Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Justin Bieber, Tom Brady inspire Facebook organ donation app

Giving Means Living Facebook app designed to help organ donation awareness. Read about it and download at:  https://apps.facebook.com/giving_means_living/ 

Pop Star Justin Bieber and NFL Star Tom Brady are the inspiration for this organ donation Facebook app.

Over 100,000 North Americans are currently waiting for a lifesaving call about organ donations. Sadly many never get the call and pass away before a suitable organ donation is found.

Thanks to the efforts of the innovative website mysendoff.com, there is now a free Facebook app called “Giving Means Living” that will raise awareness of the importance of organ donations. The “Giving Means Living” app allows Facebook members to document and share their organ donation wishes with family and friends.

According to donatelife.net, nearly 90% of North Americans support organ donation, but only 30% actually take the necessary steps to agree to it and document their wishes. With the new “Giving Means Living” app people now have an easy way to express their organ donation wishes to Facebook friends and the app also offers links to organ donor registration sites in North America.

Colin Firth, founder of mysendoff.com, observed “Giving Means Living” is designed to get people thinking, communicating and encouraging them to commit to donating their organs so that others may live. If we can help even one person waiting for an organ donation or eliminate the waiting list then we believe our efforts will be worthwhile."

Explaining why the app was developed Firth says, "We decided to add our efforts to organ donation awareness after pop music star Justin Bieber and NFL Quarterback Tom Brady recently lent their voices to help friends in need of organ donations. We felt that the power and reach of Facebook could also be used to help build awareness of such a critical and important issue.”

The "Giving Means Living" app is an easy to use social contract. Facebook members simply click on the app and choose which organs they wish to donate and click to post on their Wall. The "Giving Means Living" donation instructions will be displayed on the member's Wall and shared with Facebook friends.

Every person can save up to 10 lives with their organ donor agreement, which is essentially a gift of life to others. Notable celebrities who have gone on to lead productive lives after receiving organ donations include Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs, baseball great Mickey Mantle, comedian George Lopez and millions of other North Americans who are now living because of others' giving.

Mysendoff.com hopes that by making the "Giving Means Living" app available to Facebook's 175 million North American users, they will choose to engage, help reduce and ideally eliminate the organ donor waiting list. The first step is to communicate and share their organ donation wishes with family and friends.

To schedule interviews with mysendoff.com founder Colin Firth, contact him at cfirth@mysendoff.com or (705) 688-2339. Skype interviews are available.

More information on the "Giving Means Living" campaign and Facebook app can be found at https://apps.facebook.com/giving_means_living/

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Mysendoff.com will help you create your own personalized life celebration and funeral sendoff. Learn, create and share your choices including music, photos, ceremony, and legal issues such as organ donation.

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 27, 2012

Justin Bieber pumps life into Ontario organ donations

This story illustrates the power of social networking and the role that sites such as Twitter can play in coming to the aid of those in need, especially if famous celebrities like Justin Bieber take up the cause. 12 years ago when I was first diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis there was no social networking and I had to rely on the generosity of organ donors and their families. Fortunately I only waited 25 days after being listed for a lung transplant to get the call that would give me a second chance at life. But many patients wait up to 30 months or more and the call does not come soon enough for some who die while on the waiting list. I am very proud of Justin Bieber for helping our transplant community and a huge thanks goes to him for responding to Hélène's need.


Hélène Campbell, 20, has been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) - Photo: Ottawa Citizen

By Matthew Coutts | CTVNews.ca
A rally cry from Justin Bieber asking fans to become organ donors has done wonders for Ontario's Trillium Gift of Life Network, which has seen a boost in registrations from people offering to become organ donors since the plea was made last week.


Bieber, who frequently makes hearts throb, turned his attention toward other organs when he responded to an Ottawa woman's request for help.
Hélène Campbell, 20, has been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis – a rare lung disorder that requires a transplant. She has moved to Toronto for treatment and is on a waiting list for new organs.
Campbell has kept an account of her experiences on www.alungstory.ca and has been trying to rally support for organ donations across the province.
Last week, Campbell and her friends came up with a plan to draw Bieber into the campaign by contacting him en masse through Twitter.
"Hey @justinbieber! I BELIEB you should use that Canadian voice of yours and helpsave lives like mine #beanorgandonor beadonor.ca #giveblood," Hélène wrote from her Twitter account @alungstory.
The star from Stratford, Ont., forwarded her message to his 16.5 million Twitter followers, and followed it up with a plea of his own, asking followers to help spread the word.
Trillium Gift of Life Network, which operates the beadonor.ca website, saw an immediate spike in traffic to the website and an explosion in online registration.
The health network has received some 1,500 online registrations since Campbell began her campaign last Thursday. That is more than four times the amount the network usually receives.
The Trillium Gift of Life Network says there are about 1,500 people in Ontario awaiting a life-saving organ donation, plus more waiting for tissue transplants.

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 26, 2012

ECMO as a Bridge to Lung Transplantation

See end of article for ECMO explained.
biomedme.com

“As waiting times for donor organs continue to increase, so does the need for bridging strategies for patients with end-stage lung disease awaiting transplantation,” said Doctor Marius M. Hoeper. “Our study shows that ECMO support in awake and non-intubated patients may be an alternative to intubation and mechanical ventilation, and may result in better survival.”

In the retrospective, single-centre study of consecutive lung transplantation candidates with terminal respiratory or cardiopulmonary failure, 26 patients received awake ECMO and 34 control patients received conventional mechanical ventilation (MV) as a bridge to transplant. Median duration of ECMO support was 9 days (range 1-45) and median duration of MV was 15 days (range 1-71). Veno-arterial ECMO was used primarily in patients with right ventricular failure and/or profound hypoxemia while the veno-venous approach was used primarily in patients exhibiting hypoxemic and/or hypercapnic respiratory failure but stable hemodynamics.

