Monday, February 28, 2011

The Organ Donation & Transplant Association of Canada has their charity registration revoked

One of the reasons given for rescinding their charity status is that the Organization received $1.8 million as cash donations. Of this amount, $1.3 million was directed to fundraising and administrative fees while only $447,000 or 25% was spent on its own charitable activities.

A charity that has had its charitable status revoked in Canada can no longer issue donation receipts for income tax purposes and is no longer a qualified donee under the Income Tax Act. The organization is no longer exempt from income tax, unless it qualifies as a non-profit organization, and it may be subject to a tax equal to the full value of its remaining assets.

Read the complete decision at Canada Revenue Agency.

The last couple of years I received many reports of telephone solicitation for donations in support of organ donation activities. It usually happens around the time of National Organ and Tissue Donation campaigns in April.

Please be wary when responding to solicitations to "Save a Life Today" or other such slogans.

In addition to soliciting donations for organ donation awareness, some of the scam artists claim to be raising money for organ transplant or medical research and even go so far as to ask for donations of planned gifts (Includes life insurance policies, bequests, annuities, charitable remainder trusts and real estate properties) and major Gifts (Includes large financial donations that are recognized as significant support) all in the name of medical research. Be wary and skeptical.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Friday, February 25, 2011

Ontario prepares for Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Campaign

In preparation for NOTDAW (National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week) in Canada this April 17 to 23 Trillium Gift of Life Network is organizing a series of orientation sessions in Ontario March 1st to March 10th. I am pleased to post the following announcement from Nicole Poos.

Trillium Gift of Life Network is happy to announce that we will be hosting a series of community orientation sessions in March in the following communities:

  • Toronto - March 1, 2011
  • Ottawa - March 2, 2011
  • Kingston - March 3, 2011
  • Windsor - March 7, 2011
  • London - March 8, 2011
  • Sudbury - March 10, 2011

We will be providing you with updated information to help support you in your awareness and community outreach work in these communities. If you would like to rsvp for this event, please go to: Event registration

I hope you will be able to attend and please circulate this invitation below and attached to all of your networks in these areas. We will be setting information tables on various topics to provide volunteers and supporters with some engagement ideas and resources on the following topics:

  • How to share your story
  • How to conduct a registration drive
  • How to engage your workplace
  • How to organize community events, i.e. Life for 1500 Events for NOTDAW (Refers to the more than 1500 on waiting lists in Ontario)
  • How to reach out to faith communities
  • How to inspire youth
  • How to utilize social media

Nicole Poos
-----------------
Volunteer Services Advisor
Trillium Gift of Life Network
522 University Avenue, Suite 900
Toronto, ON M5G 1W7
(p) 416-619-2349
(f) 416-363-4002
(c) 416-436-9420
(e) npoos@giftoflife.on.ca
(w) www.giftoflife.on.ca

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Transplant patient will advocate for others

Although Canada has a National Health Care program patients must still provide for their travel and accommodation costs plus other living expenses when moving to a distant transplant center for their procedure.

CBC News
The Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) government needs to do more to help people like her who have to travel off-Island for medical procedures, says a double-lung transplant patient.

Melissa MacPhail recently received a double-lung transplant in Toronto. She's been living there since January 2010 at a cost of $3,000 a month. Her rent alone has been $1,500. When she arrived with her son and mother she was receiving no support from the government at all, but the province began providing $1,000 a month last spring.

That's still significantly less than the $1,500 other Maritime governments provide.

"To match New Brunswick and Nova Scotia would be nice," MacPhail told CBC News Wednesday.

"An extra $500 that could go towards food right? When you're sick, families are stressed."

The provincial government could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

MacPhail received her transplant in November, but her expenses in Ontario continue. She is still being monitored by doctors at Toronto General for signs her body is rejecting the lungs.

The 32-year-old suffers from scleroderma, a disease which causes hardening of the lungs and makes it impossible to breathe. She is still on medication for that, plus anti-rejection medication. In total 65 pills a day.

"It's very nerve-racking, I'm trying not to focus on it. You always have it in the back of your mind. It can never go away because it's your life," she said.

Still, MacPhail is thrilled with the difference her new lungs are making in her life.

"I'm still kind of like, pinch me! To take a big deep breath now feels like the big wow factor," she said.

Three months ago MacPhail could barely walk down the hall without straining to breathe, now she can go skating with her son Keegan.

"That was really amazing because when I was skating my lungs weren't the issue, but my ankles [were], just from being out of shape," she said.

MacPhail got to see her old lungs, and she said they looked bad: full of fibrosis and white lumps where it should have been delicate pink tissue. The doctor told her he was surprised she lasted this long with them.

Campaigning for organ donors
MacPhail has met a lot of other people waiting for transplants while in Toronto, which she said has been wonderful, but also frustrating as she watched people die because transplants were not available.

"It's so life-changing, in bad ways and good ways," she said.

"I've met so many wonderful people along the way, but I've lost wonderful friends along the way too."

