Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Incentive offer for organ donation to stop black trade

From the Hindustan Times:
It's a little too late for those who have died waiting for a kidney, but at least the government has finally woken up to the acute shortage of organ donors in the country.

Incentives would now be given to people who donate the organs of their loved ones after they have been declared brain-dead. Among the benefits for wife, child or parents of the deceased are life and health insurance cover, discounts in train travel and preferred status in organ transplant waiting list.

The black market for kidneys is booming and here’s why: of the 1.5 lakh people who suffer end-stage kidney failure each year and needed a transplant, barely 3,500 were lucky enough to find a donor.

“Voluntary donations need to be encouraged to make organ transplant easy for genuine patients,” said Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. “These recommendations will encourage voluntary organ donations from the families of people who have been declared brain dead and we will notify the final rules soon.” Read more of the story.

India Police Hunt for Kidney Transplant Ringleader

From Bloomberg.com:
India is hunting for the leader of a gang who allegedly masterminded a global kidney transplant ring targeting poor people in the South Asian nation in the past decade, a police official said.

Police are holding a doctor, Upendra Kumar, on suspicion of operating on about 500 "mostly poor laborers," Mohinder Lal, the officer in charge of the investigation, said in a phone interview from Gurgaon on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi, where the operation was based. "The mastermind, Amit Kumar, is still at large."

The sale of kidneys for commercial gain in India is illegal, said Sunil Shroff, managing director of the non-government organization, Multi Organ Harvesting Network, set up in 1997 to popularize organ donation. Transplants are vetted by a government-run authorization committee and approvals have to be granted under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, he said. Violators can get jail terms of two to five years.

The federal agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, will lead the probe, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters in New Delhi today. The government is also planning to make changes in the existing organ-trade laws to make them more stringent, he said. Read the full article.

Posthumous award for student who died waiting for transplant

From the Gloucestershire Gazette in the UK:
A CYSTIC fibrosis sufferer who waged a national campaign for organ donors while fighting her own battle against illness has been awarded a special posthumous degree by university chiefs.

Robyn Tainty, 24, of Thornbury, was putting the finishing touches to her Master of Arts studies at the University of Sussex when she died last September.

The former Castle School pupil had been waiting for a lung transplant for two and a half years and spent the final months of her life campaigning for greater awareness about organ donation.

She died in the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Unit at Southampton Hospital after a long battle against the debilitating effects of the lung disease.

Her parents Stephen Large and Rae Stephenson attended the university's winter graduation ceremony in Brighton last weekend to meet University Chancellor Lord Attenborough and to collect their daughter's certificate for her Masters degree in Gender Studies. Read the full article.

Organ donors could receive tax credit
Bill would reimburse up to $10,000 in expenses

From The Capital-Journal in Kansas:
Living organ donors could be eligible for a $10,000 tax credit under a bill discussed Wednesday in the House Taxation Committee.

The proposal would apply to donors’ travel and lodging expenses and any lost wages from time off for surgery.

State employees currently can receive paid leave for an organ donation, but they aren’t eligibile for travel and living reimbursement. There are no provisions for workers in the private sector.

“Encouraging more donations from living donors where it is appropriate would decrease the wait time for those on the deceased donor wait list and provide a transplant in time to save a life,” said Ron Hein, legislative counsel for Midwest Transplant Network.

The measure would apply to all or part of a liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine, lung or bone marrow from living donors only. Arkansas and Oklahoma already have a similar measure and Missouri is currently considering a proposal. Read the full story.

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Carleton Pride ignites over organ donor ban for gay men

The following article is one of the many gay community's responses to a directive issued last summer by Health Canada, that formalized the long-standing and clinically accepted practice of labelling organs from the donor pool if they have come from a member of a group that is at high risk for serious blood-borne diseases. The risk groups identified in the document include prison inmates, recent recipients of tattoos or piercings, non-medical intravenous drug users, prostitutes, and men who have had sex with another man within the past five years.

Many countries have similar rules to protect the public. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. still bans men who have had sex with other men (MSM), even one time since 1977, from donating blood. This is for the simple reason that homosexuals as a group are at increased risk for HIV, hepatitis B and other infections that can be transmitted by infusion.

According to the FDA, which, by the way, is not a right-wing think tank, men who have had sex with men since 1977 have a risk of contracting HIV that is 60 times higher than the general population. Further, homosexuals are about 5-6 times more likely to be infected with the Hepatitis B virus than the general population.

As a lung transplant recipient and advocate for organ donation awareness, I thank our federal government for protecting us from diseases caused by high risk behavior.

Students lead charge against prejudicial rules

From Capital Xtra:
In the midst of Carleton University's (Ontario, Canada) Pride Week this year, students aren't at movie marathons or board game night. Rather, they've fanned across the campus, hitting main thoroughfares, residence buildings and big classrooms, armed with clipboards.

Volunteers gathered nearly 600 signatures in a two-day blitz, a campaign that will continue throughout the spring — and which is poised to go national.

The workshops, coffeehouses and perennial drag show haven't been cancelled. But new organ donor rules from the federal government — which prohibit men who've had sex with men in the last five years from giving their organs — have mobilized students in one of Carleton's most political Prides in years.

For Mike Wiseman, the coordinator of the Carleton GLBTQ Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity, the timing was perfect. The organ donor rules, which made national headlines in early January, had students talking. "As soon as the first news story broke, we were like, 'What the hell is going on here?'" says Wiseman. Wiseman and his queer centre cohorts already planned to protest Canadian Blood Services' lifetime ban on gay blood donors. But catching the wave of anger caused by the new rules, they swung into action. Read the full article.

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Hannah sends 'great big thank you' for all the well wishes she's received

I'm always pleased to support fund-raising efforts to help patients and their families with travel, accommodation and other out-of-pocket expenses associated with a transplant. Merv.

From The Recorder & Times in Brockville, ON, Canada:
From her hospital bed hundreds of kilometres away, a very sick little girl is sending "a great big thank you" back home.

Hannah Walker, the 11-year-old Prescott girl who's awaiting a heart transplant in Toronto, sent that message Sunday after receiving dozens of "Hearts for Hannah" signed by area residents touched by her story.

"She read every single one of them and she was just so happy," said Sheila Boardman, manager of the South Grenville Rangers bantam house league team that's organizing fundraising efforts for the family.

Walker's dad, Rob, is a coach on the team and her brother, Daniel, plays for them.

"She was thrilled. She said to tell everyone a great big thank you from Hannah," said Boardman, who spent Sunday with Walker and her family, including Hannah's mom Shelley Saunders, at the Hospital for Sick Children.

"It just breaks your heart to know that this little girl is in this situation and yet she's so grateful that everyone back home is thinking of her."