Of 26 patients in the ECMO group, six (23 per cent) died before a donor organ became available, compared with 10 of 34 (29 per cent) patients in the MV group. Among the patients who reached transplantation, the survival rate at six months post-transplantation was significantly (p=.02) higher in the awake ECMO group (80 per cent) compared with the MV group (50 per cent). The six-month survival rate among awake ECMO patients who required secondary intubation dropped to 43 per cent. Awake ECMO patents required significantly (p=.04) shorter postoperative mechanical ventilation and showed a trend towards shorter postoperative hospital stays.

ECMO-related complications included a fatal cardiac arrest after insertion of the venous ECMO cannulae in one patient. Intubation and mechanical ventilation was required 1-7 days after ECMO insertion in six patients. Blood transfusions due to bleeding complications were needed in eight patients. Of five patients who developed a sepsis-like syndrome, one recovered.

“Ours is the largest series of patients who underwent awake ECMO as a bridge to lung transplantation,” said Doctor Thomas Fuehner. “In addition to the possibility that this approach may improve survival, one of the main benefits of using awake ECMO is the avoidance of the complications associated with general anaesthesia, intubation, and long-term ventilation.”

The study had a few limitations, including the small number of patients included and the retrospective nature of the analyses. “Awake ECMO may be an effective bridging strategy for lung transplantation candidates,” said Hoeper. “This strategy, however, remains investigational and must be studied further to improve its safety and efficacy and examine how to tailor its use for specific patient populations.”
Source: American Thoracic Society

ECMO explained
In intensive care medicine, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an extracorporeal technique of providing both cardiac and respiratory support oxygen to patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer serve their function. Initial cannulation of a patient receiving ECMO is performed by a surgeon and maintenance of the patient is the responsibility of the ECMO Specialist and gives 24/7 monitoring care during the duration of the ECMO treatment.

An ECMO machine is similar to a heart-lung machine. To initiate ECMO, cannulae are placed in large blood vessels to provide access to the patient's blood. Anticoagulant drugs, usually heparin, are given to prevent blood clotting. The ECMO machine continuously pumps blood from the patient through a membrane oxygenator that imitates the gas exchange process of the lungs, i.e. it removes carbon dioxide and adds oxygen. Oxygenated blood is then returned to the patient.
Source: Wikipedia

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 25, 2012

Personal Spirometer to Monitor Lung Function launched by PMD Healtcare

PMD Healthcare Launches Spiro PD—The First Personal Spirometer to Monitor Lung Function

MDT.com
ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA -- PMD Healthcare Inc., announced today the launch and availability of its novel new lung health monitoring device – Spiro PD. Recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Spiro PD is the first and only personal spirometer that enables patients with lung diseases – those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis (CF) and lung transplants – to easily and accurately monitor their lung function anytime and anywhere.

As the first and only personal spirometer, the easy-to-use device is designed specifically to monitor lung function of an adult, adolescent or young child. Other features of Spiro PD allow patients to view their lung function trends over time, manage medications, set reminder alarms to take medicine, do breathing exercises and quickly upload data to their computer and share it with their doctor.

“With the increase in prevalence of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma and other pulmonary problems in the U.S., the availability of Spiro PD is especially significant,” explained Dr. Michael S. Blaiss, a member of the Board of Directors of the World Allergy Organization and a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis. “This new device allows patients and parents of young children with lung diseases to know exactly how their condition is doing at any time, enabling patients to have a more active role in controlling their lung health, and potentially identifying problems before the need for costly emergency treatment.”

Lung, or pulmonary, disease is any disease or disorder that occurs in the lungs or that causes the lungs to not work properly1. Regular measurement and monitoring of lung function is important to pulmonary disease management.

“We are excited about the launch of Spiro PD, as we were able to utilize the latest electronic technology to provide patients with lung diseases with an easy-to-use device that conveniently allows them to monitor their lung function anytime and anywhere,” said Wayne Meng, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President of PMD Healthcare, Inc. “We are confident that this innovative, portable and affordable personal spirometer will empower patients to better control their disease, by enhancing medication adherence, improving communication between doctor and patient and avoiding expensive ER trips and hospital stays.”

About the Spiro PD
The Spiro PD ("Spiro" stands for spirometer, a device used to measure the volume and flow of air entering and leaving the lungs2 and "PD" stands for personal device), is the first personal spirometer that enables patients with lung diseases – those with asthma, COPD, CF and lung transplants – to easily and accurately monitor their lung function anytime and anywhere. Spiro PD allows patients to view their lung function trends over time, manage medications, set alarms reminding them to take medicine, do breathing exercises and quickly upload data to their computer and share it with their doctor.

Spiro PD is cleared to market by the FDA for the use by a patient to test lung function in children, adolescents and adults. It is a single-patient device. Spiro PD is also certified with the CE mark for the European Union (EU) market. Spiro PD meets American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) standards.

Spiro PD is available online with a prescription. Spiro PD is designed and marketed by PMD Healthcare, Inc. For more information visit www.spiropd.com.

About Lung Disease
Lung, or pulmonary, disease is any disease or disorder that occurs in the lungs or that causes the lungs to not work properly1. One example is COPD, the number three cause of death in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)3. Regular measurement and monitoring of lung function is important to pulmonary disease management, including:

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways and can be a life-threatening illness if not properly managed4. An estimated 25 million Americans, including nearly 7 million children, are currently living with asthma5,6. Annually, asthma accounts for approximately 17 million doctor office visits, including physician offices, hospital outpatient and emergency departments7, 10 million missed work days and 13 million missed school days8.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is a progressive lung disease that obstructs the airway or damages the small air sacs in the lungs. These changes restrict airflow into and out of the lungs and result in breathing difficulty. More than 12 million Americans are estimated to have COPD, and an estimated additional 12 million adults are undiagnosed3.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a fatal, inherited chronic disease that causes severe lung damage and nutritional deficiencies. Approximately 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. are living with this disease and more than 10 million Americans are carriers of the CF gene. About 1,000 new cases of CF are diagnosed each year9.

Lung transplant involves a surgical procedure in which a patient’s diseased lungs are partially or totally replaced by lungs from a donor. It is usually used as a last resort for lung failure10.