When she returns to P.E.I. MacPhail plans to start a campaign for organ donation in the Maritimes. She wants to travel around telling her story; living proof that signing donor cards can save a life.

MacPhail hopes to move back to P.E.I. in June.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Woman, 54, celebrates 23 years with kidney transplant

The typical patient will live ten to fifteen years longer with a kidney transplant than if kept on dialysis. The years of life gained is greater for younger patients, but even 75 year-old recipients (the oldest group for which there is data) gain an average four more years' life. People generally have more energy, a less restricted diet, and fewer complications with a kidney transplant than if they stay on conventional dialysis. (source: Wikipedia

Lucky donation: Helen Williams is living life to the full 23 years after her kidney transplant. Picture: Ari Hatzis

BY JESSICA FOULDS Hume Weekly

HELEN Williams is passionate about organ donation because it returned her life to her.

The 54-year-old Glenroy resident received a much-needed kidney transplant 23 years ago.

At 22, Ms Williams was diagnosed with chronic reflux nephritis, a kidney disorder. It had not caused her any serious symptoms or pain.

She was told she would eventually need a kidney transplant. By the time she received one 10 years later, her condition had deteriorated.

"I was green, the colour of broccoli, with big and bulbous eyes," she recalls. "I was very thin and weighed 47kilograms.

"I was on a very strict diet. But I tried to keep myself occupied and travelled as much as I could."

In the seven weeks leading up to her transplant, Ms Williams was on dialysis four times a day.

"It was a waiting game. I had a little pager I carried around waiting for the call that would save my life."

That call came at 2am one morning and by 2pm the next day the four-hour transplant operation was complete. "I was a new person. I was reborn," she says.

"I could drink and eat what I liked, I had energy. I could travel again."

This week is DonateLife Week, which encourages Australians to talk with their loved ones to make them aware of the importance of organ and tissue donations.

Ms Williams said she had been transformed by the "gift of life".

She works as a personal assistant at the National Australia Bank and is a member of Transplant Australia.

"It's a life-changing experience," she says.

"Without this I would not be where I am now. It makes you realise how lucky you are. I am free. Every year is a milestone for me. I do often think about it.

"To be given the chance I've been given you cannot thank that person enough. We are lucky some people are generous enough to become donors."

There are about 1700 Australians on waiting lists for organ and tissue transplants, including kidney, heart, lung, skin tissue and cornea.

For more information, visit www.donatelife.gov.au


“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Monday, February 21, 2011

Let's talk about your organs

This article highlights the need to talk to your family and loved ones about your wishes to be an organ donor in the event of your death. The article notes that almost 50 per cent of Australians still do not give consent for their loved ones’ organs to be donated after they die and I imagine the same holds true everywhere.

BY MICHELLE CARNOVALE Waverley Leader

Organ recipient Kate Young is a fervent supporter of the DonateLife campaign. Picture: Matt Murphy N34WG207

LAST year, 931 Australians were given a second chance at life through organ donation.

They received the life-giving gifts of kidneys, lungs, livers and hearts — a final gesture from strangers whose time had ended.

However, despite 2010 being a record year for donations, almost 50 per cent of Australians still do not give consent for their loved ones’ organs to be donated after they die.

To promote the life-changing benefits of organ donation, this year’s DonateLife Week will promote Book of Life, a collection of stories from those touched by organ and tissue donation.

Oakleigh resident Kate Young is one of those people wanting to share her story of hope after she had a vital liver transplant at the age of seven.

Now 19, Ms Young said the selfless actions of strangers in offering their organs to another in need let her become “a normal kid”.

“I think I was just excited about being able to be like everyone else,” Ms Young said.

“I was able to get into sport and play outside, which I couldn’t do beforehand because I was often too sick.”

Ms Young encouraged Monash residents to talk to their families about organ donation.

“Some people can be a little bit funny about the topic but it is a very important issue,” she said.

“If we can try to increase the numbers, that’s all we can hope for.”

DonateLife Week will run from February 20-26 and encourages conversations and awareness about organ and tissue donation.

Monash residents can submit their own life-saving and life-changing stories to donatelife.gov.au for possible inclusion in the book.



“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ  and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today! 
For other Canadian provinces click here

In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register

In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register

Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allograft">allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves



Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You 

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Please help me, I have 8 weeks to live

Constant pain .... Yvanna Cartilla urgently needs a liver transplant. Pic: Ella Pellegrini Source: The Daily Telegraph

By Caroline Marcus The Sunday Telegraph (Australia)

BABY Yvanna has just two months to live - unless she can find a donor.

The eight-month-old is gravely ill with liver failure in The Children's Hospital at Westmead. Doctors say she will certainly die if they cannot find a compatible organ.

Yvanna Cartilla is one of a handful of NSW babies younger than one who will require an organ transplant this year.

Doctors realised something was wrong with Yvanna when she was born extremely jaundiced. She had her first operation at six weeks, when a camera was inserted into her to examine her liver.

