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DL Life Logo April 27,2012 - - - - 113,953 AMERICANS ARE CANDIDATES ON THE UNOS TRANSPLANT WAIT LIST DL Life Logo 91,996 waiting for a kidney DL Life Logo 16,098 waiting for a liver DL Life Logo 1,269 waiting for a pancreasDL Life Logo 2,153 waiting for a Kidney-PancreasDL Life Logo 3,172 waiting for a heartDL Life Logo 1,632 waiting for a lungDL Life Logo 52 waiting for a heart-lungDL Life Logo 278 waiting for small bowelDL Life Logo One organ donor has the opportunity to save up to 8 lives DL Life Logo One tissue donor has the opportunity to save and -or enhance the lives of 50 or more individuals DL Life Logo You have the power to SAVE Lives by becoming an organ, eye and tissue donor, so what are you waiting for? To learn how to register click HEREDL Life Logo

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Those affected by transplants provided forum for heart-to-heart dialogue

Frontenac Local News | Hollie Pratt-Campbell

EMC Lifestyle - It's common knowledge that organ and tissue donations save lives - but what about the challenges those living with or waiting for a transplant experience on a daily basis?

Newly elected co-chair of the local Transplant Advocate Association (TAA), Joan Benoit, wants these people to know that support is there if they need it. She understands first-hand what it's like to be in this kind of situation, and helps to lead a support group through the TAA for all those whose lives have been affected by transplants.

Two years ago, Benoit received a kidney donation from her son, Jean Paul, in order to help control her nephritis.

"My story is not as intense as some stories but with my condition...my blood was full of all kinds of toxins that should have been gone long ago," she says. "And when I woke up after the surgery I knew right away that I was better. With a kidney it's immediate like that. It was excellent."

Still, Benoit was required to wait until her kidneys were functioning at nine per cent - compared to 100 per cent in a completely healthy person - before she qualified as a candidate for a transplant. While she was living in New Brunswick at the time, she notes that regulations are similar across Canada.

She points out that waiting to be told you're a candidate for a transplant can be a difficult and painful experience, as you're just basically just sitting around waiting to reach the requisite level of sickness. Talking with others who have had the same experience can be extremely comforting.

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