About PMD Healthcare, Inc.
PMD Healthcare, Inc., headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to creating innovative, easy-to-use, portable and affordable personal medical devices, and to empower people worldwide to improve their healthcare and quality of life. For more information about PMD Healthcare, Inc. visit www.personalmedicaldevices.com.

References
1. American Lung Association. Lung Disease. http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease Accessed January 2012.
2. American Lung Association. Tools for Identifying & Diagnosing Patients at Risk for COPD. http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease. Accessed January 2012.
3. American Lung Association. Understanding COPD. http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/copd/about-copd/understanding-copd.html. Accessed January 2012.
4. American Lung Association. Understanding Asthma. http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/asthma/about-asthma/understanding-asthma.html. Accessed January 2012.
5. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. What is Asthma?. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/lung/asthma/naci/asthma-info/index.htm. Accessed January 2012.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Asthma Prevalence, Health Care Use, and Mortality: United States, 2005-2009. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr032.pdf. Accessed January 2012.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Asthma: FastStats. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/asthma.htm. Accessed January 2012.
8. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. National Asthma Control Initiative. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/lung/asthma/naci/pubs/naci-factsheet.pdf. Accessed January 2012.
9. American Lung Association. Understanding Cystic Fibrosis. http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/cystic-fibrosis/understanding-cystic-fibrosis.html. Accessed January 2012.
10. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. What is a Lung Transplant?. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/lungtxp/. Accessed January 2012.
11. American Lung Association. Understanding Pulmonary Fibrosis http://www.lungusa.org/lung-disease/pulmonary-fibrosis/understanding-pulmonary.html. Accessed January 2012.

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 23, 2012

Bacon, Ham, Heart Valves?

I am pleased to post this guest article by Elaine Hirsch

Pigs have been on the human menu for millennia, but medical research now has another use for the floppy-eared trotters. Thanks to their genetic similarities, pigs are believed to be excellent candidates for organ transplants. Exciting studies are going on right now, so how soon can we expect to see pigs as lifesavers instead of a rich and tasty source of cholesterol?

Researchers are very optimistic about the future of xenotransplantation. According to an article in Medical News Today, breakthroughs in genetic engineering mean that clinical trials in humans are only a few years away, Medical transcriptions of organ transplant surgeries often cite mismatched organs and blood types as reasons for the host rejecting the transplant. Luckily, advances are being made to counter this problem.

Xenotransplantation, or transplantation of an organ or cells from a different species into a human, has seen some very big developments recently. Currently, organ transplants come from human donors (deceased, except in the case of kidneys and parts of other organs including the lung, liver and pancreas that are now being transplanted from living donors.) It is very difficult to find a donor genetically similar enough to risk the operation, and even then, rejection rates are high. In addition, artificial devices are costly and inefficient. A plentiful source of viable, genetically compatible organs could save the lives of thousands of people every year.

Pigs are genetically very similar to humans and their organs are close in size to our own, so they are the main focus of transplant research. Scientists are working on genetically modifying pigs to produce organs that will not trigger an autoimmune response in recipients, meaning they will not be rejected by the host's body. Once a "donor strain" is established, these pigs can be bred naturally and produce further generations of donors at very little cost.

In New Zealand, scientists are experimenting with transplanting the pancreatic islets of pigs into other primates. The study has encountered problems, and researchers anticipate further issues with human candidates before the process can be perfected, but they expect significant advances in the coming years. One diabetic monkey survived for more than a year with no other therapy than these islets.

Another study hopes to use the neuronal cells of pigs to reverse the progress of degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease. Nonhuman primate recipients have shown improvement in locomotive function, but they have also succumbed to other conditions due to artificially weakened immune systems. The authors are cautiously optimistic and hope to solve this problem.

Less exotic uses of animal organs undergoing study include the transplant of liver and red blood cells and corneas. Ophthalmologists such as Dr. David Hwang are culturing bovine corneal epithelial cells for transplant into humans. The cloned cells would develop in the recipient's eye just like human cells, but cow cells are much easier to grow in a lab than those of a human.

There are and probably always will be ethical objections to using animals as cheap sources of organs. Animal activists decry the use of animals for experimentation and harvest, and many patients would refuse the transplants for religious reasons. A variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome may have been transmitted through human-to-human transplants, and fears of a retrovirus from foreign tissue attacking humans continue to surface despite scientists' reassurance that this is unlikely.

Will the ethical objections and experimental setbacks crush this field of study before it can grow? As with so many questions, the answer is in the flow of money. Researchers seem to have no problem acquiring funding to continue their studies. Given the scarcity of compatible human donors and the steadily increasing number of patients with diabetes, neural degenerative diseases, and heart problems, it's a safe bet that xenotransplantation will be the future of medicine. Ten years from now, the term pig-headed may have a whole new meaning.

About the author:
Elaine Hirsch is kind of a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and videogames. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites, including onlinephd.org and writing about all these things instead.


“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 20, 2012

Australia organ donation rate 14.9 per million population - 24th in world

These interviews on ABC Australia can be listened to at abc.net.au/pm

Radio Current Affairs Documentary: Organ Transplants

ELIZABETH JACKSON: It's now more than three years since the Federal Government announced its commitment to boost Australia's organ donation level. More than $150 million has been ploughed into a new authority to make it happen. But there doesn't appear to be much to show for it.

Last year in Australia, just 300 people became organ donors and the statistics haven't really changed over the past 20 years.

Bronwyn Herbert has this report.

(Coughing)

KIMBERLEY LIVINGSTONE: Prior to transplant I knew every single breath, every single crackle, every little noise that my lungs made and how hard it was to breathe, gasping like huh, huh, huh (gasping).