Specialists confirmed she had biliary atresia, a disease in which, for unknown reasons, the body begins to destroy its bile ducts, which digest food, and eventually destroys the liver as well.

The condition occurs in one in 10,000 to 15,000 live births in Australia every year, although a third of those can be successfully treated by a relatively straightforward surgery called a Kasai, which did not work in Yvanna's case.

She was put on the donor transplant list two months ago and re-admitted to hospital last weekend with a high fever.

Yvanna's mother, Ellen Cartilla, 42, has been keeping a bedside vigil, praying for a donor.

"Looking at Yvanna every day is heartbreaking," the mother of four from Merrylands said. "My children ask, 'When is she going to be better? How long do we have to wait?'

"For me as a mother, it is hard to answer them."

Yvanna is in constant pain, requiring constant comforting.

Ms Cartilla, a cook at a childcare centre, said she wanted people to be aware of the importance of being an organ donor so that babies like Yvanna would have a chance of survival.

In the best-case scenario, doctors will receive a compatible organ from a child donor - in Yvanna's case, with blood type B or O - whose liver will be a good size for her.

But because child donors are so rare - the hospital gets only one or two children's livers a year - it is more likely the donor will be an adult whose liver can be split, with a child receiving the smaller part and an adult getting the rest.

If Yvanna has a transplant, she has a 93 to 95 per cent chance of survival, although she will be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life.

In the worst-case scenario, and only if he is a match, her father Silvano will undergo an operation to have part of his liver removed - a risky procedure for a living donor.

The 50-year-old hotel restaurant supervisor is undergoing tests to see if his liver is compatible with his daughter's.Paediatric transplant surgeon Gordon Thomas said Yvanna would "surely die" without a transplant.

"She is very little, and she is deteriorating really fast," Dr Thomas said. "We're concerned about her because, even though she's only eight months, she's progressing badly. There is an urgency."

Although his team, which performs most of Australia's paediatric liver transplants, had a high success rate, the real heroes were the donors, Dr Thomas said.

During DonateLife Week, which begins today, Australians are urged to talk to those closest to them about becoming a donor.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Friday, February 18, 2011

Florida man one of only 10 people in the world who have survived a heart transplant for 25 years.

My Fox Tampa Bay
TAMPA - This is a check up that Frank Spurlin is used to. It's been part of his routine for the past 25 years.

Back in 1985, at age 42, Frank received a new heart. Dr. R. Vijay was his surgeon.

"To be able to say I've lived through it, that's amazing," Frank says.

Frank is one of only 10 people in the world who have survived a heart transplant for 25 years.

Back then, his family was told he may survive just five years, so you can imagine how blessed the Spurlin family feels now.

"It's just unbelievable, hard to put in words. A whole new extension of life," Frank says.

Dr. Vijay is the cardiac surgeon who brought heart transplants to Tampa General Hospital. Now, TGH is the fourth largest heart transplant hospital in the nation.

Dr. Vvijay says it's all about the patients.

"The driving force is to save someone's life. This was the driving force," he ays.

Frank Spurlin has been Dr. Vijay's dream patient: at death's door 25 years ago, but today, leading a normal life.

"His heart muscle, he has lived a long life and now has four grand children," he said.

For Frank, it's hard to put into words how much gratitude he has for everything from the person who signed up to be an organ donor and gave him his heart, to the steady hands of Dr. Vijay.

"When I wake up in the morning, I thank God to have another day," Frank says.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The University of Michigan Transplant Center Performs 500th Lung Transplant; One Organ Donor Saves Two Lives

Two Michigan residents received lungs simultaneously, are recovering well from transplant operations that were a milestone for U-M program

This article has particular interest for me because I was diagnosed with the same disease (IPF) as these recipients 11 years ago and told I had about 2 years left to live. Fortunately, a donor came through for me and I had a single left-lung transplant almost 9 years ago and am still going strong. Merv.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Michigan Transplant Center celebrated a milestone recently, performing its 500th lung transplant. But there's much more to this story than a number.

U-M surgeons performed both transplant No. 499 and No. 500 almost simultaneously on Jan. 3. Both recipients were saved by a single organ donor.

No. 499 is Jack Wagner, a 64-year-old from Brighton, Mich. No. 500 is Dan Roy, a 64-year-old from Brownstown Township, Mich. Both men had Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). A diagnosis of IPF is not much better than a death sentence: there is no treatment and the survival rate is less than three years.

Roy's older brother died of the same disease before he could get a transplant.

The two men actually ran into each other as they rushed to University Hospital after getting the call that a lung was available. Seeing each other's oxygen tanks, they asked each other what brought them to the hospital. Roy said he was getting a new left lung. Surprised, Wagner replied he was getting a right lung.

Thanks to the Michigan resident who donated those lungs, Roy and Wagner will be able to watch their grandchildren grow up, enjoy their retirement years with family and avoid becoming housebound with a debilitating disease.