Boardman said she gave Hannah dozens of signed hearts pasted into a scrapbook, but has hundreds more to give her later.

"We didn't want to overwhelm her all at once," said Boardman, noting: "We've cut out 800 hearts and I think we're going to have to cut out more."

Boardman also gave Hannah and her parents South Grenville Rangers team shirts signed by all of the players.

"She said: 'You tell the boys that I'm going to wear this shirt to school when I get back home - even though it goes down to my knees,'" said Boardman.

A Grade 6 student at St. Joseph Catholic School in Prescott, Hannah has been at Sick Kids awaiting a new heart since Jan. 8 after she became suddenly ill.

She has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease that inflames the heart muscle and leaves it unable to beat properly and pump blood normally.

News of her plight has led to an outpouring of support for the family.

Boardman said about $3,000 has been raised to help Hannah's parents with the cost of staying in Toronto at their daughter's bedside.

"The bills are piling up and the funds people have raised so far are going to go to a wonderful cause," she said, stressing: "They are going to need more." Read the full story.

(Donations can be made by cheque at TD Canada Trust branches in Prescott and Brockville in care of Sheila Boardman in trust for the Walker family. Donors can also contact Boardman at 613-246-2712 or 613-658-5905.)

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Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Organ Transplantation Advances


From KSPR News in Missouri:
Organ transplantation has come a long way in the past decades. Take heart transplants for example. It used to be that only people under age 50 could get them and they were fairly risky. Now people in their 70’s are having transplants and transplant patients of all ages are living longer and feeling stronger.

“I enjoy doing wood work,” says Bob Aronson.

Model ship building doesn’t look strenuous, but when Aronson’s heart was failing because of a disease called cardiomyopathy, any activity was too much.

“I couldn’t do anything any more other than sit in front of the TV and sleep,” says Aronson.

Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle. It causes your heart to become weak until it can’t pump efficiently. Medications may help, but in severe cases like Bob’s, the only option is a heart transplant.

Aronson says, “I’m some kind of a miracle. I was only on the list for 13 days.”

Aronson was lucky because there are not enough donor organs to meet demand. At any given time there are 10,000 people waiting for organs but only a quarter of those people get transplants. But Dr. Jeffrey Hosenpud says there is some good news -- fewer people are dying while waiting.

“We’re using mechanical pumps to keep patients alive while they’re waiting for their transplants,” says Mayo Clinic Cardiologist Dr. Jeffrey Hosenpud.

And more good news is that transplant patients are living longer. Read the full article.

Rejecting defeat
Scientist triumphs after setback in kidney transplant method

"Transplant surgeons said Sachs's study represents a pivotal moment in organ transplantation, demonstrating that it is feasible to eliminate immunosuppressive drugs with their debilitating side effects, such as skin warts, cataracts, and increased risks of heart disease, diabetes, and serious infections."

From The Boston Globe:
Dr. David H. Sachs was full of optimism when the third patient in his $1 million study was wheeled into the recovery room at Massachusetts General Hospital after an experimental kidney transplant.

The first two patients had thrived, adding credibility to an unorthodox idea that Sachs had pioneered over his career, that transplanting a donor's bone marrow along with the kidney could solve the problem of organ rejection, sparing patients a lifetime of powerful antirejection drugs.

But 10 days after the third patient's surgery, Sachs's phone rang at his spacious lab overlooking Boston Harbor. A colleague reported that William Andrews, a 43-year-old father of two, was rejecting the kidney.

Sachs and his research team remember the darkness of the ensuing months in 2003, when they abruptly suspended their transplants for nearly two years. Andrews was demoralized and on dialysis, his sister's donated kidney seemingly wasted. Over and over, Sachs paced the corridors of his lab asking himself, "What did we miss?"

Today, capping a comeback from the crisis, Sachs and his team are reporting that they unraveled the explanation for Andrews's rejection. After they tweaked their protocol, adding a drug to avert what happened to Andrews, two new patients have thrived without the long-term need for antirejection drugs, according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Overall, four of Sachs's five patients have experienced no organ rejection, a particularly striking accomplishment because they all received kidneys that were different from their own tissue type. Transplants of such mismatched organs are the most common and the most likely to be rejected, even when patients take immunosuppressive drugs. Read the full story.

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Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Saved by the same donor – two women bonded by gift of life

Susie Wood and Gill Hollis (photo by Phil Wilkinson)

From The Scotsman in the UK:
JUST four years ago these two women had never met and had little in common except having only a few months left to live.

But thanks to the generosity of a grief-stricken family, they met and began to forge a unique bond that is set to last the rest of their lives.

Susie Wood and Gill Hollis are close friends because they owe their lives to the same organ donor. Wood, 30 received the heart and Hollis, 42, a lung from the same anonymous accident victim during life-saving operations that took place simultaneously at the same hospital.

Yesterday, they told their incredible story to Scotland on Sunday to help raise awareness of our campaign to change organ-donation laws to presumed consent.

And as Wood and Hollis prepare to mark the fourth anniversary of their transplants they reveal how thankful they are to the family whose personal tragedy offered them hope.

Hollis said: "We are very lucky in having a lot in common. We enjoy travelling and sports. But we also share a very special bond. We each have our separate identities but when we link up there is that bond there." Read the full story.

Lung transplant patient to marry medical receptionist who visited him

From The Northern Echo in the UK:
A NORTH-EAST double lung transplant patient is to marry the medical receptionist who visited him throughout his treatment.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Anthony Peart, of Hartlepool, met Lynn Sharp at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, while he was waiting for his lifesaving operation.

Their friendship blossomed over time, and Mr Peart was delighted when a year later Lynn agreed to marry him during a break at the Lake District.

advertisementMr Peart, 27, of Loyalty Road, said: "I felt like the luckiest man alive.

"I had my transplant and then the woman I love said she would marry me."

After meeting at the hospital in March 2006, the pair instantly became good friends, keeping in touch via the telephone and internet.

But it was not until Mr Peart was recovering from his transplant that he finally plucked up the courage to ask her out.

He said: "It was literally love at first sight for me. But being so ill I couldn't pursue anything. Whenever I was in hospital she would come to visit me while she was working. Read the complete article.

Transplants Give Second Chances

Paul Posharow of Frederick received a heart transplant four years ago. As part of his daily regimen, Posharow uses a large box to organize the approximately 30 pills he has to take every day for the rest of his life. Posharow is also a volunteer with the Living Legacy Foundation which champions organ donations. (Frederick News-Post/Sam Yu)

From The Frederick News-Post in Maryland:
Paul Posharow was at a family picnic when he got the phone call he'd been waiting for.

"We had ordered some crabs, I had a beer, and then my cell phone rang," he said. "They said, 'This is Hopkins, we have a heart for you.'"