I'm Kimberley Livingstone. I had a double lung transplant two and a half years ago and I'm 30 years of age. Post transplant, like, I was lying flat on the bed, which I couldn't do for months before. Breathing, talking and just not even knowing,

BRONWYN HERBERT: Kimberley Livingstone is unusual. She's one of only a few hundred Australians each year who receive a donated organ. Right now, at least 1700 people are waiting for a kidney transplant to save their life, and there's hundreds more hoping for a second chance, looking for a heart, an eye, a liver or lung.

KIMBERLEY LIVINGSTONE: By the time I got transplanted I was down to 16 per cent lung function. I was on oxygen and in a wheel chair and for a 28-year-old girl that's not very appealing.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Transplants are costly and complex. Deborah Verran leads a transplant surgical team servicing New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

DEBORAH VERRAN: You get the call late at night and you basically have to meet a team here at the hospital, then go to the airport where you get on a chartered aircraft and fly to a small hospital in the middle of the night and set up to do an organ donor retrieval process.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Organs are flushed with a preservation solution, then packaged and placed in an esky chilled to exactly four degrees Celsius.

DEBORAH VERRAN: The heart really has only four hours on ice. The lungs can last six to eight hours. Liver can go up to 12 hours, and the kidneys up to 18 to 24 hours.

BRONWYN HERBERT: The organs are precarious and precious, particularly as Australia has such a dismal rate of donation. It led then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008 to lament Australia "lagging behind" the world. Alongside the Health Minister Nicola Roxon, he announced more than $150 million to fund the necessary changes.

KEVIN RUDD: There are something in the order of 2000 people on transplant waiting lists and many more waiting to get onto transplant waiting lists.

NICOLA ROXON: We know that it is difficult for hospital staff to talk to families about organ donation, when their primary job is to try to save lives. We need dedicated, separate, professional staff who can approach the families in a sensitive way with proper training and this package will allow for all of those things to happen.

BRONWYN HERBERT: At that time, Australia ranked 28th in the world with just over 12 donors per million population. And this week the Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Aging, Catherine King, released the results for 2011.

CATHERINE KING: There is just over a thousand Australians’ lives were saved or improved through organ transplants in 2011 and that’s from the legacy of 337 Australians whose families took the decision to allow them to become organ donors. That trend’s increasing.

BRONWYN HERBERT: There’s now 14,9 donors per million people, which puts Australia 24th in the world, still lagging behind many so-called developing nations.

Jonathan Gillis is the national medical director of the Organ and Tissue Authority:

JONATHAN GILLIS: We're progressing pretty well. The first full year of implementation was 2010, and our organ donation rate's increasing, so that was 25 per cent better than 2009, and it was 50 per cent above actually the baseline of some years before that.

So I think there's no doubt that organ donation is increasing, but we do have a long way to go. This is just the beginning of the program and we expect it to increase year by year.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Despite the authority's optimistic outlook, the world leaders have more than double Australia's rate of donors. And in New South Wales, while having the highest number of people registered, donation rates are the lowest in the country.

For transplant professionals, it's frustrating and perplexing.

Deborah Verran.

DEBORAH VERRAN: Despite placing a large number of doctors and nurses that although we saw an initial increase in the donor rate particularly over the latter half of 2009 and through 2010, it does appear that that's not going to be sustained in 2011 and this is of major concern to professionals such as myself.

BRONWYN HERBERT: And, rather than boosting the all-important donation levels, its bureaucracy has ballooned.

DEBORAH VERRAN: The appointment of a large number of people, who in some cases they may only be achieving one or two donors a year, and you are left wondering what are these individuals spending their weeks actually doing.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Those changes, announced by the Federal Government back in 2008, were shaped by ShareLife. The not-for-profit group had studied the success stories of organ donation in leading countries, including Spain, and handed a blueprint to the Australian Government.

Marvin Weinman, the former head of George Weston Foods, now leads ShareLife.

MARVIN WEINMAN: ShareLife really is very interested in giving Australians the same access to transplants as the citizens of the majority of leading countries. We're currently ranked 24th in the world, and this is for a therapy that has a success rate over 90 per cent. That's unacceptable to members of the community.

BRONWYN HERBERT: He says the Organ and Tissue Authority has not put in place the evidence-based program it was funded to deliver.

MARVIN WEINMAN: Fundamentally people haven't followed the plan. At a leadership level, we haven't seen people actually take the very detailed program and explain it to all the people in the hospitals and so on. And we haven't focused our attention on the most important elements which is getting things right in the hospital.

It's simply a matter of having the right doctors coordinating the whole program in a hospital, reporting to the CEO in the hospital, and being trained properly to educate all hospital staff on the requirements and most importantly on how to ensure that prospective donors, or donor families, are fully informed when they make the decision.

We don't have, if you like, a national system. Each of the states are doing their own thing and the performance has been highly variable amongst the states as a result and it's highly variable amongst the hospitals.
.
BRONWYN HERBERT: Organ transplant specialist, Deborah Verran, also believes the crux of the problem lies in the intensive care ward.

DEBORAH VERRAN: I believe that the donors are out there, but I believe that the new Donate Life network, a number of the staff don't have the requisite skills or training to basically be able to identify, manage, obtain consent from the prospective donors. And this is actually essential.

The conversation that's required with a family who are obviously really traumatised and upset because their loved one's dying or has just died is the most difficult conversation that can ever be undertaken and clearly to undertake that conversation requires that someone be highly skilled and trained at obtaining consent.

And although we've had consent levels of 50 per cent to 60 per cent in the past, other countries have shown that with up-skilling and training of professionals in the donations sector that you can obtain far higher levels of consent. So clearly this has something to do with the skill and the ability of people who are seeking to gain consent.

(Ambulance siren)

BRONWYN HERBERT: At Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, Dr Jorge Brieva is at the coalface.

JORGE BRIEVA: I was wondering how Sharon in bed 2 is going today?

NURSE: Hi Dr Brieva. Sharon in bed 2 with a traumatic brain injury has been making good recovery, except that...

BRONWYN HERBERT: His hospital is one of the major trauma centres in the state and that means there's plenty of potential organ donors. Jorge Brieva is also the hospital's director for organ and tissue donation.