"We were both elated. We haven't come down from that high," says Roy. The two men have since found out they share many things in common – they are both Vietnam veterans and retirees from the auto industry. Both are 64, had three children and have been married more than 40 years.

"The whole family knew this disease was a death sentence, and I was not destined to see my grandchildren grow up. The gift of this lung, this second chance at life, was enormous. People tell me 'we've got our old Dan back.'"

Jules Lin, M.D., assistant professor of thoracic surgery at U-M, did the 500th lung transplant for Roy on Jan. 3.

"The surgery itself was like others we've done, but it is remarkable that 500 have been done here. For me, it's rewarding to be a part of that," says Lin.

Lung transplant patients have good survival rates and can often return to the activities they loved. Both Wagner and Roy were already very dependent on oxygen and as the disease progressed rapidly, getting close to becoming homebound. Both were facing setting aside an active lifestyle – in fact Wagner routinely played softball and had gone to see his doctor about a shoulder injury when he found out he had IPF.

"The diagnosis shook me to the core. I exercised a lot and never thought this would happen to me," says Wagner, who adds that his good physical condition did help him qualify for the transplant and survive the procedure.

U-M transplants more lungs than any other hospital in Michigan. The program has been around since 1990. About 1,500 lungs are transplanted annually each year, and U-M ranks among the top third of lung transplant programs based on the number of operations.

"Just improving a person's life and allowing them to have a productive life again – being able to eat, sleep and live without thinking of their lung disease – it's very rewarding. It's a great story to highlight the tremendous need for organ donation," says Kevin Chan, M.D., U-M's Medical Director of Lung Transplantation.

Chan stressed the important role of the donor's family members, whose generosity in a time of tragedy allowed others a second chance at life.

"The thanks really shouldn't go to us, but more to the family of the person who passed who made it possible to save another person's life. They are the true 'heroes' of this story," Chan says.

Every year, 30,000 Americans die from IPF, a disease that often affects older people. Its cause generally is unknown, although cumulative injuries like exposure to environmental toxins and pollutants in genetically susceptible individuals could contribute to causing fibrosis.

There is a gradual scarring of the lung, thickening and contracting the organ until it loses its ability to exchange oxygen with blood. Patients experience extreme fatigue, rapid weight loss, chronic cough and shortness of breath.

There are 5 million people worldwide that are affected by this disease, according to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. In the United States there are more than 100,000 patients with pulmonary fibrosis.

Both Wagner and Roy waited only about a month before they received the new lungs. At U-M, the waiting period for lungs is about seven months on average.

Every day, 19 people die while waiting for an organ transplant and another 138 people are added to the national waiting list. More than 100,000 people are on that waiting list – enough to fill Michigan Stadium where the Wolverines play football.

"I think organ donation is a very simple gift that anyone can make. And the more people that do it, the more people who can have this better lease on life," says Rishindra M. Reddy, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at U-M, and the thoracic surgeon who performed Wagner's transplant.

Both Wagner and Roy thanked Gift of Life Michigan and the donor for the gift of a second chance.

"That donor helped out tremendously, allowing two people or more to carry on their lives a lot longer than 64 years of age. We're hoping it is 84, 94 years of age," Wagner says.

Resources:
Gift of Life Michigan: www.giftoflifemichigan.org
U-M Transplant Center: med.umich.edu/trans/public

SOURCE University of Michigan Health System

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Turkish silicosis patient's operation cancelled over accommodation fee


Şükrü Kuş (R) was told the only way to at least prolong his life was to have a lung transplant. DHA photo

By NESRİN COŞKUN İZMİR – Doğan News Agency (DHA)

A Turkish silicosis patient failed to receive medical treatment abroad after the Social Insurance Administration, or SGK, refused to pay for his full treatment.

Şükrü Kuş, who was diagnosed with silicosis after working in a denim manufacturing firm between 2001 and 2004, failed to receive a scheduled lung transplant in Austria when the SGK refused to pay his accommodation expenses while at the hospital.

The SGK had agreed to cover all operation expenses, but Kuş was unable to undergo the operation at Vienna University’s Medicine Faculty, as he could not provide 40,000 Turkish Liras for the room he was to stay in while being treated.

“I didn’t even have 40 liras, let alone 40,000 liras. Although the SGK undertook at least 300,000 liras for my treatment, it would not cover the accommodation expenses; it just said ‘We’ll let you die,’” Kuş said Sunday, adding that he still could not understand why the administration had agreed to send him abroad if they were unwilling to fund the full cost of the treatment.

Kuş sent a letter to both the Prime Ministry and the Presidency, asking for help to pay the accommodation expenses at the Austrian hospital.

The patient said he received only an explanatory note from the SGK, which noted that the administration was able to pay the transportation expenses to take him to Vienna by a plane-ambulance, but was not responsible for paying for the accommodation, according to bilateral insurance agreements with its Austrian counterpart.