Posharow, who had already undergone two valve replacement surgeries, had one hour to get from his daughter's house in Emmitsburg to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. His son-in-law called state police and told them he'd be speeding.

About 12 hours later, on July 4, 2003, his new heart beat in his chest for the first time. Read the full story.

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Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Who does George Smitherman represent?
Posted: January 24, 2008, 3:51 PM by Colby Cosh, The National Post

This article is about Canada's imposition of sweeping restrictions on who can donate organs for transplant -- including a ban on gay men who have been sexually active in the past five years. Ontario's Minister of Health, George Smitherman, who is openly gay, blasted these restrictions as "offensive" and this response by Colby Cash of the National Post is an opposing view.

From The National Post in Canada:

George Smitherman’s attempt to stir controversy by criticizing the federal government’s guidelines for organ donation leaves us wondering who he really represents as Health Minister of Ontario.

A directive issued last summer by Health Canada, but only noticed now by Mr. Smitherman, formalized the long-standing and clinically accepted practice of labelling organs from the donor pool if they have come from a member of a group that is at high risk for serious blood-borne diseases. The risk groups identified in the document include prison inmates, recent recipients of tattoos or piercings, non-medical intravenous drug users, prostitutes, and men who have had sex with another man within the past five years. (Regulators are careful nowadays in the latter case to restrict organ and blood donation according to behaviour, not sexual orientation; the category of men who have sex with men (“MSM”) excludes more self-described heterosexuals than one might imagine.) Read the full article for more on the controversy.

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Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Stanford study finds transplant patient thrives two years after stopping immunosuppresive drugs
This news release will be of interest to those of us who must swallow up to 30 or more pills a day to prevent rejection. Although this procedure is still very experimental it offers hope for the future.

STANFORD, Calif. — Luck smiled on Larry Kowalski when his brother agreed to donate a kidney Kowalski needed to live. He was even luckier that his brother’s kidney was such a good match.

That last stroke of luck led Kowalski to connect with a team of researchers at the Stanford University School Medicine, whose efforts have enabled him for two years to live free of the heavy-duty drugs that transplant patients normally have to take for the rest of their lives.

The researchers describe Kowalski’s case in a brief report to be published in the Jan. 24 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine on the technique they developed, based on 25 years of research by Samuel Strober, MD, professor of immunology and rheumatology. The journal issue also includes two reports from other research groups, describing their efforts to achieve organ transplantation without long-term immunosuppressive drugs. Read the complete news release.

Australian doctors hail teen's transplant 'miracle'

Transplant patients and immune disease sufferers have received new hope from a 15-year-old Sydney girl hailed as a "one-in-six-billion miracle" when her body took on her liver donor's immune system.

Liver transplant recipient Demi-Lee Brennan with (l-r) Dr Stephen Alexander and Dr Stuart Dorney at Westmead Hospital in Sydney. (AAP: Paul Miller)

From ABC News - Doctors at Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital say Demi-Lee Brennan has achieved "the holy grail of transplants" in the only known case of its kind.

Miss Brennan no longer has to take toxic anti-rejection drugs, which transplant patients need to consume for the rest of their lives to stop an internal fight between their new organ and their immune system.

The drugs, known as immunosuppresants, can have toxic effects on organs and cause severe infections.

Miss Brennan had an urgent transplant after a virus caused her liver to fail, potentially fatally, when she was nine years old.

But she became very ill nine months later, suffering pneumolysis - a breakdown of the red blood cells.

When tests came back, her doctors were astonished to find the girl's blood group had changed from O-negative, the same as her parents, to the donor's blood type of O-positive. Read the full story.

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Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Heart transplant service resumes

Glasgow Royal Infirmary

Heart transplants in Scotland have resumed following a review into a number of recent patient deaths.

From BBC News - NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde revealed last month that four of the 11 patients who had transplants in 2007 had died within 30 days.

Operations at the Scottish National Heart Transplant Unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary were stopped in December while experts looked into the deaths.

The review's findings will be submitted to the board in the next two weeks.

Conducted by a team of independent experts from other transplant centres in the UK, the review began on 8 January.

It included in-depth interviews with key members of the Glasgow transplant team and a thorough examination of patient records.

Following this work, the reviewers concluded that the Glasgow team could resume full services with immediate effect. Read the full article.

New hope for a heart
This article suggests that a pump, called a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, might be a permanent alternative to a heart transplant for some patients.

From the Chicago Sun-Times - Gordon Gibbs, a 49-year-old electrician, barely survived a massive heart attack last August.

Gibbs was in the hospital for weeks, suffering fluid build-up, swelling and extreme fatigue. He could stay awake for only an hour at a time.

The heart attack, Gibbs said, "took out the whole left side of my heart."

But Gibbs has made a remarkable recovery, thanks to a pump that Northwestern Memorial Hospital surgeons implanted in his upper abdomen.

The pump connects to the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, and pumps blood through the body.

A wire that comes out of Gibbs' abdomen connects the device to a 5-pound battery pack he straps on his shoulder.

"I feel just as good as I felt before my heart attack," Gibbs said.

The pump is called a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD. Gibbs' LVAD, called VentrAssist, is a third-generation LVAD that's smaller, quieter and more durable than previous models over the past 20 years.

VentrAssist and other advanced LVADs on the market or under development potentially could give a near-normal quality of life to tens of thousands of patients with end-stage heart failure. Without LVADs, such patients typically live only a few months, much of that time in the hospital. Read the full article for information on side effects and costs associated with LVADs.

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Organ Donation and Transplant News

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Singapore to include Muslims in organ donation laws

From AFP
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore's Muslims will be covered under its organ donation laws from August 1 in an effort to enlarge the donor pool for its Malay population, the health minister said.

The move "will level the playing field" for Malays, who account for a disproportionate percentage of people on the kidney waiting list, Minister for Health Khaw Boon Wan said during a parliamentary session Monday.

Under an amendment approved by parliament on Monday, Muslims will come under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA). The act says that anyone aged 21 to 60 is presumed to have agreed to donate vital organs -- kidneys, heart, liver and corneas -- upon death unless they opt out.

For the past 20 years since the act was passed, Muslims had to opt in but local Islamic authorities last year issued a new edict which made it permissible for Muslims to to be covered under the act, Khaw said.

"It will allow more Muslims to have the same chance as others in obtaining a new lease on life through an organ transplant," the minister said.

Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, constitute 13 percent of Singapore's resident population but made up 21 percent of the people waiting for a kidney last year, he said.

'So grateful': Lives changed after receiving organs
This article in USA Today tells of three heartwarming transplant stories: About a firefighter who is alive because of skin transplants; of a father who is walking around with his daughter's transplanted heart; and of twin sisters who both received lung transplants due to cystic fibrosis. This is a Wonderful article to read.

