Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Mike Greiner remembers feeling exhausted.
Even walking down a flight of steps wore him out because of kidney damage caused by diabetes.
That was before he received a kidney and pancreas transplant eight years ago.
“It’s a brand new shot at life,” he said.
The Illinois man decided he wanted to encourage people to become organ donors, so last year he and his family headed out to visit all 50 states.
The family was in Omaha on Thursday at the Nebraska Medical Center for a tour of the Lied Transplant Center. Other stops in Nebraska will include a visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Friday to encourage students and faculty to sign up.
During the trip Greiner, 42, has visited schools, churches, service clubs and other spots.
Nebraska is the 48th state the family has visited. Then they are headed to Iowa, then back to Illinois. The family, which includes Greiner’s wife, Sheri and children Levi, 13, and Chloe, 10, have logged 36,000 miles in their 2005 Chrysler minivan. Sheri Greiner has home-schooled her children on the journey.
Mike Greiner, a computer programer, said the family sold its home to finance the trip and hasn’t decided whether to resettle back in Illinois or another state when the trip is over.
Greiner said he was on a waiting list for six weeks before his transplant. Some people can wait months and years.
There are about 450 people waiting for an organ in Nebraska and 630 in Iowa.
He said even though his wait turned out to be not as long as others face, it was still rough.
“You are constantly anxious,’’ he said. “You just don’t know when the call is going to come.”
To sign up as a donor in Nebraska, visit donatelifenebraska.com or in Iowa, iowadonornetwork.org.
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