The best Father’s Day gift: from a stranger, an organ donation, and good health

NBC Latino | Kelly Carrion

Joe Felix with the chain donation group and his two daughters. (Photo/ courtesy Joe Felix)

A Los Angeles man, Joe Felix, was given an extraordinary gift just in time for Father’s Day.

Felix received a kidney transplant from a complete stranger through a kidney donation chain program.

“I had mixed feelings about this transplant, I didn’t want to get let down at the end, as it got closer, I saw this was actually going to happen, my appreciation grew,” says Felix.

Felix had been suffering from kidney failure since he was 22 years old. He received a kidney transplant, from his brother that lasted him 13 years, but two years ago it began to fail him. His doctors told him the wait for a kidney transplant was seven to ten years with dialysis. Deanna Felix, Felix’s ex-wife, decided to donate her kidney to Felix, but was incompatible and unable to donate to him.

“I was in an emotional state, I was devastated, it was hard to hear that you are looking at seven to ten years of dialysis, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it,” said Felix.

Dr. Jeffery Veale is the director of the Kidney Transplant Exchange Program at UCLA Medical Center and Felix’s transplant surgeon. He runs a chain donation program. The chain begins when a person decides to donate their kidney to a person that they do not know. The kidney is then donated to a person who has an incompatible family member willing to donate their kidney to another person.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Organ Donor Ashley Garcia Spurs Fundraiser by Chili's San Diego County

Donate Life California | Sharon Ross
Thank you, Chili's!!! This coming Monday, all locations in San Diego County are donating 15% of proceeds to Lifesharing in honor of our Donor Ashley Garcia, a six-year Escondido Chili’s employee. She died just one year ago following a tragic traffic accident. The event celebrates her life and the lives of the 4 people she saved as an organ donor.

Mom Kara Laxson also is actively encouraging others to sign up as donors in her daughter’s memory: www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org/Ashley.

Chili’s has 13 Locations: Chula Vista/Otay Ranch & Del Ray; Clairemont Town Square; Encinitas; Escondido; La Mesa; Mira Mesa; Mission Valley; Oceanside; Santee; Scripps Gateway; Sports Arena and Vista

Let me know if you see the materials our Volunteers dropped off and introduce yourselves. Funds raised will help us increase awareness about the life-saving importance of organ and tissue donation in our community.

______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Son Lives On Through Organ Donation

WTIC FOX CT | Crystal Hall

There’s a twinkle in the eye of Bob Bushnell every time his son Nathan is mentioned.

Sometimes that goes away when memories of his accident come to mind.

“It was him and three of his buddies in the car,” Bob Bushnell said.

It was April 17, 2010. The Mustang Nathan was in crashed into a wall in Middletown. He was declared dead two days later.

“That morning he stopped by my work to say hi to me, and he gave me a hug and told me he loved me,” Bob said.

That was the last time Bob would hold his youngest son, but Nathan would continue to live on through others. Nathan Bushnell was an organ donor.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Tale of two kidneys: A love story

NOVO News | Indianapolis | Ed Wenick

Photo: Karen and Randy now share a kidney: hers.   Mark A. Lee

On May 8, 2013, a woman named Karen Irwin posted a picture of her kidney on Facebook.

Not an X-ray. Not an MRI. Not a drawing, not a painting, not an artist's conception. Her actual, honest-to-God organ; a photograph snapped by an attending nurse in the OR while Irwin's kidney was, in Karen's words, "between gigs."

I commented on the photograph: "The top part looks like bacon. The rest looks like British food."

Actually, that was just me trying, and failing, to be comical. The top part did look bacon. The rest looked like a boneless chicken breast - complete with rib meat - that had been left on the cutting board a little too long. Kinda ... pinkish/bluish/weirdish.

By the way, before you judge, I wasn't the only one who chimed in with a Hannibal Lecter-esque "human-organ-as-food" gag. A lot of Karen's friends, it turns out, are equally morbid.