Baby receives heart transplant after 47 days on experimental pump

From The Salt Lake Tribune:
On a belated Christmas morning in mid-January, a rosy-cheeked Kaidence Stephenson discovered stuffed animals, a toy kitchen and picture books beneath her tree.

But those knick-knacks didn't compare to the gift the 10-month-old had received weeks before - a new heart.

After surviving 47 days on an experimental heart pump, Kaidence received a living, beating heart of her own.

"She's here because someone was willing to sacrifice and give us such a beautiful gift," said the tearful mother, Shauntelle Stephenson, during a Monday news conference.

Kaidence had become the youngest Utahn to receive an experimental pump known as the Berlin Heart - the only such device small enough for infants.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved the device, but consented to its emergency use in November to save the child's life.

It worked. Read the full article.

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Organ Donation and Transplant Headlines

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More people donating organs in Illinois
Program participation up 20 percent since law enacted

"Illinois’ first-person consent law provides that a person’s decision to donate his or her organs is legally binding. Previously, no matter what the deceased person had intended, the donation decision was up to the person’s family, and many bereaved survivors didn’t follow through on donation pledges"

From The State Journal Register in Illinois - Derek Lowry lived his life striving to be a hero in somebody’s eyes. The 23-year-old veteran from Effingham County died Oct. 2 from injuries sustained in a car accident the previous week. Three weeks prior to that, he decided to update his driver’s license information online and chose to become a registered donor through Illinois’ first-person consent donor registry. (for more info about Illinois' program and links to register on-line click here).

Lowry joined more than three million other state residents who signed up for the first-person donor registry. Since it became law in 2006, the registry has increased organ and tissue donation by 20 percent. Now Illinois has the largest donor registry in the United States. Almost 6 million people have registered in either the first-person consent donor registry or its predecessor.

Lowry’s mother, Carolyn Mathewson, said that her son’s decision comforts her.

“It’s actually the only thing that helps me get through this because my son didn’t die for nothing. In his death, there was so much positive that happened,” Mathewson said. “When I get really sad, I realize that on the other side of this story, there is a mother somewhere who is extremely happy.”

Illinois’ first-person consent law provides that a person’s decision to donate his or her organs is legally binding. Previously, no matter what the deceased person had intended, the donation decision was up to the person’s family, and many bereaved survivors didn’t follow through on donation pledges. Read the full story.

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Organ Donation and Transplant Headlines

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Organ donations from stroke victim save four lives

From Hasaretz.com in Israel - A critically ill 26-year-old woman finally received a lung transplant Friday, when the family of a stroke victim agreed to donate her organs.

Reut Barzilai of Haifa had been in Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva for several days after her body rejected a lung transplant she received three years ago.

She, along with three other recipients, was given another chance at life thanks to the surgery.

Without the transplant, she had every chance of not surviving. She was at the end of the road," Barzilai's surgeon and the head of Beilinson's transplant department, Dr. Benny Medallion, said. Medallion, who performed the procedure with Dr. Yael Rafaeli, said Barzilai's condition had greatly improved Saturday. Read the full article.

Long-Time San Diego Community Leader, Lung Transplant Patient, Joe Dolphin, Endorses John Mccain

From PR Newswire in California - SAN DIEGO, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the New Hampshire primary, a headline described McCain's presidential campaign as one that was "breathing new life."

Ironically, Joe Dolphin, who announced his endorsement of McCain today en route to U.C.S.D. Medical Center for a lung transplant, is also hoping to receive breath that will give him new life. The long-time San Diego community leader has suffered for many years with AAT (Alpha-1 Anti-trypsin Deficiency Emphysema), a genetic lung disease which is fatal. The only effective treatment is a lung transplant.

"I want my friends to know I support John McCain and hope they will vote for him. He is the only candidate with the right credentials to lead America in these troubled times. He has the judgment, brains, and maturity to be a great President. His judgment is based on carefully weighing the evidence on both sides of issues and making rational and practical decisions. His behavior is controlled by a brain that was strong enough to withstand years of torture as a prisoner of war. As for his maturity, you just have to look at the smiling face with gray and balding hair," Joe proclaimed. Read the complete story.

Double lung transplant succeeds

HOOP DREAMS: Cystic Fibrosis patient Joey Whitford is finally able to return to physical activity following a double lung transplant.

From Peak Online in British Columbia, Canada - Joey Whitford breathing easier after surgery in Toronto

Joey Whitford has a new pair of lungs and a new lease on life.

The Powell River native, whose lungs were scarred by cystic fibrosis (CF), is in his sixth month of post-operative rehabilitation in Toronto after a cutting-edge operation.

With his lungs damaged by the disease, most physical activities were an impossible strain, said Joey's mother, Renee Whitford. "Now he's been skating for the first time in 10 years, he's shooting hoops and soon he'll be resuming golf, which is one of his passions," she said.

Joey said he is looking forward to returning to Powell River next month. He would have preferred to have his surgery in Vancouver, but he had a complication that could only be handled in Toronto. "There is a shortage of donor organs in BC," he said. "Toronto has the donor base to allow Toronto General Hospital to become one of the top transplant hospitals in the world. The doctors in Vancouver had done five transplants. My doctors in Toronto had done more than 100 (in 2007). I'd like to see that change in BC, but we need more organ donors." Read the full story.

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Why did a 50-year-old woman throw herself off freeway overpass?

This story on MSNBC tells the desperate plight of a woman in need of a lung transplant but unable to pay for it and her tragic way of dealing with it.

The Orange County Register (California)
ANAHEIM - The drone of car tires on a 91 freeway overpass is clearly audible from the open window of Sally Brown's bedroom. The 50-year-old Anaheim woman used to sit on her bed near a stack of discarded oxygen tanks, listening to it.

On Jan. 10, she left her room, drove to the top of that overpass and threw herself off.

Brown's suicidal act and its bloody aftermath shocked and distressed more than her family. Commuters unable to stop as Brown's body hurtled to earth must live with the trauma of what they saw , or were forced to do. Read all of this tragic story.

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Relatives Who Decline Organ Donations Face Conflict And Guilt

This news release helps to explain why family members refuse to donate their loved one's organs in spite of the fact their loved one wanted to be a donor.

ScienceDaily (Jan. 18, 2008) — Family members are sometimes unable to carry out their relative's wish to donate organs when they die, because of conflicting feelings between making a gift of life and protecting the body of the deceased, according to new research.

Researchers from the University of Southampton, UK, spoke to 26 people who had decided not to let their relatives' bodies be used for organ donations about their views and experiences. The 23 relatives who died ranged from a five-week old baby, who had died of a lung condition, to an 82 year-old man, who died following a stroke.