JORGE BRIEVA: The frustrating part is that sometimes we start to discuss organ and tissue donations with some families and they look at each other and would have no clue what their loved one would have wanted.

BRONWYN HERBERT: The New South Wales Government recently proposed a radical overhaul of organ donation laws to stop families overruling their relatives' wishes. Even if you tick the organ donor box on your driver's licence, your family can override that decision. And in almost 50 per cent of cases, that's exactly what happens.

JORGE BRIEVA: This year already we have nine patients that could have become donors, and somehow they expressed a refusal on any registries.

BRONWYN HERBERT: So the families or next of kin who were there then -

JORGE BRIEVA: Then they become aware that they said no, and they have no idea.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Those pateints had organs that could potentially have saved someone else's life?

JORGE BRIEVA: Yes. But it's very important to acknowledge it is a legitimate right to say no.

Look, it's such a complex issue. If you ask the majority of Australians whether organ donation is a generous and altruistic event that happens rarely in life, they would say of course.

However when it comes to donating organs, not all of them have the same attitude towards organ donation as they have to helping in other aspects of their lives, and perhaps what's happening is that there is a bit of information regarding how the process works; who can become organ donors? There's a lot of unknowns and needs out there.

BRONWYN HERBERT: The authority has spent more than $13 million in advertising and marketing. Last month it announced another half a million dollars in community grants to encourage more organ donation.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Does it surprise you that you have had such a high refusal rate here at John Hunter in the last year, given that at the same time there's been a ramping up of the media campaign to try and get people to talk and donate?

JORGE BRIEVA: Absolutely. Absolutely surprising. But, more importantly, as I said, I think that the majority of the patients or the donors that we did have this year that we couldn't progress was because they have expressed no on a registry.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Australia's poor donation rate is the subject of doctoral scholar Aric Bendorf's research.

(Typing)

ARIC BENDORF: What I'm looking at right now is, this is Australia and I've taken the past 20 years of organ donation performance for living and deceased donations, and I've analysed that. And what I've done is, I've done this across 74 countries.

BRONWYN HERBERT: He's just completed his PhD at the Centre for Values, Ethics and Law in Medicine at Sydney University.

ARIC BENDORF: What I can do then is look back over time and see what has helped or what has hurt organ donation performance both for living and deceased donors across the world, and there are a lot of interesting points that come out of this. When we look at leading donor countries we can see very clearly that it's all about brain death rates, high brain death rates.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Aric Bendorf says to understand organ transplants its critical to understand what "brain death" actually means. He uses the analogy of a "dead" computer:

ARIC BENDORF: You can look at a screen and to save energy it'll go to sleep. It goes into what we could call a coma. But if touch a key, or if I press a button, that screen can come alive and the computer can go back to doing word processing or a spreadsheet or graphics, whatever I want it to do. However, if the RAM in that computer gets destroyed then that memory is completely gone, that computer would be brain dead. So no matter what I do, that computer is not going to be a computer anymore.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Aric Bendorf's hypothesis is that despite Australia having roughly the same percentage of injuries that cause brain death as the leading donation countries, in Australian intensive care wards these same deaths end up classified as "death by futility". He says this is important, as it means organs can't be retrieved from these patients.

ARIC BENDORF: I was initially expecting to find that the types of death that lead to brain death would be substantially lower and indeed this is the commonly accepted wisdom here in Australia, that Australia is very safe, and that this is one of the reasons why our organ donation rates are low.

But I then compared what these rates were with what they were in Australia and I found out there's no real difference between these types of deaths, which are motor vehicles fatalities, strokes and traumatic head injury.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Intensive care specialist Jorge Brieva agrees with Aric Bendorf's conclusions.

JORGE BRIEVA: I think it's valid, his hypothesis. This is not strange to us in Australia that we do have a more proactive attitude towards end of life palliative care.

BRONWYN HERBERT: But he believes it's because intensive care units are so focused on making end of life as painless as possible.

JORGE BRIEVA: In Australia, once we recognise that a meaningful outcome will not be achieved we have a proactive attitude towards end of life. We gather consensus with families, we gather consensus with colleagues and we provide absolutely the best end of life practice we can.

So we will not go for a week in someone that will progress to brain death, just waiting for the brain death to occur, because we do not have good policies at the end of life.

BRONWYN HERBERT: But with that "best end of life" palliative care that you talk about, does that mean they're effectively ruled out of being potential organ donors?

JORGE BRIEVA: Well it could be that some of those patients providing time could become brain dead. The problem is that we do not know how many of them will become brain dead, and you may end up in a very risky gambling scenario which every day you go to families 'not today, but perhaps tomorrow', and families find progressing on grief and bereavement for two weeks.

So if we foresee that brain death is imminent, we will address organ donation as a potential outcome and if the families agree to that then we may wait. But we have to be sure to a great, or at least we have to have a good degree of certainty that brain death will occur. We cannot go into a guessing game for weeks.

BRONWYN HERBERT: So why is it then you can't actually then potentially get organs?

JORGE BRIEVA: Yeah well if, there is two ways that you can become organ donor in Australia. You can become an organ donor either because you become brain dead - if your brain dies and your heart continues to pump you may become an organ donor.

The other way of becoming an organ donor is if your heart stops first, and then you die. So you die because your heart stops, and if your heart stops in a place such as intensive care, and the heart stops within a time in which the oxygen into your lungs is ceased, then you may become still come an organ donor by what is called DCD, or donation after cardiac death.

And that is also a rare scenario because you have to be under the age of 65, and doctors will have to be able to at least have a degree of certainty that your death will occur within 60 minutes of the life support being removed.

BRONWYN HERBERT: And these "donors after cardiac death" are fast becoming a new issue for the transplant community. The advocacy group, ShareLife, has analysed the monthly figures produced by the Organ Donation Registry. It's found virtually all of the recent improvements in donation rates are because a new protocol allows more donors this way.

Transplant specialist Deborah Verran says there are medical issues with these donors, mainly because fewer organs can be used and the organs deteriorate quickly. And international evidence shows that countries relying on donations after cardiac death won't achieve the success rates of leading countries.