They were also equally touched by what that photo meant.

Listen:

Karen Irwin's kidney has come unstuck in Karen Irwin.

It's now stuck in the dude she's dating.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Vallejo teen breathing easy after double lung transplant

The Reporter, Vacaville, CA | BY MARIE F. ESTRADA/TIMES-HERALD, VALLEJO

For the first time in four years, 17-year-old Vallejo resident Justin Fowler can breathe clearly.

On Feb.16 Fowler received a double lung transplant at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, and for the first time in years, he said he can finally make plans for both the weekend and his future.

His transplants came in the nick of time. In the days leading up to his surgery, Justin's body was at a serious juncture. His lungs were shutting down, but he resisted a procedure that, while helping him, would have kicked him off the transplant list.

His grandmother said he fought for the new lungs, and months later Justin said he's feeling better every day.

A huge fan of the Giants, and new fan of the Vallejo Admirals, Fowler has plans to join the baseball team at Vallejo High School this fall as a junior -- regardless of whether he has to sit on the bench sometimes.

"I might have to work on my hitting," he said with a shy smile. "But hey, my defense is probably pretty good!"

Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at age 5, the third generation Vallejo resident is no stranger to hospital rooms. In fact, in the last three years he has been home only 44 days, said his mom, Tina Fowler.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Louisville hospitals recognized for tissue donation

Courier - Journal | Health Bytes | Laura Unger

Two Louisville hospitals have received awards for the part they play in life-enhancing tissue donations.

Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital and University of Louisville Hospital, both part of KentuckyOne Health, have been awarded the 2012 “Tissue Donations Performance Award” by the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates.

The award recognizes hospitals that have achieved or exceeded a targeted conversion rate for tissue donation. Awards will be presented by KODA representatives at ceremonies in each hospital, officials said.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Girl, 10, urges people to join organ donor register after her father died of brain aneurysm... but saved four lives

Daily Mail | Emma Innes

Photo: Caitlin Robertson (bottom right, with brother Joe, 3, and parents Emma and Gary) has written an open letter begging people to join the organ donor register

A ten-year-old girl has written an open letter begging people to join the organ donor register after her father saved the lives of four people after he died. 

Caitlin Robertson penned the touching tribute to her father, Gary, after he died suddenly from a brain aneurysm - and donated his organs to save four other lives.

After learning that her father had managed to save other families from going through the heartbreak of losing a loved one, Caitlin decided to do everything she could to persuade people to sign up to the organ donor register.

Her handwritten letter - illustrated with a pencil drawing of her dad - reads: ‘My dad Gary always helped other people.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Father's life saved by transplant

WTNH Connecticut | Jacquie Slater

(WTNH)-- One Connecticut father has come to appreciate his Father's Day a little more each year. Diagnosed with liver disease six years ago, he wasn't sure he'd be around to celebrate them.

"I coach soccer here in town, I coach basketball in town, I coach baseball in town. So, I'm very busy with the kids.We go all over the place, we do all kinds of things now that before I couldn't do," said Bruce Adams.

Bruce Adams is spending his Father's Day doing what he loves the most, just being a dad. Once faced with the possibility he might not see his children grow up, days like these have become extra special.

"He sits with them, reads with them. No problems with homework. He's a really great dad," said Dawn Adams, his wife.

Back in 2007, Adams learned he had stage 4 liver disease and would need a liver and kidney transplant.
In the United States alone, there are over 113,000 people waiting for organ donations. On average, eighteen people die each day waiting for a transplant.

VIDEO Continue reading

______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Memory of crash victim 'will live on' as organs donated

Independent IE | Mark O'Regan

Photo: Niall Lynham who died following a car accident at the Devil's glen, Ashford, Co.Wicklow
THE family of a young motorist who died in a head-on collision with a tour bus while driving his girlfriend to the motor tax office have spoken of their decision to donate his organs so "his memory can live on in others".