"Family members who spoke to us were recruited using advertisements in 12 local newspapers, four national newspapers and four hospital intensive care units," explains lead researcher Dr Magi Sque from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University.

"Face-to-face interviews were carried out with eight parents, ten spouses or partners, two sons, five daughters and one sister."

An unexpected finding of the study was how many of the study participants and deceased relatives held pro-donation views.

"Despite this, the decision to not donate was still taken," says Dr Sque.

Twelve family members said they were normally positive about organ donation and nine reported that their relative had indicated that they wanted to be an organ donor. Five said they had mixed feelings about organ donation or knew that their deceased relative didn't want to be a donor.

In six cases, both the relative and the person who died shared the same positive view about donation, yet it still didn't take place. Read the full release.

Rabbi slams opt-out organ donation plan as ‘immoral’

There's quite a controversy raging in the UK about the proposed introduction of an "opt-out" system of organ donation and this article is just one of many opposing views.

From The Jewish Chronicle in the UK - Proposed changes to the system of organ donations for transplant have provoked strong opposition from within the Jewish community.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown favours a switch to an “opt-out” policy whereby organs would be automatically available for use after death unless the deceased had previously registered an objection.

But the idea was this week condemned as “immoral” by Chanoch Kesselman, executive co-ordinator of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.

Also opposed to the idea is the London Beth Din, which said: “While Jewish law is fully supportive of measures to save life, the right to donate organs must at all times remain with the donors and their families and must not be presumed by others. In any event, any decision for organ removal must be taken in consultation with an expert in Jewish law.” Read the full article.

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Novadaq's SPY System receives clearance for use in organ transplant surgery

News release
TORONTO, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - Novadaq(R) Technologies Inc. (TSX: NDQ), a developer of medical imaging systems for the operating room, announced today that it has received 510(k) pre-market notification clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its imaging system for use during organ transplant surgery.

Novadaq's SPY(R) System is the first fluorescent imaging system available for use during very complex, technically demanding surgeries such as heart, liver, pancreas and kidney transplants. SPY enables surgeons performing life saving transplants to visualize blood flow in co-joined vessels which are responsible for providing adequate blood supply and the quality of blood perfusion to the new organ.

"Intra-operative fluorescence imaging using the SPY System has opened a new portal in transplant surgery. Potentially, the days of qualitative assessment of organ appearance, pulse quality, and simple quantitative vascular flow measurements using electromagnetic devices as the sole measurement of an organ transplant are limited," said Dr. Edmund Q. Sanchez, Assistant Director of Transplantation Services, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, TX. "Our familiarity study of SPY in liver, kidney, and pancreas transplant has demonstrated many potentially beneficial aspects of intra-operatively assessing organ perfusion through imaging. The success of organ transplantation is highly dependent on vascular patency and allograft perfusion. The SPY System has allowed intra-operative visualization of both immediately after reperfusion. The utility of SPY imaging organ transplantation is clearly evident."

Read the full press release.

Low one-year survival rate for U. Hospital lung transplants prompts inspection

From The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah - For University Hospital's lung transplant program, 2004 was a tough year. Twelve people -some considered high risk - got new lungs; half died within a year of their transplant.

Today, it is still dragging the U.'s survival statistics below the national average, and has the hospital turning the riskiest patients away.

The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients' latest data, released Friday, shows the U.'s average one-year survival rate for the years 2004 through 2006 was 59 percent, compared with the United Network for Organ Sharing's (UNOS) expected survival rate of 85 percent.

Barbara Cahill, medical director of lung transplantation and a pulmonary critical care physician, said because the U. had such a small volume of patients between 2004 and 2006, the numbers were skewed.

In 2005 and 2006, for instance, the U. performed only six and four transplants, respectively - numbers low enough to prompt a two-day visit in December from UNOS, which has the authority to revoke a program's certification as a transplant center.

"They [2003 and 2004] were bad years for us in terms of outcome, in terms of patient deaths," Cahill said, "and I can assure you it has been pretty fully vetted at both the regional and national level, and personal inspection level." Read the full article.

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

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Medical charities enter organ donation row

From the Telegraph in the UK - The row over plans to let doctors take organs from patients without their consent has escalated after medical charities said the proposal was "not necessary".

UK Transplant, which runs the organ donation system, said the plan to presume consent could damage transplantation.

The charity said organ donation was a gift that was given altruistically. People could be offended by the idea of removing organs as a matter of course unless objections were registered by the patient's family.

Figures from the group have revealed more than 3,500 organs are lost each year because fewer than half of potential donors end up having their organs transplanted.

Around 40 per cent of families refuse to allow their loved ones' organs to be taken.

Experts last night called for better organisation to ensure that families were consulted.

Minn. woman's reply to newspaper plea for transplant saves toddler's life

From Twin Cities.com in Minnesota - A plea for help in an Owatonna newspaper turned into a lifesaving liver transplant earlier this month for a toddler with an intestinal birth defect.

Ava Cowell may only have had days to live Jan. 4 when she received a portion of a liver donated by 23-year-old Sara Kaiser, according to a surgeon with The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The 18-month-old Cowell was born with volvulus, an abnormal twisting of the intestinal tubes that impairs blood flow. Her resulting dependency on IV formula for nutrition was hard on her liver and caused it to fail.

When doctors recommended a liver transplant, the Cowells sought matching donors among relatives but could find none. Desperate, the Owatonna family pursued a newspaper article a week before Christmas.

"Ava was running out of time," said her mother, Erica.

Kaiser lived in nearby Medford, but didn't know the Cowells. She read the story and offered to help. Tests confirmed she had the same blood type and her liver would be suitable for a partial transplant.

"I saw myself in Ava's mom," Kaiser recalled. "I put myself in her position."

Partial liver transplants from living donors are becoming more common, and are lowering the number of patients who die awaiting an organ for transplant. Nearly 3,500 have taken place in the U.S. since 1989, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Less than 600 have involved donors who directed their organs to go to non-relatives, and far fewer involved complete strangers. Read the full article.

Sally Kaeha Transplant Fundraiser
I'm always pleased to post a plea for help with raising funds for transplant patients and their families.


From KOHN2 TV in Hawaii -
In October 2006, the Kaeha household was turned upside down when Sally became the fourth person in her family to fall victim to an extremely rare genetic blood disease called Atypical HUS, resulting in kidney failure which a kidney transplant by itself would not be successful without a liver transplant as well.

For the last year, she has undergone dialysis treatment three times a week and has been seeking a facility with experience in kidney/liver transplant.

Unfortunately, the Hawaii Transplant Center is unable to accommodate her, but fortunately, she has been blessed with the opportunity to meet with a team of surgeons in New York in early December for an evaluation and opportunity to be placed on their waiting list.

