Transplant Headlines

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Praise be for organ donors
From the Redland Bayside Bulletin in Australia:

TWELVE-year-old Kahlia Clulow is about to start high school, but her Mount Cotton family is celebrating a far more important milestone. It has now been 10 years since a liver transplant saved Kahlia’s life when she was two, prompting her parents Kelli and Craig to call on more Australians to register as organ donors.

Doctors had told the family that Kahlia, who was born with a defective liver and whose arteries did not develop properly, would probably not live long enough to start primary school.

But after an agonising wait for a liver to become available, Kahlia received a transplant following the death of an unknown donor.

Mum Kelli says barely a day goes by when she doesn’t think of the donation that allowed her daughter to live a generally healthy life.

“I look at her … and straight away think of the people who donated,” she says.

“It never leaves your mind.” Read the full article.

Birthday girl so grateful for gift of life
From the Scotsman.com in the UK:

Milestone celebration for plucky teenager who stared death in the face and survived thanks to a transplant.

LET’S PARTY: Claire Millar and mum Dawn are making big plans for the teenager’s 18th birthday. “Just reaching her 18th is emotional,” says Dawn.
Picture: ED JONES

CLAIRE MILLAR'S eyes light up as she holds out a framed photo taken at her school prom last June. In her long pink dress, she looks beautiful. With excitement in her voice she describes how she had her make up and hair professionally styled before she was picked up in a limo which took her and her friends to the Queensferry Hotel.

She looks like any other teenage girl delighted to be getting properly glammed up for the first time but the prom was just one year after Claire, who was born with a rare congenital heart disorder, underwent a lifesaving heart and lung transplant.

At their home in Deans, Livingston, Claire's mum Dawn, recalls: "It was lovely to see her all done up. A lot of effort went into it but it was money well spent. There were many times over the last couple of years when we thought we wouldn't see that moment."

As they prepare for a much more joyful event – the celebration of Claire's 18th birthday – Dawn hopes that the bleak period when her daughter's health deteriorated is firmly behind them.

And, as befits the plucky young woman who loves to shop, play on the computer and experiment with makeup and fashion, they are planning a huge party in a local hall. Read the complete story.

Kidney patient hasn't found biological family
From the Flint Journal in Michigan:

Her adoption was never a secret

Juaice Lamar, 36, said she's always known she was adopted when she was only a few months old by a Flint teacher. But in March, The Flint Journal profiled Lamar in hopes the publicity could solve the mystery of who her biological family is in time to help with a kidney transplant.

"I'm still doing dialysis. Everything is the same," Lamar said. "Nobody called as far as telling me who my biological family is."

Janice Dillon, a Head Start teacher, contacted The Journal on Lamar's behalf after hearing her story during a home visit.

Lamar's family connections could be life-saving. The best medical match for replacing Lamar's failed kidneys is from someone in her biological family.

She was born Aug. 8, 1970 at Hurley Medical Center and was adopted by Gloria Lamar, a Flint elementary teacher, on Nov. 6.

Growing up it was just Juaice (pronounced wah-reese) and her adoptive mom, but a family friend has told Juaice that she may have sisters. Juaice, a nurse's assistant at McLaren Regional Medical Center, has moved up on the transplant list because of administrative changes with her transplant program.

That's good news because the dialysis is time-consuming, and forces her to put her dreams on hold. She wants to be a nurse. Read the full story.

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