Niall Lynham (26), from Laragh, Co Wicklow, was driving his Polish girlfriend's car on the R763 Ashford to Annamoe road at around 1.30pm on Friday.

Mr Lynham – who had no pulse and was technically dead when rescue services arrived – was resuscitated before being airlifted to Tallaght Hospital.

However, he lost his fight for life on Saturday. He had suffered severe injuries, and Niall's uncle, John Lynham, told the Irish Independent it was "clear from the outset" he would not pull through.

"It's a very narrow stretch of road. The bus took up two-thirds of the road so when he came round the bend there was nowhere for him to go."

Mr Lynham's girlfriend Zuzana Klobucnikova is expected to make a full recovery.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

LOCAL RESTAURANT HELPS RAISE AWARENESS AND HOSTS FUNDRAISER FOR LIFE-GIVING MISSION

Youth Sports Today 

Taylor’s Gift Foundation Receives Check from J. Macklin’s Grill
COPPELL, TX – Saturday May 31, 2013 – Taylor’s Gift founders, Todd & Tara Storch, were presented with a check totaling over $1,120 on behalf of J. Macklin’s Grill owners Todd & Holly Kerr, following the recent fundraiser at the local Coppell restaurant.

The 3rd annual fundraiser, with 17% of restaurant sales going back to Taylor’s Gift Foundation, was in full swing Saturday April 27, 2013. 17% was the chosen number given back to honor what would be Taylor’s 17th birthday. Blue balloons welcomed guests in the doors while servers, dressed in Taylor’s Gift t-shirts, greeted tables with big smiles and brightly colored blue cocktail napkins. These acts were an effort to spark conversation around organ donation, promote additional registrations, and spread word of Taylor’s Gift Foundation, who was recently named “Best New Charity in the Nation” at the 2012 CLASSY Awards.

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______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

The Waiting List - 118,571 people are waiting for the gift of life..

The Waiting List

Click on photo to visit Donate Life America

______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

My Father Died of Congestive Heart Failure

Donate Life Oklahoma

Click on Photo to visit Donate Life Oklahoma

______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Donate Life American Annual Conference

LifeCenter Organ Donor Network
We're at the Donate Life America annual meeting in Indianapolis. Thank you Jan Eschen for sharing Vikki Tulcus' story.

______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Home at last thanks to a heart transplant, the little girl who spent her first birthday fighting for her life

Daily Mail | Emma Innes

The youngest patient in Britain to be fitted with a mini-defibrillator has been given a life-saving heart transplant.

Fifteen-month-old Carina Marcangelo suffered from cardiomyopathy, a disease that damages the heart.

She was just nine-months-old when she was fitted with an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), which gives the heart a shock if it goes into a dangerous rhythm.

Cardiomyopathy, a disease that damages the heart muscle, meant her left ventricle had a thickened wall, which stopped it working as well as it should.

Carina was admitted to the Royal Brompton Hospital in October 2012 after she collapsed at home.

After a month in hospital, she was placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant and became the youngest patient in the country to be fitted with an ICD.

Following an agonising wait, in early April the Marcangelo family received the call they had been waiting desperately for, and Carina was taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital for the transplant.

Before the call, the family said they had prepared themselves for the worst.

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Make sure you’re signed up to leave behind the gift of life

Organ Donor.gov
Make sure you’re signed up to leave behind the gift of life—and that your friends and family know.http://tinyurl.com/organdonor-gov

______________________________________________________ 

"You have the power to SAVE lives." 

To register as a donor in California: 

www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org 

Outside California: 

www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.net

Perceptions about Organ Donation Among Adults Ages 50-64 Years

Perceptions about Organ Donation Among Adults Ages 50-64 Years
Directions and Informed Consent

You are invited to participate in a web-based online survey on perceptions about organ donation. This is a research project being conducted by Kimbra Shoop, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Purpose and Procedures: The purpose of this study is to gather information on your experiences with organ donation. You will be asked to fill out a brief questionnaire . The survey should take no more than 10-15 minutes to complete.