Kuş had to be sent abroad as lung transplants are not done in Turkey. After finding out he had silicosis in 2006, Kuş was told the only way to at least prolong his life, if not become completely cured, was to have a lung transplant.

The most common occupational lung disease in the world, silicosis is often contracted by workers engaged in sandblasting jeans without proper ventilation or protection. It is non-curable and can be fatal. According to medical reports from Turkey, sandblasting operators can develop an acute form of silicosis in just six to 24 months of work.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Monday, February 14, 2011

New heart pump being tested in Canada, considered bridge to transplant

By: Nelson Wyatt, The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - Lauza Legere's heart is beating strong this Valentine's Day but not because she's been poked with Cupid's arrow.

She's helping test the C-Pulse Heart Assist System, a new device that rhythmically squeezes her aorta and pumps blood to her damaged heart.

"I feel much better than before," Legere said in a telephone interview, explaining that before she got the pump it was hard to even take a breath.

"I stopped every two or three words because I was out of breath. I wasn't able to walk. With the pump, it helps my heart to get the oxygen that I wasn't able to have."

Dr. Renzo Cecere of the McGill University Health Centre says Legere is the first person in Canada to get the device, which reduces blood clots that can cause strokes.

He is currently conducting trials on the pump and hopes to implant 12 devices in the next 18 months.

''There are probably thousands of patients who might benefit from a pump like this," said the doctor, who is director of the Mechanical Heart Assist Program and surgical director of the MUHC's transplant program.

"This would be an effective therapy as a so-called bridge to transplant. Alternatively, some patients would receive this as what we call destination therapy — this is their last and only option."

The device is basically a cuff around the aorta, the artery that pumps blood from the heart to the rest of the body. A balloon inside the device inflates and deflates with each heartbeat, pumping the blood through the heart.

There is no need to make incisions into the heart or any major blood vessels during the implantation of the device, which is run by an external battery and mini-computer. Both are worn on the outside of the body.

Patients also don't need to take anti-clotting medications after surgery.

Legere, who lives in Laval, Que., suffered a heart attack last Aug. 25 and was in bad shape, said Cecere.

"She came to my office in a wheelchair, extremely short of breath, very poor quality of life and no other option," Cecere said in a telephone interview.

The doctor said Legere, who is in her mid-50s, was not a suitable candidate for a transplant at that moment and that other medical treatments weren't working for her.

Legere had the C-Pulse implanted last Dec. 21.

The pump, which was invented in New Zealand, is based on a concept that's been around for 30 years, Cecere said. In the past, the technique has been used on heart patients who need additional, temporary support after surgery.

"It's based on the concept of a balloon which is inserted in the aorta (which) inflates and deflates in synchrony with the heart's rhythm," he explained.

"That concept was applied to a device which is implantable and can be operated on the long term versus the original device which was a short-term device."

The pump can be stopped and disconnected for a short period so the patient can take a shower or go for a brief swim.

"They may not have that assist, that extra boost that the pump provides but it shouldn't be tragic for them," Cecere said.

"This is why it can be extremely well tolerated for the patient to disconnect the pump and carry out some activities.''

Legere, whose next step may be a heart transplant when she's healthy enough and a donor heart is available, said she's hooked up to the machine 23 out of 24 hours.

"If I'm disconnected too long, I start breathing like before."

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fundraiser who has had double lung transplant honored

Emma Thackray
This Is Local London
A 26-year-old cystic fibrosis sufferer who has had a double lung transport has been recognized for raising an incredible £60,000 ($96,000) for charity.

Emily Thackray won the lifetime achievement award at the Justgiving awards ceremony, held at the Emirates stadium in London.

She has raised more than £35,000 ($56,000) through Justgiving, and campaigns relentlessly to raise awareness about organ donation and cystic fibrosis.

She was born with Cystic Fibrosis and received a double lung transplant in 2007. She started fundraising when she was just 10-years-old. Her first event was in her back garden and she made £120.

She has since helped raise over £60,000 ($96,000) for various charities, including the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the charity which she co-founded, Live Life Then Give Life.

Emily was diagnosed with CF at birth, and immediately commenced the daily regime of treatments and medications to keep her lungs as healthy as possible. However by the time she was 20, her lungs were so badly damaged she was told she needed a double lung transplant in order to survive. Desperately ill and dependent on oxygen 24 hours a day, she waited for 22 months before receiving her life-saving transplant.

During that time, Emily she never stopped campaigning and in 2006 did her biggest fundraiser to date, where she left her hospital bed to take part in a 5K challenge, using a wheelchair and oxygen to help her complete the course and raising over £20,000 ($32,000).

She said: “I love fundraising; it gives me such a buzz knowing that I’m doing something proactive for causes I care so much about. I was absolutely stunned to win at the Justgiving awards last night and completely overwhelmed. I’m hugely grateful to all those who continue to support me in my fight to raise awareness and funds for both Cystic Fibrosis and Organ Donation.”

