The American Spectator

Reader Mail

One Referendum Too Many

6.23.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 6)

Mr. Henry, I have to say I was confounded by your piece. Why isn't hemodialysis an option this time around? I can appreciate your desire to have a working kidney but even more than in 1975 you have some good alternatives in 2008. You can participate in an online presentation hosted by the nonprofit Medical Education Institute through their Home Dialysis Central website 'How to Live a Good Life with Kidney Failure: Advice from a 42+ Year Patient.'

I know Nancy (who'll be the speaker), she's had 4 transplants and still works full time as a nurse. Nancy actually went through the selection process in 1966 as a 16 year old.

Typically someone in your position (failed second graft) can choose to deliver themselves, by choosing the best renal replacement therapy available. It may or may not be transplant; the choice is yours, not entirely His.
-- Bill Peckham

I have often disagreed with Mr. Henry, and a few times have written letters expressing that disagreement. Nothing personal, just a difference of opinion. I would like to type a few lines in appreciation of Mr. Henry's contributions to the intellectual atmosphere surrounding this publication. I, for one, hope that his latest transplant will be successful, and that he gets that extra decade that he desires. My father passed due to kidney failure brought on by diabetes. It is likely that I will succumb to the same fate at some undetermined time in the future, as I already have the diabetes. Mr. Henry, I wish for you that whatever God has in store for you will be accomplished. His will, His plan is indeed supreme. Mr. Henry, those of us that truly believe in a God that controls the fate of the universe and also the fate of individuals are the lucky ones. We can go into that good night without fear, without serious regret. How sad it is to contemplate the time of our leaving if we believe that there is nothingness. How chilling that would be, how fear inducing. After all, if you and I are wrong, then we simply expire. If the non-believer is wrong, he or she misses all of Paradise, and all of Eternity. Yes, Mr. Henry, either way you will shortly be a winner, and yes, despite all our cajoling, God's will shall be done. Good luck to you sir. As one of my favorite Southern Gospel singers used to say, "Getting old is not for sissies." Oh, and yes, I have a decade of seniority on you sir.

May God's blessing be upon you and all those that care about you.
-- Ken Shreve
New Hampshire

I look for your articles often because I share your point of view on many things, but especially since my Mom did five years of hemodialysis and everything you relate resonates.

Not sure if today's article "Deliver or Take..." means you're having a rough one, but I hope things resolve for the better. Because my Mom was 81 when she started, I don't have much experience with the transplant side, but can understand (OK -- since it wasn't me I can't fully understand) the suffering side. The few times I remember to pray, I pray for everyone who has a dialysis session coming up, ongoing, thinking about.....

There must be a special place in heaven for those who dialyze. And for the good folks (techs) who help. Dialysis brought agonizing trials to my Mom and our family, but incredible blessings in the people we met. Five years after her last session, and I still dream it's dialysis day, wondering how she'll do after so long away...

Take care, Mr. Henry
-- June Gaishin

Whenever I read a piece by Lawrence Henry I am reminded that my own problems are at best illusory. I only hope that when I am tested I can respond with one-tenth of his grace and courage.
-- Gene Schmidt
Brooklyn, New York

YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION
Re: Shawn Macomber's Revolutionary Sellout Redux:

I trust no one reading Shawn Macomber's exposure of the Democrats' hypocrisy was surprised.

The recent history of the Democratic Party -- both in politics and in government -- has been a steady stream of broken promises and broken own-rules.

We need but quietly and respectfully breathe the names of The Right Honorable Senate Majority Leader and The Even MORE Right Honorable Speaker of the House, or the compound hypocrisies of the DNC's re-tooling of their own "democratic process" on an as-needed basis in order to get the results it wants, to see that this is nothing new. (Does "DNC" really stand for "Don't Need Consistency"?)

It's a pattern, I tell you, a pattern!
-- A. C. Santore

Letter to the Editor

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