You are eligible to participate in this focus group if you are at least 50 years of age and not older than 64 years of age.

Voluntariness: Your participation in the research study is completely voluntary. You may refuse to participate or discontinue participation at any time without penalty.

Risks and Benefits: There are no foreseeable risks involved with participating in this study, other than those encountered in day-to-day life and those expected from sending or receiving information on the internet. Although you may not receive direct benefit from participating in this research, the study will provide input about the challenges and opportunities for practitioners as they promote organ donation in the U.S.

Confidentiality: Your survey answers will be sent to a link at SurveyMonkey.com where data will be stored in a password protected electronic format. Survey Monkey does not collect identifying information such as your name, email address, or IP address. Therefore, your responses will remain anonymous. No one will be able to identify you or your answers, and no one will know whether or not you participated in the study.

Compensation: There is no compensation for participation in this study.
Continue reading and participate in survey


______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Life Stories: For a Liver Recipient, the Gift of Life Means the Gift of Family

Organ Donor.gov


Kelvin, Liver Recipient, CA
For many years, Kelvin knew that he was living with a potential killer. Like many other people of Asian descent in the U.S. (as many as one in ten), Kelvin had a form of hepatitis — a virus that attacks the liver. Doctors monitored his condition, and for almost 20 years he was stable. But one day, that all changed. “I was at work, and began throwing up blood,” he remembers. That’s when he discovered that he had end-stage liver disease.

Kelvin was placed on the transplant waiting list, knowing that he had only about six months to live. As his condition worsened, he began to fear the worst. Then, after four months of waiting, he received the call. “I was so excited, because it gave me hope. Hope to see my sons grow up and spend more time with my wife and family.”
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Lung Transplant Not Best Option for Cystic Fibrosis

The Guardian Express | Stasias Bliss


Yes, thousands of people every year, worldwide, receive lung and other organ transplants which end up ‘saving their lives.’ However, life after a transplant can be riddled with challenges due to the immuno-suppressant drugs receivers must take for the rest of their lives. In the case of tragic accidents and clear emergencies, this procedure is a life-saver. However, in many cases, such as for sufferers of cystic fibrosis (responsible for 14% of all lung transplants), a transplant may not be the best option given the overwhelming natural solutions available.

Cystic Fibrosis is generally present at birth in those who battle it. A thick, sticky mucous is overproduced in the lungs and respiratory system, making it more likely to those with CF to develop infections due to bacteria growing in such a hospitable environment. The infection then leads to inflammation which causes a condition where DNA is left behind as scar tissue, making the process cycle again and again.

This is what the cycle looks like:


The problem is, after receiving a lung transplant, the new lungs do not have CF, but Cystic Fibrosis still exists in the sinuses, pancreas, intestines, sweat glands and reproductive tract, which may find their way to the new lungs eventually. The immunosuppressive drugs prevent the body from being able to fight new infection, leaving transplant patients very vulnerable.

What other solutions are there?
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

New lungs buy time but don't cure cystic fibrosis

The Tampa Tribune | Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl who fought for a lung transplant has a difficult journey ahead. The transplant isn't a cure for her cystic fibrosis, and new lungs don't tend to last as long as other transplanted organs.

But it can extend life by years, buying some time.

"You're keeping them alive and hopefully well, hoping that something else will come along that will make the big difference," said Dr. Anastassios Koumbourlis, pulmonary chief at Children's National Medical Center in the nation's capital.

Sarah Murnaghan, who is recovering from Wednesday's operation at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, made headlines as her parents challenged national policy over how children under 12 are placed on the waiting list for donated lungs.

Lost in the debate over how to give out scarce organs was this broader question: How well do children with cystic fibrosis fare when they do get a new set of lungs?
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

London woman with cystic fibrosis waiting for lung transplant

Metro News Canada | Mike Donache


Photo: Metro/Mike Donachie Danielle Davidson, 28, of London, spends her days attached to an oxygen tank as she waits for her second double-lung transplant.