In light of this is great news; Sally will have to relocate to New York so she is there when the donated organs become available and remain there to receive care during her recovery. This will cause substantial financial strain on the Kaeha family, therefore, we invite you to our Fundraiser for Sally:

Sunday, January 20th, 2008
HENRY LOUI’S
2850 Paa Street (Mapunapuna area)
1:00pm - 8:00pm
Donation: $25.00 per person

Our fundraiser will include a Pupu-Style Buffet, Live Entertainment, No-Host Cocktails, Karaoke, Door Prizes, and Raffle Drawings.

Thank you in advance for your support and generous donation. With your kokua, we can all be witness to the powerful and healing spirit of aloha that we are all so blessed to have living here in Hawaii. Contact Joanne Higashi, 808-696-7657.

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

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How organ donations can change lives

From BBC News - The government is considering a radical overhaul of organ donation procedures, including a system whereby people would have to opt out if they did not want their organs used after their death.

Below, people whose lives have been affected by organ donation give their stories.

Jade Stoner's organs helped save the lives of four people

Debbie Stoner's life was shattered when her seven-year-old daughter, Jade, died after a road accident just outside her home.

She told BBC News: "Jade was playing outside and, for some reason, decided to cross the road. A car knocked her off her bike and it was a horrible, tragic accident," she says.

"We went to the hospital and they did checks on her but she was brain dead. My mum Barbara suggested donating Jade's organs so that her legacy could live on. I thought it was a great idea but my husband was initially against it.

"He said he wanted Jade to be left in peace - he said he didn't want her to be "hacked into pieces" but I talked to him and persuaded him to change his mind.

"Jade was all soul but when she died, all that was left was a shell. We didn't want her life to be in vain.

"She was the loveliest girl and was caring and giving and this was certainly the right decision.

"She has saved the lives of four people and we are immensely proud of her. Jade's heart was donated to a 10-month-old baby girl, while her liver was given to a 17-month-old baby boy.

"We have set up a website in Jade's name and when people read about her story, they have told us they feel inspired to become donors."

Read the full article for more stories about people whose lives have been affected by organ donation.

Spain's donor system attracts praise
From BBC News -

The Spanish organ donor system is a remarkable story of human generosity in the face of grief

A liver donation changed Spanish singer Tito Mora's life

The bereaved families and transplant patients never meet, the link between them is the transplant co-ordinators in every Spanish hospital who make the anonymous donation possible.

In Tito Mora they have a walking advertisement.

He is an old fashioned crooner with a career that has lasted four decades and stretched from Madrid to Broadway.

His flat is full of memorabilia and records. Tito Mora was one of the early patients to benefit from the co-ordinator system gradually put in place in Spain in the 1990s.

Several of his immediate family died of liver disease, but Tito Mora had a successful transplant 16 years ago.

Since then he has been able to lead a normal life, taking just two anti-rejection pills a day. Tito Mora has returned to performing, recording one song "Vivo por Ti" to help persuade more families to agree to organ donation.

"You can look at me and I'm alive - I was reborn 16 years ago after my liver transplant operation and thanks to that donor I'm alive. Read the rest of Tito's story and the stories of other Spaniards whose lives have been affected by organ donation.

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

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First bioartificial heart may signal end of organ shortage

Breakthrough which marks the creation of the first living artificial heart could signal the beginning of the end of organ shortages, reports Roger Highfield

Doctors have stripped down and refurbished a dead heart so that it can beat again, an unprecedented feat that could signal the beginning of the end of organ shortages.

"The method could be used to grow liver, kidney, lung and pancreas, indeed virtually any organ with a blood supply"

From The Telegraph in the UK - The revolutionary research could overcome the shortage of replacement hearts and other organs, and do away with the need for antirejection drugs, according to an American team.

The world's first beating, retooled "bioartificial heart" is described today in the journal Nature Medicine by University of Minnesota researchers in research that could pave the way to a new treatment for the 22 million people worldwide who live with heart failure.

The team took a whole heart and removed cells from it. Then, with the resulting architecture, chambers, valves and the blood vessel structure intact, repopulated the structure with new cells.

"We just took nature's own building blocks to build a new organ," says Dr Harald Ott, a co-investigator who now works at Massachusetts General Hospital. "When we saw the first contractions we were speechless."

The work has huge implications: "The idea would be to develop transplantable blood vessels or whole organs that are made from your own cells," said Prof Doris Taylor, director of the Centre for Cardiovascular Repair, Minnesota, principal investigator.

The method could be used to grow liver, kidney, lung and pancreas, indeed virtually any organ with a blood supply.

She tells The Daily Telegraph that although "years away" from using the method in hospitals, she is ready to grow a human heart, though costs make it prohibitive at present. Read the full article.

Organs to be taken without consent

Gordon Brown has thrown his weight behind a move to allow hospitals to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent

From The Telegraph in the UK - the Prime Minister says that such a facility would save thousands of lives and that he hopes such a system can start this year.

The proposals would mean consent for organ donation after death would be automatically presumed, unless individuals had opted out of the national register or family members objected.

But patients' groups said that they were "totally opposed" to Mr Brown's plan, saying that it would take away patients' rights over their own bodies.

There are more than 8,000 patients waiting for an organ donation and more than 1,000 a year die without receiving the organ that could save their lives.

The Government will launch an overhaul of the system next week, which will put pressure on doctors and nurses to identify more "potential organ donors" from dying patients. Hospitals will be rated for the number of deceased patients they "convert" into donors and doctors will be expected to identify potential donors earlier and alert donor co-ordinators as patients approach death.

But Mr Brown, who carries a donor card, has made it clear he backs an even more radical revamp of the system, which would lead to donation by "presumed consent". The approach is modelled on that of Spain, which has the highest proportion of organ donors in the world.

"A system of this kind seems to have the potential to close the aching gap between the potential benefits of transplant surgery in the UK and the limits imposed by our current system of consent," Mr Brown writes. Read the full article (that has links to opposing views.)

Transplant Survivor Jack Celebrates 20 Years With A New Heart

From the Sunday Mail in the UK - Jack Bradshaw Marks 20 Years Since Vital Transplant

A GRANDAD is celebrating after becoming one of Britain's longest surviving transplant patients - 20 years after getting his new ticker.

Jack Bradshaw, 61, only had months to live when he had the surgery in 1988.

The retired engineer is one of only a handful of heart transplant patients to have survived so long. And he cannot wait to celebrate two decades with his second ticker on Burns Night in two weeks.

Back in 1987, Jack was told he only had months to live after suffering problems following a heart attack two years earlier.

But a last-minute donor was found and he had surgery at the world-famous Papworth Hospital in Cambridge on January 25, 1988.

His return home just a month after his operation was revealed in the Sunday Mail.

