Today I celebrate 10 years with my new lung

Today I celebrate the 10th anniversary of my lung transplant and I'm in a lot better shape today than I was following my surgery on April 20, 2002 as you can see in the photo. 

I want to thank the medical and support staff at Toronto General Hospital for the wonderful care I received and continue to receive. TGH is one of the world's leading lung transplant centers, performing more than 100 transplants annually.

I also want to thank my donor and donor family for making the courageous decision to donate their loved one's lung in order for me to have a second chance at life. I wrote them a letter but never received a reply. If I ever have a chance to meet them I would first of all tell them how grateful and thankful I am and I would also tell them that their loved one did not die in vain because he or she is still living within me and we both are continuing on the road of life together.  

“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

Canada - Ontario beadonor.ca other Canadian provinces

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.

Today is my anniversary - 8 years post lung transplant

That's me in the ICU  just 3 days following my surgery on April 20, 2002. I can remember thinking about how I was going to "give back" but my body wasn't ready to respond just yet. (click image for larger photo)

And here I am 3 years later speaking to a Kiwanis Club meeting about organ and tissue donation. (click photo for larger image)

Last week I had the eight-year assessment of my lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital. I will be forever grateful and thankful to all those who made it possible for me to have a second chance at life. I was in end stage repiratory failure due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with little hope for the future. I say silent thanks each day for my donor and donor family, for my surgeon Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Dr. Lianne Singer and the entire lung transplant team and staff at Toronto General who were so wonderful to me. I'm also very thankful to the staff of Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario for promoting organ donation and coordinating with critical care staff and donor families in our hospitals.

Since my transplant, in addition to maintaining this blog, I have been an advocate for organ donation awareness and fund raising for lung transplant research at Toronto General Hospital. Most of my activities are recorded in a photo journal at http://www.pbase.com/mshepp. I'm also on the Provincial Volunteer Committee for Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario.

My assessment went well and I can honestly say that life is better than I can remember it ever being. My health is great, my weight is perfect and I have more friends now than I could have ever imagined. When they say that an organ transplant is life-transforming there's no question about it, at least in my case.

I'm extremely happy to be alive even, considering that I was near death before my transplant and so incapacitated that I couldn't even bend over to tie my own shoes. And that was while I was on oxygen 24/7. Isn't life wonderful?

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
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 up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

I celebrate the 7-year anniversary of my lung transplant today

That's me in the ICU  just 3 days following my surgery on April 20, 2002. I can remember thinking about how I was going to "give back" but my body wasn't ready to respond just yet. (click image for larger photo)

Last week I had the seven-year assessment of my lung transplant at Toronto General Hospital. I will be forever grateful and thankful to all those who made it possible for me to have a second chance at life. I was in end stage repiratory failure due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with little hope for the future. I say silent thanks each day for my donor and donor family, for my surgeon Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Dr. Lianne Singer and the entire lung transplant team and staff at Toronto General who were so wonderful to me. I'm also very thankful to the staff of Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario for promoting organ donation and coordinating with critical care staff and donor families in our hospitals.

Since my transplant, in addition to maintaining this blog, I have been an advocate for organ donation awareness and fund raising for lung transplant research at Toronto General Hospital. Most of my activities are recorded in a photo journal at http://www.pbase.com/mshepp. I'm also on the Provincial Volunteer Committee for Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario and am an "Ambassador" for lung transplant research and the importance of participation in clinical trials in transplant research.

My assessment went well and I can honestly say that life is better than I can remember it ever being. My health is great, my weight is perfect and I have more friends now than I could have ever imagined. When they say that an organ transplant is life-transforming there's no question about it, at least in my case.

I'm extremely happy to be alive even, considering that I was near death before my transplant and so incapacitated that I couldn't even bend over to tie my own shoes. And that was while I was on oxygen 24/7. Life is sure great, isn't it?

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario or Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network
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 up to eight lives with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants. One tissue donor can help up to 100 other people by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Today is the six-year anniversary of my lung transplant

Im off to Toronto General Hospital early tomorrow for the six-year assessment of my single left-lung transplant. I will be forever grateful and thankful to all those who made it possible for me to have a second chance at life. I was in end stage repiratory failure due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with little hope for the future. I say silent thanks each day for my donor and donor family, for my surgeon Dr. Shaf Keshavjee and his lung transplant team and for the entire staff at Toronto General who were so wonderful to me. I'm also very thankful to the staff of Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario for promoting organ donation and coordinating with critical care staff and donor families in our hospitals.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Sign Your Donor Card & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Download Donor Cards from Trillium Gift of Life Network

Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov

Your generosity can save up to eight lives through organ donation and enhance another 50 through tissue donation

In Praise of The Lung Transplant Team at Toronto General Hospital

I've come a long way since these first days of my "second chance". This April 20th will mark the four-year anniversary of my single-lung transplant. And what a wonderful four years it's been! I experienced the miracle of receiving life from where there was virtually no life and this has changed me forever. I feel better today than I have for many years with boundless energy and a feeling of overall well being. I will be eternally grateful to my donor and his or her family and the wonderful Lung Transplant Team at the Toronto General Hospital division of the University Health Network.

This year's Rose Parade theme was "It's Magical" and the Donate Life float's theme was "Life Transformed". This could not be more apt or appropriate, at least in my case. My transplant touched my life by giving me the "Gift of Life". It has transformed me physically, emotionally and spiritually. My lung transplant has had a profound, and yes, magical, impact on my life, as I'm sure organ and tissue transplantation has helped hundreds of thousands of people regain their health with the same impact on their lives, families and friends. Speaking of friends, many of the best friends I have ever known I only met since my transplant, through the special bond that exists in our transplant community.

A noted cardiologist said on TV how impressed he was with the monitoring and follow-up transplant patients receive and how he wished all patients could have the same attention.

That got me to thinking about the follow-up I've received as a pre and post lung-transplant patient and it's been absolutely second to none. I have never been more impressed with any group more than with The Lung Transplant Team at Toronto General Hospital, from the doctors to the nurses, transplant coordinators, the Support Group, physiotherapists, respiratory and pulmonary function technologists, and other support staff and technicians. This also includes the staff at Toronto Western Hospital where I have various tests and procedures from time to time. At first, because I was treated so royally, I thought they might have mistaken me for a Head of State or other V.I.P. until I learned that every patient is treated this way. It is very obvious they are not just doing a job, but have a compassionate interest and dedication to their patient's optimal recovery and well being.

In addition to my regular clinics and visits, I received a steady stream of calls and messages from "the team" since my discharge. This was further emphasized for me recently; I missed getting my monthly blood work done when it was scheduled and sure enough, my transplant coordinator was on the phone to find out why. With all this attention it would be easy to think I was the only patient they had. But I happen to know The Lung Transplant Team has a caseload of hundreds of patients at various stages of follow-up and treatment. How they do it I don't know, but it must involve a lot of hours, passion for their career and hard work.

Not only have I been given the gift of life but is very comforting to know that there is a team of people monitoring and watching over me to make sure that my gift of a single-lung transplant survives and stays part of me for a long time to come. So, whether you are waiting for a transplant, post-transplant or a support person or friend, I feel you and yours could not be in better hands than those of the Toronto General Hospital Lung Transplant Team!