Danielle Davidson wants to run.

“I love running,” she says. “I just can’t do it.”

The supply teacher sits quietly in her south London home, and adds: “One of my long-term goals is to be in a marathon or something like that.”

That marathon seems so very far away, because Davidson, who spends her days connected to an oxygen tank, has cystic fibrosis. She is waiting for her second double-lung transplant.

Her first was less than two years ago, but the organs are being rejected. Just three months ago she was told her “donor-specific antibodies” mean another transplant is needed if she is ever to have proper quality of life.

Davidson, 28, is “status two” for her transplant. She doesn’t know when it’s coming, but the average wait is six months to a year so it could be anytime soon.
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Pride of Australia 'Child of Courage' winner Coen Ashton has a new set of lungs and is getting stronger every day

Adelaide Now | Kathleen Donaghey | The Courier-Mail


Photo: Lung transplant recipient and Pride of Australia medal winner Coen Ashton, 15, at home in Maryborough. PIC: Glenn Barnes Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
MARYBOROUGH teen Coen Ashton, 15, is a child of courage - and he has the scars to prove it.
Just over a year ago, the cystic fibrosis and diabetes patient's life was slipping away as he waited in hospital for donor lungs.

Brushing aside his own suffering, he inspired the nation when he jet skied 2000km down the Murray River to highlight organ donation - sparking 1000 people to register as donors.

Coen was named the 2011 Queensland and national Pride of Australia Child of Courage and claimed the People's Choice Award at a time when doctors warned he may have only months to live.

"Through my life I'd been told a few times 'You only have weeks to live' so to me I already came to terms with dying," Coen said.

Today, with a new set of lungs, Coen continues to amaze with his progress and optimism.
Continue reading
______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Experts debate best way to encourage more organ donors

USA Today | Nanci Hellmich
The story of the 10-year-old girl in Philadelphia who recently got a lifesaving lung transplant has drawn attention to the need for more organ donors.


The case of the 10-year-old girl in Philadelphia who needed a transplant with adult lungs to survive tugged at the nation's heartstrings.

Every day there are similar dramas playing out around the country with patients competing for the few available hearts, kidneys, livers, lungs and other lifesaving organs.

In the wake of the legal and ethical wrangling the case entailed, many wonder what can be done to change this situation. Getting more people to register as donors is one avenue, but some say it's easier said than done, so other ideas are being debated.

"The one thing that the American public can do to help people like Sarah (Murnaghan) is to register to be a donor," says David Fleming, president and CEO of Donate Life America, a national non-profit advocate for organ, eye and tissue donation.

Registering to be a donor "is a gift," says Art Caplan, head of the division of medical ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center. "We rely on voluntary choice and altruism. There is no money, payment or incentive to do this."
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Flag, stories help ease jolt of organ gift

The Spokesman-Review | Kaitlin Gillespie
Recipients, as well as donors’ families, find emotional outlets


Outside Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, a flag waves for fallen heroes of a different sort.

A white flag with a dark green ribbon is flown above the hospital. “Honoring the gift of life through organ and tissue donation,” the flag reads.

A family’s emotional recovery after organ donation is not an easy process for the donor or the recipient, said Todd Seiger, a transplant manager at Sacred Heart.

“The reality hits (recipients) when they are being admitted or wheeling back for their surgery that someone just died for them to live,” Seiger said.

But the stories of saved lives can make all the difference, Seiger said. They can help families recover from the tragic loss of a loved one.

Programs like the organ donation flag are making it easier for families to find meaning after the death of their loved ones and for recipients to find ways to tell their stories.

Some families take photos with the flag to thank their donors. Another family found another way to use the flag to honor their little boy before deciding to take him off life support for his organs to be harvested.
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

LETTER: Organ donation is the gift of life

Sanford Hearald | Alan
To the Editor:

The news story about Sarah Murnaghan’s fight to be placed on the adult lung transplant list should begin a state conversation on organ transplants.