Without the op, the dad-of-two would not have lived to see his grandchildren, David, 14, Calum, 10, and five-year-old Laura.

Jack, of Livingston, hopes his anniversary will encourage people to carry a donor card.

He said: "I feel like the luckiest man alive. Every day is a blessing because it could have turned out so differently.

"The doctors told my wife Janet I wouldn't see Christmas and here I am 20 years later still going strong. Read the full article.

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Lung Transplant Could Save Little Lucy's Life


From KSDK TV in Missouri:

Thousands of people are going to bed tonight, waiting for life-saving organ transplants. While many of them are adults, some are just a few months old. Tonight, the story of one child and the journey she and her parents were willing to make in hopes of saving her life.

It's Thursday morning in Denver, Colorado and Lucy Johnson is getting ready for her very first plane ride. At just five months old and with medical problems that would overwhelm any adult, this tiny bundle is leaving the care of Denver's Children's Hospital. Ben Johnson is Lucy's father.

"It's just scary, it's scary and we don't know the outcome," says Johnson.

Baby Lucy is bound for St. Louis, saying farewell to family and friends and a dad who will soon join her.

"We don't know how soon we'll be back, but the way we see it, however long it takes, whatever the outcome is," says Johnson. "It's going to be worth it."

Born in July, six weeks premature, Lucy suffers from a life-threatening condition called Pulmonary Vein Stenosis. Her only hope of a full life, a lung transplant. Read the full news article.

Transplant drug sirolimus shrinks tumors, improves lung function

Study at Cincinnati Children's may hold promise for people with TSC/LAM
From EurekAlert:
CINCINNATI - The drug sirolimus, normally used to help transplant patients fight organ rejection, may eventually be used as a less invasive treatment for a tumor called angiomyolipomata in patients with who would otherwise face surgery. The finding is reported by investigators from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in the Jan.10 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

One year of treatment with sirolimus significantly reduced the size of angiomyolipomata by nearly 50 percent in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare genetic multi-system disease, or lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare cystic lung disease, according to results of the phase I/II proof-of-concept trial. Sirolimus also improved lung function in the LAM patients. Both TSC and LAM are associated with gene mutations that result in inappropriate activation of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin), an enzyme that helps control the growth and proliferation of all cells. Sirolimus inhibits mTOR signaling, researchers said.

"Less invasive therapies are clearly needed to treat the angiomyolipomata that people with TSC and LAM develop, and a drug that maintains or shrinks tumor size may reduce the need for procedures such as surgery," said John Bissler, M.D., lead author of the study and a physician/scientist in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Cincinnati Children's. "Our data suggest that mTOR inhibition with sirolimus may hold promise for treating these and other disease manifestations in patients with TSC and LAM."

In the study, tumor volume in 20 patients treated with sirolimus for 12 months had significant reductions of about 50 percent. In 18 patients evaluated 12 months after sirolimus treatment stopped average tumor volume had increased again to about 85 percent of the original size. Read the full press release.

Birthday at Home
Double lung transplant recipient Garrett Owens celebrates his second birthday at Herndon home with family.

From The Connection Newspapers in Virginia:
On Dec. 28, 2007, the Owens family celebrated their son Garrett’s second birthday at their Herndon home with a Cars cake, decorations and presents. The celebration was special, as Garrett spent his first birthday at Fairfax Hospital, and has spent a majority of last year in medical care that required a double lung transplant.

"It was really nice to be together and at home," said Deborah Owens, Garrett’s mom. Deborah Owens’ company, 720 Strategies, set up a Web site for Garrett and family, which allowed visitors to send a birthday card to Garrett. As of Jan. 3, the family had received 175 cards, many from people they did not know and from people all over the world.

While Garrett entered his third year of life with smiles, the previous year had been difficult for him and stressful for the family. He was rushed to Reston Hospital Center in December 2006, after what seemed to be a common cold caused a fever of 105 degrees and difficulty breathing. Garrett, less than a year old at the time, tested positive for pneumonia and a virus that is a major cause of respiratory illness in children, affecting the lungs and breathing passages. Read the full story.

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

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Trillium Gift of Life Network clarifies donation process in Ontario

REMINDS ONTARIANS THAT EVERYONE CAN BE AN ORGAN DONOR

January 9, 2008 - Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN), the province’s agency responsible for organ and tissue donation in Ontario (Canada) moved to clarify who can donate organs in Ontario today.

“We don’t exclude anyone from being an organ donor, in fact we are very grateful when someone decides to donate because this is a decision that saves lives,” said TGLN’s Chief Medical Officer of Transplant, Dr. Jeff Zaltzman. “There are stringent rules and regulations to ensure the safety of the public, but we work as hard as we can within those rules to ensure that every organ donated can save lives.”

In Ontario everyone can be an organ donor.

“It is so important that this information is clear, that everyone can be a donor,” said Dr. Frank Markel, President and CEO of TGLN. “There are over 1640 people waiting for an organ donation that can save their lives. Please, sign your card and talk to your family today.”

On December 7, 2007 regulations from Health Canada were brought into force as outlined in the June edition, Volume 141, No. 13 of the Canada Gazette Part 2. In those regulations section 22 section 1b) says that one must determine that the donor is unsuitable based on the criteria set out in the Canadian Standards Association document section 13.1.

Section 13.1 of the Canadian Standards Association guideline, labeled “Donor Screening” goes into depth about the evaluation performed to identify disease transmission and high-risk behaviour. This is consistent with International Practice.

“It’s important to know that these are guidelines - not the end of donation,” said Dr. Zaltzman. “The Health Canada regulations also lay out what is called an ‘exceptional distribution’ protocol. That means, that if/when someone wants to donate and they are labeled as someone who is by Health Canada standards, ‘high risk’, Trillium Gift of Life Network flags that organ and still offers it to transplant programs with the information attached. At that time the transplant program will decide whether to accept the organ for transplant.”

If the program does take the organ that is flagged, and the information about the benefits and potential risks of transplantation is disclosed to the intended patient, an informed decision can be undertaken.

“This is about life and death,” said Dr. Zaltzman, “We may have a potential recipient who is also ‘high risk’, so the benefits of transplant can far outweigh the potential risks. We may have a patient who is going to die without the transplant. It is the hospital’s role to weigh the risk and safety with all the information provided by TGLN, and we move forward from there.”

Note: All donors are screened for transmittable diseases prior to utilization of their organs regardless of their donor history.

For more details on Trillium Gift of Life Network or where you can obtain an organ donor card please visit our website or call 416-363-4001 or toll free 1-800-263-2833.

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

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Canada tightens rules governing organ donations

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada has imposed sweeping restrictions on who can donate organs for transplant -- including a ban on gay men who have been sexually active in the past five years -- and a leading doctor said on Tuesday he feared the move could deter potential donors.

