been run. The only way to know for sure was to remove a portion of the thyroid for pathology to determine whether the node was benign or malignant.

One week before this Christmas day call, Dr. Wright had performed a partial thyroidectomy. Every day since, I had attached myself to my phone hoping to hear her voice with the results.

"I'm sorry I was out of the office earlier this week because I have been under the weather."

Okay. Now I had an explanation for why her call had been delayed.

"So I apologize for calling on Christmas. but I wanted to let you know that I have..." [pause for her coughing] "...good news. Your thyroid did not have any cancer in it."

I allowed myself to breathe a little.

"We'll talk about it when I see you in your follow-up appointment. But I hope you are having a nice holiday. And congratulations - good news. Bye."

Dr. Wright hung up and I exhaled deeply. Then quickly, with tears of joy, inhaled beautiful, life-giving, fresh air.

I didn't have thyroid cancer.

I stood in the moment, full of praise. Then ran to share the news with my family. Before I told them, I asked if we could take a Christmas family selfie. We took this one.

"Having a nice holiday?" she had said. "Yeah! I am now," I thought. This picture captures the joy my family felt when only one of us knew about Dr. Wright's message.

After taking the selfie, I played Dr. Wright's voice mail for them. I watched as they went through the same emotional process I had gone through (anxiety, relief, joy).

We all huddled in our family room, crying and laughing, and praying. So grateful. I think we all expected a different result. The numbers and risk had seemed overwhelming. Even if the risk had been low, the anxiety wasn't. For weeks, I had wondered what my future held. My circumstances and mindset had radically changed during the wait. My entire life passed in front of my eyes. I was well aware of and grateful for my life, yet had questions including these two. Had I made an impact? Had I achieved my key dreams?

27 seconds . That was the length of the voice mail that would give me my future back. A life-changing moment in time. More than my future it gave me certainty about my dreams and my calling. A moment that made me certain I could no longer live on the sidelines, with excuses or with regrets.

I made my decision in that moment. I would live this life fully for however many days I was given. My trajectory would be one of action. I would follow through with the promises I had made to myself and others. My heart has always been to help women. I would define that further, create a plan, then work daily to execute the plan. I would start a podcast. I would write and publish books. I would walk the Camino de Santiago. I would be present with my people. I would donate my spare kidney. I would live fully, being myself, nothing more and nothing less.

None of us has been promised a long life. There is much we can't control. There is also much we can control. Do we get one life-changing moment or multiple life-changing moments? I don't know the answer to that question. Even if I did, it wouldn't matter. It only matters how I respond. This story was about my life-changing moment.

What about you? What's your story? What will you do with this one life you have been given? Will you choose to live fully chasing your dreams or choose excuses and regrets? You get to choose.