More than 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list in need of an organ. This crisis within the United States is growing rapidly because on average, there are only 30,000 transplants performed each year. More than 6,000 people die each year from lack of a donor organ — an average of 19 people per day. Between the years 1988 and 2006, the number of transplants doubled, but the number of patients waiting for an organ grew six times as large. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_donation

About 20 million Americans have kidney disease. The number of people diagnosed with kidney disease has doubled each decade for the last two decades. In 2003, nearly 453,000 U.S. residents were under treatment for End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). Each year, kidney disease kills more than 80,000 people, making it America's ninth leading cause of death. Source: ww.bluegrassrenalcare.com

Organs that can be transplanted are the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestine and thymus. Tissues include bones, tendons, cornea, skin, heart valves and veins.

Worldwide, the kidneys are the most commonly transplanted organs, followed closely by the liver and then the heart. The cornea and musculoskeletal grafts are the most commonly transplanted tissues; these outnumber organ transplants by more than tenfold. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

SPOTLIGHT: Single mom survives organ transplant

San Francisco Chronicle | By DAN BRANNAN, The (Alton) Telegraph


ADVANCE FOR USE SATURDAY, JUNE 8 AND THEREAFTER - In this May 23, 2013 photo, Coena Royal poses for a photo with her son, Eric, at their home in Alton, Ill. Coena, who recieved a double organ transplant, was comforted through the ordeal by her son who now is 15. She has suffered from health issues much of her life. BELLEVILLE NEWS-DEMOCRAT OUT; ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH OUT Photo: The Telegraph, John Badman

ALTON, Ill. (AP) — Some say Coena Royal's first name means "angel" in the Hawaiian territories.

For her son, Eric, the single mom has literally been "an angel" in his mind through all the years. In 2012, Coena, 43, of Alton, was in dire straits, needing a pancreas and kidney transplant. If she hadn't received the transplant on May 2, 2012, she likely would not have survived.

She now calls May 2 her birthday and she is enormously thankful for beating the odds and staying alive.

"As I look back over my life, I have always had health issues and in most cases, my life was in jeopardy. As a child, going outside was a painful event. I had to wear long sleeves and pants all the time.

"The sun burned my skin, causing a thick, raised rash. My mother would tell me I was allergic to the sun. I frequently had high fevers and pneumonia. However, I did not understand the journey I was going to embark on."
Continue reading

______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Organ donor gave Ocean Springs man 26 years and counting

Sun Herald | By PRISCILLA LOEBENBERG


JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALDWalter Ryan of Ocean Springs starts his 27th year with a new heart after having a transplant on Flag Day in 1987.

OCEAN SPRINGS -- Friday marked 26 years Walter Ryan has been living with a donated heart in his chest. He doesn't know the donor's name, only that it was a woman and the heart was received from Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg and was transported to Oschner Medical Center in New Orleans, where Ryan's surgery was performed.

"She's a saint as far as I'm concerned," Ryan said.

Ryan began having difficulty from an enlarged and weakened heart when he was 39 years old. Seven years later he was told he had only months to live without a heart transplant. Ryan said he was glad to have found a match after four months on the transplant list, though it's difficult to think someone else had to lose their life tragically in order for that to happen.

Today, the 71-year-old Ocean Springs man is in good health and enjoys spending time with his seven grandchildren, one of whom he recently saw graduate from high school and the others are all age 6 and under.
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Fairfield man receives kidney donation from his closest friend

Journal-News | Lot Tan


An aspiring TV show writer from Fairfield recently received a life-saving organ transplant from one of his closest friends. But there’s a twist to the story.

At three and half years old, Louis Leshner was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease due to reflux nephropathy. But growing up he tried to keep his condition a secret from all of his friends.

“When people found out they would worry more and be more cautious around me. I just wanted to be like everyone else,” Leshner said.