Matt Coyne, Vice-chairman of Live Life Then Give Life said: “I was wondering how someone so young could receive a Life Time Achievement award. I believe anyone that knows her, has listened to one of her talks or chatted to her in our online community, would be able to answer that question for me with ease. She is an inspiration to so many people and is living proof of the benefits of signing the organ donor register. I'm honored to be Emily's Vice Chair for the Charity and so proud that she won this wonderful award.”

You can sign the organ donor register online at http://www.lltgl.org.uk or by phoning NHSBT on 0300 123 23 23.


“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Debbie King trying for heart transplant


by JOYANNA WEBER, Cleveland Daily Banner

Despite major health problems since birth, Debbie Workman King has tried to live a “normal” life and amazed many doctors along the way.

Now, she and her family must raise between $1,500 and $5,000 while waiting for King to be put on a transplant list for a new heart and possibly new lungs.

The hospital wants patients to have the money available before the patient is put on the list so that they can relocate and complete the care after surgery. To raise the money the family established a fund in Debra’s name through the National Transplant Assistance Fund. Workman put the money she says they should have spent on Christmas presents for the family toward the surgery to start the fund. The family has already raised more than $2,000.

“As soon as I get on the list we are going to have to relocate because I can’t be more than an hour or two away from where I’m having the heart put in,” King said.

King will have the transplant surgery at Duke University Hospital in North Carolina.

“I hope it don’t take too long and I can get me a new start on life,” King said.

Workman will be going with King when she relocates to serve as her caretaker after surgery. King said family support is important during the transplant process.

The hardest part is the waiting — not knowing if the right side of her heart will hold up long enough for a transplant to be beneficial. King said the news has also been hard on her husband of 11 years.

Her journey to the transplant list began when King went to the hospital with fluid buildup that made her look six months pregnant, King said. At the hospital, the fluid was drained and she was released. Later King returned because of fatigue and difficulty breathing. Doctors then told her she had a gallstone. However, King said the anesthesiologist was sure there was something else wrong.

This proved to be true.

“They ... found out that the right side of my heart was failing and it ripped the valve apart,” King said.

King was then taken from Woods Memorial Hospital in Etowah to Duke University Hospital in North Carolina.

A breathing test then revealed problems in her lungs also. Doctors are still finalizing the need for a lung transplant, and King has a lung evaluation scheduled for Feb. 21. Debbie said she should be receiving a letter soon stating the final analysis.

King’s problems began when she was born with a heart defect, tetralogy of Fallot, sometimes called “blue baby syndrome” because the lack of oxygen in the blood causes the infant’s face to turn blue. Her first open heart surgery came when she was 3. Since that time she has undergone open heart surgery three more times. During her last surgery, at the age of 40, she was given a pacemaker and defibrillator. Because her condition was rare, when she was younger numerous doctors would come to listen in on the diagnosis when she went to have a procedure done. More recently, Dr. Andrew Wang at Duke University Hospital told the family that King’s case had been used in a medical textbook.

To the surprise of many of her doctors, King has two children and has lived to see three of her grandchildren.

“I was 17 and 18 and I didn’t think about things like that (personal health risk of having a baby),” King said. “Thankfully just by luck and God ... I’ve always beat the odds on whatever I done.”

King’s daughter, Kristi Taylor, said her mom never let her condition get in the way of helping them be involved in extracurricular activities.

———

To donate to Debra King’s fund:

Call 800-642-8399 or visit www.ntafund.org/find-a-patient/ and search for Debra King. The website will also provide periodic updates on King’s condition.

Contributions can also be made by sending a check payable to NTAF South-Atlantic Heart Transplant Fund (memo: In Honor of Debra King) to NTAF 150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120, Radnor, PA 19087.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Run the NYC Half-Marathon with The Fresh Air Fund! March 20th


On March 20th, the Fresh Air Fund-Racers will take to the streets at the NYC Half-Marathon! Thank you to the Fresh Air Fund-Racers and their supporters for participating in this world class event. You are making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of Fresh Air children!

One of my favorite charities is the Fresh Air Fund that makes it possible for boys and girls, six to 12 years old, who reside in low-income communities in New York City to enjoy the experience of spending two weeks of life outside the city each summer. Not only is the New York City Half-Marathon a major fundraiser for the Fresh Air Fund, it is also a very popular event that is sold-out every year.

The Fresh Air Fund-Racers NYC Half-Marathon Team
From the Fresh Air Marathon News Site
Ready to be a part of one of the world's best road races? Join The Fresh Air Fund-Racers on March 20th, 2011! The amazing 13.1-mile course takes you through beautiful Central Park, action-packed Times Square and ends with breathtaking finish-line views of the New York City harbor. More than 11,000 runners, of all ages and abilities, finished the NYC Half-Marathon last year, and we are so proud of our very own 2010 Fresh Air Fund-Racers who ran and raised $100,000 for us!