POPE JOHN PAUL II: Let us pray.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Spain leads the world in organ donation, largely because it's culturally accepted.

POPE JOHN PAUL II: From whom, every family, whether spiritual or natural (fades out).

BRONWYN HERBERT: Pope John Paul the second gave his support to the issue, and the largely Catholic society of Spain has followed.

Academic Aric Bendorf says cultural and religious values have influenced a country's rates of donation.

ARIC BENDORF: The Christian faith tradition has historically a more supportive role toward organ donation. This has to do with the Pope coming out and saying that organ donation is good. Other religions that view death differently, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, they have different views toward how we treat dead bodies.

JEREMY LAWRENCE: Hi, I'm Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence from the Great Synagogue. We're standing in my study at home. Around me are a variety of books, dating back from the, well, copies of the Bible which are three and a half thousand years old, we believe that the Torah was given on Sinai, through to the Rabbinic legislation of the Mishnah and the Talmud from the second and fourth centuries of the common era, and even guides to Jewish ethics which are printed in the years 2011 or found on CD-ROMs and USB sticks.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Rabbi Lawrence says traditional Jewish religious law ruled out organ donation, but as medical technology has improved the doctrine has evolved.

RABBI JEREMY LAWRENCE: Once upon a time those organs couldn't be fresh enough to use and there would be limited chance of success. Today those organs are fresh enough to use and you've got a 95 per cent chance of saving a life, so what's happened is the questions have become more sophisticated, and the answers based on the old text have enabled new answers to be given to society encouraging and possibly even mandating organ donation.

BRONWYN HERBERT: Mandating organ donation is unrealistic and unlikely, and it would be a brave hospital to override a family's wishes. But for recipients of life saving transplants they just wants an end to the misconceptions.

KIMBERLEY LIVINGSTONE: People think that you're going to get cut up. You won't. It's a very dignified surgery. People also think that they won't try and save their relative if they're going to donate, that's also wrong. Everything is done for the patient.

Waiting for a transplant is the worst thing that could happen to you. It's the longest, torturous, your life is on hold. I've been through it, I've lived it. I thought that, you know, thought that I didn't have the best outcome coming. I survived and now I'm pushing on. I'm here to make a difference and I want to help everybody else be just as strong.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Kimberley Livingtstone, recipient of a double lung transplant, ending that report from Bronwyn Herbert.

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 18, 2012

Chain of liver transplant surgeries saves three children

indianexpress.com
Doctors at Medanta Medicity in Gurgaon claimed to have conducted a first-of-its-kind chain of liver transplants in the world, saving the lives of three children. The surgeries involved a simultaneous swap-exchange of donated livers between families, besides domino liver transplant — wherein a patient undergoing liver transplantation is, in turn, able to donate his liver to another recipient.

The procedure, which stretched over 20 hours, involved six surgeries performed by a team of 110 surgeons — led by Dr A S Soin, chairman of Medanta Liver Institute. The children — three-year-old Tejasree Ramanathan, 23-month-old Anees Kakroo and 21-month-old Ansa Munshi — did not have any suitable donors in their families. While Anees had no donor at all, Tejasree and Ansa had mismatched ones.

Dr Soin said, “This surgery, the world’s first transplant chain, was like a rocket launch — with prior allocation of time and target-bound responsibilities to individual team members. We started at 4 am and wrapped up the procedure by 12 midnight. With this surgery, we also made the best use of an organ that seemed like a waste.”

Tejasree was suffering from a rare metabolic disorder called Maple Syrup Urine Disease, where the lack of a necessary enzyme in her body causes the accumulation of certain amino acids, resulting in recurring toxicity in the brain.

While a new liver would give Tejasree enough of the enzyme to cure her problem, her own organ — which was otherwise normal -- could be used to save some other child who needed a transplant for a different reason.

Anees and Ansa were both suffering from Biliary Atresia, a fatal disease of the liver, and needed new ones.

Dr Neelam Mohan, Director of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Medanata Liver Institute, said, “Tejasree’s father donated a portion of his liver to Ansa and saved her life. Ansa’s father, Ajit Sajjad Mushi, donated a portion of his liver to Tejasree and gave her a new lease of life. For Anees, a domino liver transplant was performed where Tejasree’s liver, which was otherwise normal, was given to him.”

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 17, 2012

Illinois teen killed in crash ‘lives on’ through organ donation

By Josh Stockinger dailyherald.com

When Jake Carney was killed in an accident, his parents had to make a choice about whether to donate his organs.

Jake Carney

Today, they’re glad they did — and so are DuPage County officials who decided to pay it forward.

“It’s such a wonderful thing to know your loved one lives on,” Carney’s mother, Ellen Carney of Winfield, recently told the county board.

Last month, more than 120 county workers and elected leaders signed up for organ and tissue donation in honor of Jake Carney, an athletic and well-liked 17-year-old who died after a November 2010 car crash.

With the blessing of his family, the West Chicago Community High School senior’s liver, kidneys and pancreas went to two people awaiting lifesaving transplants.

“Jake’s legacy is that he saved two lives. There’s not many of us — no matter how hard we work in our daily lives — who can say that,” said Alison Smith, vice president of operations for the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network, which facilitated the campaign with the Donate Life Illinois coalition.

County board member Michael McMahon said he was “truly touched” when he learned Carney’s story from Ellen Altier, a friend of the teen’s family and supervisor of the county circuit clerk’s appeals division. Together, they worked with county board Chairman Dan Cronin to organize a drive that would memorialize Carney annually.

The project won unanimous approval from the full board in December. McMahon said he was among the first to get educated and sign up.

“I don’t know why I had this paranoia about organ donation. It was kind of naive,” he said. “It can have such a huge impact on so many people’s lives.”

Gift of Hope says more than 112,000 people in the United States are awaiting organ transplants and thousands more will need tissue transplants at some point during their lives.