For the most part, he did have a normal childhood. Leshner played baseball and basketball, but unlike other healthy children, he had to go to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital every three months to meet with doctors and be probed by needles. He said he’s been on medication his entire life.

“One week I felt really bad and said it’s time to get started,” Leshner said.
Getting started meant it was time for dialysis. The Fairfield high school graduate was 18 at the time.

“I felt nauseous, and when I took a tour of the first dialysis place, I threw up,” Leshner said. “I felt really sick and had no energy, I was in bed and didn’t want to get up and missed all my classes.”

The 21-year-old knew growing up he eventually would need a kidney transplant. He was optimistic it wouldn’t be a problem and thought he would quickly get a kidney. That didn’t happen.
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Colleagues rally behind LCC teacher who needs kidney transplant

Lansing State Journal | Ken Palmer


Photo: Photographer and educator Roxanne Frith is overcome with emotion at home in Lansing Friday as she talks about how touched she is by a large community grass-roots effort to support her and her needed kidney transplant. / Rod Sanford/lansing state journal

For more than 20 years, Roxanne Frith has lived with the knowledge that she drew the short straw in a genetic game of chance.

In line with the probabilities, about half of those in her family — Frith among them — have inherited polycystic kidney disease (PKD). And she’s now reached the point where she needs a kidney transplant.

But the longtime Lansing photographer and teacher views herself as fortunate in many respects.

Medical treatment has come a long way since Frith’s father died of the disease, she said. Her only sibling, who does not have PKD, is donating a kidney. And Frith’s colleagues in the Lansing arts community are pulling together to support her through the surgery and recovery process.

“I am overwhelmed. It has brought me to tears more than once,” Frith said.

“I’ll have four months with no income and a band-aid insurance policy and the community is surrounding me and supporting me in ways that are just so humane. It speaks to the greater heartfelt soul of our community. That’s one of the reasons I love Lansing. We’re a small-town city.”
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______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Father running 10k race to donate kidney to nine-year-old son

STV Glasgow | By Amanda MacMillan


Father's love: Alan Smith is running a 10k to donate a kidney to his son, Matthew.
On Sunday, thousands of men will gather in Bellahouston Park to take part in a 10k run through the city.
Many will be running at the special Father’s Day event to raise money for important causes and will be pulling on a T-shirt to highlight their charity of choice.

Alan Smith, from Pollokshields in Glasgow’s south side, will be proudly donning an Organ Donation Scotland T-shirt.

But his aim is not to raise money, instead it is to get fit and healthy so that he can become an organ donor himself.

Alan’s son, nine-year-old Matthew, has chronic renal failure and would require kidney dialysis in future years if he did not receive a kidney transplant.

When Matthew was only 12 weeks old, doctors discovered that he only had one kidney and that his other was 25% the size of a normal kidney.
Continue reading
______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.

Son donates kidney in six-way swap to save father's life

KTRK | Christi Myers


HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We've heard a lot about long waiting lists for people who need organ transplants. But a father who needed a kidney transplant got one through a six-way kidney swap that included his son, and now he's almost a married man.

Jim Bertrand began last year hoping for a new kidney. On Friday, he was getting married.

Bertrand made the leap from no future to a new future with the help of his son, Andrew. Andrew donated his kidney, but his father didn't get it. It was a part of a six-way swap.

"Brothers from Mississippi that Andrew gave the kidney to; and then his brother gave a kidney to a gentleman here in Houston. Then my kidney came from a lady that worked with guy that needed the kidney here," Jim said.

Swaps like this help when there isn't a good match in the patient's family.

"This is greatly expanding the number of people able to receive organs whose loved ones otherwise would not be able to donate to them," said Dr. Wesley Mayer, Andre's surgeon at Methodist Hospital.
VIDEO Continue reading
______________________________________________________
"You have the power to SAVE lives."
To register as a donor in California:
www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org | www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org
Outside California:
www.organdonor.gov | www.donatelife.