We are calling all runners and Fresh Air Fund supporters to come out and either challenge themselves to run the race or join our cheering squad. The Fresh Air Fund provides runners with guaranteed entry in exchange for fundraising before race day. Entries are limited - please get in touch soon! Please email kbrinkerhoff@freshair.org or call (212) 897-8890. Or click here to learn more about how to fundraise for the race!

Over the past four years as a NY Road Runners charity partner for the NYC Half-Marathon, our 335 Fund-Racers have raised close to $400,000 for The Fresh Air Fund!

The Fresh Air Fund is also looking for host families for this summer as announced by Sara Wilson in the following message:

Hi Merv,

The Fresh Air Fund is looking for runners and sponsors to join our Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Half-Marathon this coming March 20th and I was hoping you might be able to post something about it on Merv Sheppard’s Transplant Network to share with your readers. This is a great way to participate in NYC's premier road race while helping Fresh Air Fund children. Please feel free to repost anything from our news site here:

http://freshairmarathon.com

We are also in need of host families for this Summer. Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and home to a child from the city to give them a fresh air experience they never forget. Please let me know if you are able to post or tweet and if you could send me the link that would be wonderful. Together we can help make sure these children have everything they need!

Thank you so much,

Sara
--
Sara Wilson,
The Fresh Air Fund
sara@freshair.org
www.freshair.org

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Pope can’t donate his organs


TNT Magazine
The Pope cannot donate his organs, The Vatican has decreed.

Though he’s a long-time signed-up organ donor, Pope Benedict XVi’s donor card became null and void the day he became head honcho of the Catholic church, his personal secretary revealed.

This is because the Pope's organs belong to the church and cannot be just plonked in some mere mortals, apparently.

The issue came up when a German doctor recently promoted organ donation using the Pope as an example. The pope signed up to the organ-donor program more than 30 years ago and carried a donor card for decades in his native Germany.

However the the Pope's secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein asked the doctor, in a letter, to desist from using Il Papa as an example.



"While it is true that the pope has an organ donor card, it is also true that, contrary to some public affirmations, the card issued in the 1970s became ipso facto invalid with Cardinal Ratzinger's election to the papacy," he explained.

The Pope has long been a supporter of organ donation which he described as an "act of love."

In 2008 he said: "tissue and organ transplants represent a great advance of medical science and are certainly a sign of hope for the many people who suffer from serious and sometimes critical medical conditions."

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Monday, February 07, 2011

Man still going strong 15 years after heart transplant

For years I've been extolling the importance of regular daily exercise for organ recipients and Dave Paul's story is a wonderful example of motivation, determination and longevity.

By Steve Wideman Post Crescent Staff Writer

NEENAH. Wisconsin — Dave Paul knew the strange feeling in his chest wasn't right, but a long-standing fear of doctors overcame a gut instinct to seek medical help.

Through the years, Paul had led a fairly active lifestyle as an avid bowler at the former Lakeroad Lanes and as a fixture at Bridgewood Golf Course, where he liked to walk the course's 18 holes rather than use an electric cart.

He chose to ignore the unusual feeling and numerous other warning signs over time, including a rubber-stamp designation from Uncle Sam declaring him unfit for military service.

"I was drafted back in 1961, went to Milwaukee to have my physical and the doctors heard something in my heart. They labeled me 4F, and I went home. I just learned to live with it (heart problems). I was too scared to go to the doctor," Paul said.

Today, Paul, 70, starts each day by swallowing 14 pills, not even half of the 30 pills he ingests each day to, in part, ward off rejection of the transplanted heart that's been beating in his chest since Jan. 31, 1996.

Living Longer
American Heart Association statistics show a trend toward increasing years of survival after a heart transplant.

The latest statistics show 88 percent of males and 86 percent of females survive one year after a transplant, while 79 percent of males and 77 percent of females are alive after three years. The numbers go down slightly after five years with 73 percent of males and 69 percent of females surviving.

Paul celebrated his 15th year of living with a borrowed heart by doing his daily exercise routine — two to three hours of riding a stationary bike at the YMCA in Neenah.

As of Wednesday, there were 3,153 people on heart transplant waiting lists in the United States and another 68 waiting for heart and lung transplants, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

There are 126 hospitals in the U.S. that perform heart transplants, according to the agency.

Early Warning Signs
Paul's first bout with a serious illness occurred when he was six years old and growing up in Merrill.

"I came down with rheumatic fever," Paul recalls. "I was very sick. I remember my mother wrapped my legs up in wool. That's how the Germans did things."

Paul isn't sure if the fever had anything to do with his future medical problems, but as he grew, his heart developed issues.

"They call it an enlarged heart — a floppy heart," said his wife, Jan.

Paul was 21 in 1961 and concerned because he had put 50 pounds on his normal 145-pound body in six months.

"I was out one night and felt a different feeling in my body. I knew something was wrong," Paul said.

It was shortly after that when a military doctor heard the unusual noise in his heart.