Signing up takes only seconds and companywide drives are easy to launch at DonateLifeWorkplace.org, according to Joshua Muller of Gift of Hope.

“It’s really a quick and easy turnkey program,” Muller said.

For Carney’s loved ones, donating the teen’s organs brought comfort during difficult times.

“It brings our family peace every holiday we have to endure and celebrate without Jake,” his mother said. “We know that another family is enjoying that holiday and it brings us solace knowing that he lives on and through the Gift of Hope.”

Carney lost control of his car and struck the back end of a truck pulling out of a residential driveway, according to police. He was returning from visiting his girlfriend, Altier said, when the accident happened on Garys Mill Road in West Chicago.

Carney was a talented skateboarder and best friend to his younger brother, Ben, Altier said. She also remembers him as creative and gifted at working with his hands.

He was so well-liked, she said, that Central DuPage Hospital was crowded with classmates and friends the last night of his life.

“They weren’t leaving until he left,” Altier said.

Altier was already a registered organ and tissue donor but said she was nonetheless “inspired” by the Carney family to enlist others.

“It’s just such a good cause and it’s such a heroic thing,” she said. “I wanted to pass that along and have people follow in their example. I wanted their heroic acts to be remembered in honor of Jake.”

McMahon said county employees and officials will be reminded and encouraged to register each Nov. 14, the anniversary of Carney’s death. The goal is to register 500 people.

“It’s real simple, it takes about a minute, and it’s a decision that can affect so many lives in a positive way,” McMahon said.

For more information, visit www.GiftOfHope.org or www.DonateLifeIllinois.org.


“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 16, 2012

Australia showing improved organ donor rates

maribyrnong-leader.whereilive.com.au

MARIBYRNONG residents are being urged to give the gift of life by becoming organ donors.

Since the national reform to boost organ and tissue donation rates, Footscray’s Western Hospital has more than doubled its rate of organ donors.

But Intensive Care Unit director Craig French said there was a mismatch between supply and demand, with the hospital hindered by low consent rates.

The hospital currently has 22 patients waiting for transplants, and a further 60 being investigated for transplant suitability.

"Our target is to ensure that we identify all patients who come into Western Hospital who are eligible to be organ donors," Mr French said.

While the government’s public awareness campaign and investment into hospital services has improved organ donor rates, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing Catherine King said there was still a lot to do.

The 2011 Donation and Transplantation Performance Report revealed 337 Australians donated organs, which helped save or improve the lives of 1001 people - the highest annual total of deceased organ donors and transplant recipients in Australia’s history.

The national organ donor rate is 14.9 donors per million population (dpmp), but Ms King said she hoped it would increase to 16 dpmp in 2012.

St Albans resident Daniel Gluhak has received dialysis at Western Hospital for four weeks.

"It’s already a bit much," he said.

"You see people who have been doing it for eight-nine years and you think `far out you must be so strong mentally," he said.

The bricklayer said he was going through testing to find out if his father, who wanted to donate a kidney to him, would be compatible.

But if not compatible, Mr Gluhak said the waiting list for his blood type was seven years long.

"My whole life’s changed - I had to stop work," he said.

Coldstream resident Martin Mackus was one of the lucky ones, receiving a kidney transplant in December last year.

The 53-year-old had been on dialysis for over three years after being diagnosed with the auto immune disease Vasculitis PAN - a condition in which the body’s blood vessels become inflamed.

"(The transplant) supercharged my life," he said.

Mr Mackus said it was like someone had stuck a battery in him.

"It was the best Christmas of my life."

He urged people to make a decision about being a donor and tell their families.

"You’re saving another human being, you’re giving a human being life."

To join the Australian Organ Donation Registry, visit medicareaustralia.gov.au


“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 13, 2012

South Carolina woman needs money for double-lung transplant

By Cameron Easley northcharleston.live5news/com

NORTH CHARLESTON (WCSC) - A North Charleston woman is in need of a double-lung transplant, but cannot afford it. Volunteers are planning several fundraisers to help her.


In 2003, Chantay Evans-Glisson began experiencing shortness of breath and wheezing. After an X-ray and other tests, she was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, which caused inflammation in the lymph nodes in her lungs. Although medical professionals say this is not a hereditary disease, two members of her family have also suffered from it; one passed away from the illness. Her lungs are currently functioning at only 25 percent, and doctors say a double-lung transplant is critical to her survival. Before she can be added to the transplant waiting list, she must raise at least $10,000 to prove she can afford her post-transplant medications and care.

Just days after her wedding, Evans-Glisson received her diagnosis. She and her husband, Timmy, have three children between them, and this illness has been difficult for the entire family. The blended families haven’t had as much time as they would like to become a strong family unit because Evans-Glisson has spent her entire marriage battling sarcoidosis.

Evans-Glisson, 47, loves being active and looks forward to having the energy to go bowling, dancing, horseback riding and playing tennis. She is extremely grateful for the love and support of her family and friends, as they have remained by her side every step of the way. After receiving her transplant, she hopes to give back to the transplant community by helping others in similar situations.

A double-lung transplant costs approximately $650,000. Even with health coverage, she will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life. The cost of her post-transplant medications can range from $2,000 to $5,000 per month, and they are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.

When she receives her transplant, Evans-Glisson must temporarily relocate more than 300 miles from her home to be near the transplant center during recovery, incurring travel expenses. She enjoyed her job in computer networking, but her declining health prevents her from working, adding to the financial strain.

To help offset these expenses, Evans-Glisson turned to the National Foundation for Transplants (NFT) for assistance. NFT is a nonprofit organization that helps patients raise funds to pay for transplant-related expenses.

“Can you imagine fighting for every single breath you take?” said Lauren Wilmer, NFT fundraising consultant. “That’s the reality for Chantay. While most of us take the act of breathing for granted, she’s painfully aware of each breath. But she’s a fighter, and she is determined to overcome this illness so she can spend many more years with her family and friends. NFT is committed to helping Chantay raise the necessary funds so she can get on the waiting list as soon as possible.”