The restrictions, which also cover drug addicts, prisoners, prostitutes and people who have had tattoos or body piercings in the last 12 months using shared needles, came into effect last month.

"The safety of the cells, tissues and organs intended for transplantation is paramount. These regulations are based on risk for safety purposes and not lifestyle choices," said a Health Canada spokeswoman.

The rules include a loophole that allows doctors to use healthy organs from a person in a high-risk group as long as they first inform the patient receiving the transplant.

The head of Canada's largest organ transplant program -- operated by the University Health Network in Toronto -- said doctors had already been following many of the same rules, which are similar to regulations that govern blood donations.

But Dr Gary Levy said he feared some people might wrongly decide they were in a high-risk group and decide not to make their organs available for donation.

"I'm worried about (whether) this will have a negative impact on organ donation ... I was on a radio show today and someone called in and said 'I can't donate'," he said.

"I said 'That's not true ... leave it to the professionals to determine whether these organs can be used safely and if they're good'," he told Reuters, saying the regulations should have focused more on risky behavior.

"If you have a same gender partner and you've had that same gender partner for 30 years, you're not a high-risk group. But if you're a heterosexual and you went out and had sex with 14 people last night, you're a high-risk person," he said.

Helen Kennedy, executive director of the gay rights group Egale Canada, described the regulations as outrageous and crazy.

"It's perpetuating stereotypes. It bans every gay or bisexual man who potentially is in a monogamous relationship -- or other gay men who are vigilant about safe sex practices -- from donating organs," she told Reuters.

"The question should be based on behavior: Have you had unprotected sex with anyone ... or, have you had unprotected anal sex?"

Health Canada insisted gay men were not being singled out.

"A gay man who had practiced abstinence for the five years prior (to making an organ donation) would be acceptable," said the spokeswoman.

"Likewise a heterosexual man who had had a single sexual encounter with a male within the last five years would not be considered acceptable even though he is not gay." (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Rob Wilson)

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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.

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

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It's a very happy new year for double lung transplant girl Amy

On the catwalk for Amy Holdright (right) are Campion School students staging a fashion show for cystic fibrosis charities.

From the Kenilworth Weekly News in the UK:

Inspirational transplant patient Amy Holdright has celebrated the "amazing" New Year many feared she would never see. The Whitnash 16-year-old has returned to school and her friends.

She is recovering well from her eight-hour double lung transplant in September - and was vowing to stay up until midnight to welcome in 2008 when she spoke to the Courier.

Speaking before the holidays, she told how a quiet Christmas with parents Paul and Rachael and sister Pippa would be a very different affair this time around.

With the lows of an autumn in which she became desperately ill behind her, Amy, who has cystic fibrosis, said: “I can’t wait. Last year I was on all my meds and really tired and now I’m really well. It’s going to be amazing.

“At New Year I should be able to stay up until midnight for the first time since I was little. And going back to school has been brilliant. I was getting really bored at home and really wanted to see my friends again after 12 weeks.” Read the complete story.

Baby Fintan off heart-lung machine
'Next 24 hours are critical' for 3-month-old

The Schiltz family surrounds 3 month old Fintan at Children's Memorial Hospital.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Fintan Schiltz, the St. Charles infant who received a heart transplant Dec. 26, was taken off a heart-lung machine Friday, although doctors say they will have to closely monitor the infant for 24 hours.

"The next 24 hours are critical to ensure that he can stay off of the heart and lung machine," said Children's Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Julie Pesch. "We hope he can sustain." Read the full article.

Lung transplant team celebrates 100pc success rate
From The Independent in Ireland:

AN Irish hospital has recorded a 100pc success rate for its specialist lung transplant service, far exceeding the international average of 76pc.

The centre at Dublin's Mater Hospital -- which is now two years old -- has successfully completed 16 transplants on patients aged between 18 and 62.

However, 14 patients have died whilst waiting for new lungs and Dr Jim Egan has called for the government to produce new legislation which would encourage more people to donate.

Dr Egan, a respiratory and transplant physician, said they are "really pleased" with the outcome of the 10 single and six double lung transplants.

He said it is "exceptional" for an emerging programme to have such a high success rate, and paid tribute to the other experts on the transplant team, Freddie Wood, Jim McCarthy and Lars Nolke.

However, he warned that the numbers receiving new lungs and being given a new lease of life is not going to grow significantly unless new legislation is introduced.

Dr Egan said the team was forced to achieve perfection from the beginning. "During the rollout we were very aware that we had to hit the ground running. There was no margin for error. We couldn't have a learning curve."

They treat three types of lung illnesses -- emphysema, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and cystic fibrosis -- and previously all patients had to travel to the UK for transplants.

However just 20pc of the organs offered to them can be used. "The lungs are the most delicate organs," said Dr Egan.

"We'd have the patient in and ready to go and the whole team set up. Then the team would go out and look at the lungs and they might say, 'we can't use these'."

Each operation has up to eight consultants on the team, including three surgeons, and another 12 nursing and theatre staff. The average cost of each operation is €100,000.

However Dr Egan cautioned that demand for organs is always greater than the supply, with 250 patients currently being treated at the specialist respiratory unit. Of those, 29 are waiting for a transplant.

"The best organ donation rates in Europe are in countries that have an 'opt out' system. I think we should seriously look at that."

The 'opt out' system means that every citizen is automatically an organ donor in the event of their death -- unless they sign documents to state they do not want to donate their organs when they die.

Dr Egan has also called on them to have separate transplant legislation rather than including it in with other legislation on organ retention.

A spokeswoman for the Health Department said tno formal decisions on transplants have been taken yet.

"For the sake of completeness, the question of legislating for consent for the donation of tissue and organs from living persons is under consideration," the spokeswoman said. Read The Independent's article.

Daughter of organ donor befriends heart recipient
From KATC TV in Louisiana:

ALEXANDRIA, La. -- Lanie Bourgeois's father died when she was a baby but she still gets to hear _ and feel _ his heart beat from time to time.

Bourgeois, a 15 year old from Prairieville, has become close to Les Whitt, who received her father's heart in a transplant nearly 14 years ago. "She's part of my family," said Whitt, 56, director of the Alexandria Zoological Park. "I'm very proud of her ... she makes me smile."

Bourgeois, who says she wants to be a veterinarian, calls Whitt "Dad." She spent a week in Alexandria over the summer and has returned for part of her holiday break from school.

It's unusual for a transplant recipient to get to know the donor family, but Bourgeois' family tracked Whitt down last year and asked to meet.

"It's really simple _ because you've got my dad's heart," Bourgeois said of why she wanted to meet.

Whitt and Bourgeois visited her father's grave site together. She placed her hand over Whitt's heart while placing flowers near the grave. Read the full story.

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