Editor’s note: This is part of a continuing series on organ donation.

DAPHNE — Sitting still doesn’t sit well with Steve Day. Even though he is recovering from surgery to donate a kidney to his son, Day is already taking a proactive approach to his health.

On May 25, Day under went surgery at Atlanta’s Emory Hospital to give a kidney to his 31 year-old son, John.

After extensive family testing, Day, 61, was found to be a perfect match for his ailing son.

Last month’s transplant came just in time, since John Day’s health had continued to deteriorate in the past couple of months.

“If they hadn’t been able to do this transplant when they did, it might have meant that John would have had to been on dialysis,” Day said. “And we wanted to do whatever we could to avoid that.”

Now, however, both father and son are recuperating just fine.

They are sharing John Day’s home and are also taking time to get in a little exercise together.

Hiking on the Chattahoochee River has been a favorite pastime for the recovering duo, Day said.

One hike was about 1.5 miles, while another was 2-3 miles long, he said.

Moving is an important part of their recovery, as is keeping in shape, Day said.

Keeping in touch with family and friends — who are scattered across the country — is also important to Day. He has been providing e-mail updates on his condition.

His electronic updates have also included photos of him and John along the river.

While Day felt that he was emotionally and physically prepared for the surgery, there have been some eye-opening moments, he said.

In one of his e-mails, Day recounts a meeting with a woman who had also undergone a kidney transplant.

John Day had met this woman earlier, at which time she had assured his boss that he wouldn’t be away from work too long, Day said.

Ironically, Day met this same woman in a waiting room, he said in an e-mail.

“We had a very pleasant conversation with her and she had a lot of advice for us,” it read.

“Her brother donated to her and he was having a lot of the same symptoms I was having during the first week post-op,” the e-mail continued.

“We know that was a God-made coincidence. Do we live in a cool world, or what?”

Day, who is active with the Daphne United Methodist Church and several civic organizations, has only one complaint about this experience overall.

“Recovery is boring, Too much time doing nothing,” he joked.