Volunteers are planning several upcoming fundraisers, and the community is encouraged to attend:

A fish dinner Friday, Jan. 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at House of God Church, 2214 Adair St. in Accabee. Dinners must be pre-ordered by Jan. 18, and they can be picked up at the church or delivered at no additional charge. The cost is $8 per meal and includes 2 pieces of fried fish, red rice, green beans, macaroni and cheese, cornbread and cake. To place an order, please contact Jannie Brown at 843-412-1035 or leolady127@yahoo.com

A gospel concert is planned for Saturday, Feb. 18 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Sterett Hall, 1530 7th St. and Hobson Ave. in North Charleston. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door and can be purchased at Honest John Gospel Records and CDs, 509 King Street, 843-722-9496.

A hat show will be held Saturday, March 10. Event details will be provided in a future press release.

For questions or more information about any of these fundraisers, please contact Jannie Brown at 843-412-1035 or leolady127@yahoo.com

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 12, 2012

Bumbling medics drop donor heart on floor (but scoop it up and still transplant it into patient)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Bungling medics dropped a donor heart in a city street just yards from the medical center where a life-saving operation was about to be performed.

Easy does it: The heart, in the yellow plastic bag, was quickly picked up and shoved back into the ice box before it was taken into the Mexico City hospital to be transplanted. The operation was a success.

Moments after the helicopter transporting the donor organ landed in a Mexico City street a stethoscope-wearing medic jumped from the aircraft assisted by one of the pilots as a patient waited in a nearby hospital.

The doctor was helped by another medic who took control of the blue coolbox used to keep the organ stable and chilled during transport.

t was then that things started to go wrong.

Mexico City police say they used a helicopter to deliver the heart to the hospital in a 'rapid, precision manoeuvre'.

The heart had been flown 450km from Leon, Guanajuanto to the Centro Medico de Enfermedades Reumaticas in Mexico City.

But in the few short steps from the helicopter landing pad to the hospital entrance the two medics managed to topple the wheeled coolbox spilling the plastic-wrapped heart onto the tarmac.

The heart had then to be scooped up from the street, along with the ice and accompanying medical fluids, before it could be used in the complicated procedure.

Only after it had been repacked in ice was it taken inside to the waiting transplant team.

Falcony Rodrigo Lopez, director of the hospital, confirmed to local media that the operation had been a success.

The Health Department confirmed that the recipient was at the hospital during the incident.

Heart transplants are carried out on patients suffering end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease.

A heart deemed suitable for transplantation can survive for between four and six hours if packed in ice for transplantation.

“You Have the Power to Donate Life – to become an organ and tissue donor Sign-up today!
Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
New Zealand, register at Organ Donation New Zealand
South Africa, http://www.odf.org.za/
United States, donatelife.net
United Kingdom, register at NHS 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, January 11, 2012

Auction benefits youngster facing lung transplant

Volunteers call 9-year-old an ‘exceptional child’

By DALE HEBERLIG
Managing Editor The Shippensburg News-Chronicle, Pennsylvania

Lori Fleagle says there’s a team of “Grace’s Angels” coordinating the Jan. 13 Grace Fleagle Benefit Auction – a fund-raiser to help the Greene Township family get through the double lung transplant ordeal faced by 9-year-old daughter Grace.

The auction – that features some high profile items like a 3-tear-old registered quarter horse and the pick of the litter from American bulldogs due this month – will be at Ye Olde Country Auction on Shepherd Road in Newville starting at 7 p.m.

Jill Kerstetter and Ginger Mortorff are “Grace’s Angels.”

Kerstetter says she first met Grace this summer and was entranced by the personality of the little girl who’s burdened by worsening effects of cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness that attacks the lungs and pancreas.

The two met at a horse show in which Grace’s sister Arielle was competing.

“A mutual friend introduced us,” Kerstetter says. “We spent the afternoon talking and laughing and getting to know each other. I knew instantly that Grace was a wonderful exceptional child.”

That’s a typical reaction to meeting the youngster, says her mother, Lori.

Although she’s seriously ill, Grace remains irrepressible.

“She’s a wild little woman,” says Lori of her daughter. “She’s full of life and very vivacious. She doesn’t take any of this laying down. When people meet her, they can’t help getting a laugh.”

Kerstetter and Mortorff did more than marvel and laugh.

“With the conditions of Grace’s disease, she and her family endure many obstacles and challenges that a typical family does not,” Kerstetter says. “Even with Grace’s family health insurance, facing the financial responsibility of paying for transplant is quite a burden.”

The Jan. 13 auction is aimed at helping with costs like travel and lodging expenses and household and food expense during an 8-week stay in Pittsburgh when transplant surgery is done.

Lori says her daughter’s health has declined dramatically since autumn, resulting in 24/7 oxygen use and lengthy IV injection treatments that last weeks a time.

While Grace has a passion for horses, other pets and outdoor activity, she is now homebound in an effort to preserve her health until a transplant match if available. She now occupies her days with coloring, drawing and making crafts.

Kerstetter says the youngster still continues to amaze.

“She is appreciates every day and shares that joy with others in her life in so many ways,” Kerstetter says.

Unable to attend public school any longer because of her weakness and risk of infections, Grace is being homeschooled, her mother says. They wait with optimism for news of a transplant that could “come today or in six months or nine months.”

Lori Fleagle says doctors think Grace will be able survive the wait with the right care, and say a breathing machine is a last resort that remains available.

When a match is found, Grace will receive a double lung transplant that her mother says “will buy us five years or more, maybe 15 or 20” before the ravages of rejection take a toll. A second transplant is always a possibility, Lori says.

“We have to go, we can’t just sit and pity ourselves,” she says. “I’m her advocate.”

Even so, Lori Fleagle says the work of Kerstetter and Mortorff on the upcoming auction has provided a fresh shot of motivation.

“I can’t tell you how much this auction has restored by faith in God and in people,” she says. “I can’t think of words that express my thanks to Jill and Ginger. They work at this 24/7. We call them “Grace’s Angels.”


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