A Temporary Fix
One of 15 children, Paul lived a normal life, raising three children and helping to run a youth bowling league. He did suffer from sleep apnea, a condition that interrupts the normal breathing pattern.

In 1975, Paul finally visited a doctor who diagnosed his enlarged heart condition.

"One valve in his heart was not closing. The blood was going back into his heart," Jan said. "His condition was known as cardiomyopathy."

Physicians implanted a stainless steel valve to fix the problem, Jan said.

All went well with Paul for the next 20 years until Nov. 22, 1995, following a night out with family members for pizza.

"That was the night Dave died on the living room floor," Jan said. "He was sitting on the couch when all of a sudden he laid his head back. Our granddaughter said, 'What's the matter with grandpa?' His heart was out of sync and had just stopped."

Jan immediately began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until paramedics arrived on the scene.

"They told me they didn't think he was going to make it," she said.

A Second Chance
By Nov. 24, 1995, Paul was one of 13 patients at University Hospital and Clinics in Madison waiting for heart transplants.

Jan would spend the next four months in a nearby hotel as her husband waited for, received and recovered from the life-saving procedure.

Initially, Paul was hooked up to an artificial heart/lung machine the size of a refrigerator. After eight weeks, that machine produced a side effect — mini strokes — that drastically changed the situation.

"The doctors said they were going nationwide to look for a heart donor," Jan said.

In a matter of hours, a donor — a 35-year-old woman who died from a brain condition — was located in Arkansas.

"Dave has a woman's heart and he seems so much more mellow with that heart than he was before," Jan said.

Of the 13 people on the waiting list with Paul, he remains the only one still living, Jan said.

He remained in the hospital for two months fighting off infection.

Paul said he is grateful to his wife for saving his life.

"If it weren't for her, I would not be here to see my grandchildren."

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, February 03, 2011

NYC bans smoking in parks, Times Square


Congratulations to the City of New York for taking this aggressive measure to limit exposure to second-hand smoke. I hope more jurisdictions will follow suit. As a lung transplant recipient it bothers me to no end when I'm attending an out-door event and someone beside me lights-up and exposes me to their smoke. Here's a reminder of the hazards of breathing second-hand smoke:

Health effects of second-hand smoke

The hazardous health effects of exposure to second-hand smoke are now well-documented and established in various independent research studies and numerous international reports. The body of scientific evidence is overwhelming: there is no doubt within the international scientific community that second-hand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer, nasal sinus cancer, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma and middle ear infections in children and various other respiratory illnesses. Second-hand smoke exposure is also causally associated with stroke, low birthweight, spontaneous abortion, negative effects on the development of cognition and behaviour, exacerbation of cystic fibrosis and cervical cancer.

CBC News
New York City's parks, beaches and even Times Square will be off-limits to smokers under one of the nation's toughest anti-cigarette laws passed Wednesday by the city council.

"This summer, New Yorkers who go to our parks and beaches for some fresh air and fun will be able to breathe even cleaner air and sit on a beach not littered with cigarette butts," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after the 36-12 vote.

The smoking ban will cover 1,700 parks and 14 miles of public beaches plus boardwalks, marinas and pedestrian plazas like the one in the heart of Times Square. The ban goes into effect 90 days after Bloomberg signs the bill; the mayor has 20 days to do that.

States and cities from Maine to California have banned smoking in public parks and beaches, but New York is pursuing one of the widest-reaching urban bans. Smoking is also prohibited in Los Angeles city parks and in Chicago parks with playgrounds.

Supporters of the New York ban said exposure to second-hand smoke poses health risks.

"The statistics don't lie: second-hand smoke kills," Council Speaker Christine Quinn said. "With this bill, all New Yorkers can now breathe easier and breathe cleaner air."

A law banning smoking in New York City bars and restaurants went into effect in 2003.

Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz voted for the latest ban despite her ambivalence about earlier anti-smoking measures that forced her outdoors in bad weather when she was a smoker.

"My grandson used to tell me, 'Grandma, you're going to die,"' Koslowitz, now a nonsmoking legislator, said in announcing her vote.

Outside on Wednesday, the wet, raw winter weather didn't seem to bother Cal Johnson as he strolled through the park in front of city hall, puffing on a cigarette.

"I guess I'll have to stop smoking in this park," said the 68-year-old retired Wall Street analyst when he was told of the anti-smoking vote.

However, "in principle, I support this ban on smoking — even though I'm a smoker," said Johnson, adding he'll smoke on a nearby street where he lives once the new law kicks in.

The expanded smoking ban will give the city's parks department the power to slap violators with quality-of-life summonses, which are tickets for minor offences like begging or public urination that typically carry fines of under $100.

However, Councilwoman Gale Brewer, the bill's prime sponsor, said the ban isn't intended to be a legally "punitive program." She said the city expects the law will be primarily self-enforced, with residents warning anyone who lights a cigarette in a park or on a beach that it's illegal. Police won't be responsible for enforcing it, she said.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You