Provincial Volunteer Committee

I was very privileged to attend the PVC Conference on November 21. To see more info about the PVC click here. Hopefully my bio will be uploaded soon.
Many issues related to organ and tissue donation and Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) were discussed. To name a few, Statistics, Bedonor.ca campaign, Community Grants, Donor/Recipient Relations, and much more. The most valuable part of the conference, from my perspective was not only learning what TGLN has planned, but also what the volunteers across the province are accomplishing. Cheers to the many volunteers!

Provincial Volunteer Committee (PVC)

I am so excited to announce that I have been invited to be one of the newest members of Trillium Gift of Life Network's Provincial Volunteer Committee! I am very honoured to be on this committee sitting with so many other avid volunteers representing organ and tissue donation across the province. Being one of only about 16 members around the entire province is a prestigious role. I feel this is a real tribute to the efforts I have put forth over the past while.
To learn more about the PVC visit here.

A Movie Star!

Trillium Gift of Life Network is making a major change in the organ and tissue donation world. I'm very excited!! Online registration is on the horizon!

The current system for registering consent is rather cumbersome. If a person has an old red and white health card, they need to take it upon themselves to go online, print off a form and mail it to Service Canada. If a person has a new picture health card they may be asked at Service Ontario when they renew their health card, however, the environment is not the most appropriate for making such a big decision. With the new online registration all they need to do is go online, click click, done. I really feel that this will impact the number of Ontarians registered to donate their organs and tissues and in turn, save more lives. This change is long overdue and long anticipated.

So, to promote the new online registration, TGLN asked me to be a part of their new website beadonor.ca that will launch later in June when online registry is live. They want to tell individual stories to motivate others to register. I agree, when people can see the real success of transplants and the lives it impacts, they are more likely to say yes.

I was treated like a movie star! It was quite an exciting day! They asked me to bring 3 changes of clothes with specific requirements, two pairs of shoes, a belt, pictures and any relevant "props" to assist in telling my story. I had a big handful walking into the studio! As you can see from the pics below, I had my makeup done and they picked out my wardrobe. (I match wonderfully with the plant on the side table.) There was a big team involved, I would guess about 15 people in the studio. Such a nice group of people! I felt very comfortable.


'

NOTDAW

National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, NOTDAW, is April 18-24 this year. The Life Donation Awareness Association took on many endeavors and touched the community from all different directions.

April 15, 16 and 17 there were information booths hosted at three malls in the Region of Waterloo, Cambridge Centre, Fairview Mall and Stone Road Mall in Guelph.

Cambridge Centre, Andrea, Kelly and fellow Kidney Donor (passer-by)

Stone Road Mall Team

Team members from the group went to several high schools across Waterloo and Wellington. They made great efforts to raise awareness amongst the young people of the community. I'm so proud of them! They had great success! The intent was to have students in each school take it upon themselves to design some kind of campaign. Suggested ideas included "Wear Your Green", "Living Green Ribbon" and competitions between schools. As you can see from the pic below, many students embraced the challenge!

Preston High, Wear Your Green

My good friend and fellow organ recipient, Carol, has taken a project on herself in elementary schools. This is a fantastic program I can't say enough about. She has designed a class lesson for grade 7 students that the teacher can "plug and play". She has included all details of teaching the project including a marking scheme. The students really enjoyed the project and the parents especially learned a lot about organ and tissue donation. I'm so impressed with the work Carol has been doing and I can't wait to see her progress next year.

Sample Grade 7 Project, used throughout the community to raise awareness

Under the guidance of Judy, the donor coordinator for Waterloo/Wellington, we hosted information booths at three hospitals, Grand River, St. Mary's General and Guelph General.

St. Mary's General Hospital information booth

Andrea with the hospital President, Don Shilton

I would like to share that the main purpose in posting these awareness projects is to show everyone what is possible to make a difference and save lives. These projects are simple to implement in any community. We have been working with no funds so far, just the incredible support of Trillium Gift of Life Network. They supply us with the literature and give-aways for our events. All you need is the volunteer power to coordinate. If you would like to try to plan a project in your area, I would love to give you some advice and support. Contact me at andrea@lifedonationawareness.com.

"A Gift of Love", St. Michael's Parish Conference

In efforts to dispel religious misconceptions surrounding organ and tissue donation, my good friend and fellow organ recipient, Carol, along with a team from four parishes across Waterloo Region (St. Michaels, St. Louis, St. Agnes and Our Lady of Lourdes) planned an organ and tissue donation awareness conference. Titled "A Gift of Love", the panel consisted of Versha, Carol, Claire, myself and Father Tim.

Versha is the Vice President of Operations of Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) and spoke about TGLN, statistics in Ontario and some of the misconceptions. She did a wonderful job and made clear several important points. Carol spoke about her journey to her transplant and what it is like to wait for an organ. She invited Janet, Pam and Ray to share their personal opinion of waiting for an organ since they are currently listed at this time. Claire shared her story of her son that passed before his time at the age of 4 and saved many lives by donating his organs. Claire shared her story with grace. While it is a difficult story to hear, she certainly provided an important perspective. Father Tim is a double cornea recipient and also detailed the catholic perspective of organ and tissue donation.

"I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly" John 10:10

Carol and the team did a fantastic job planning this event and touched many lives. She has set an example for future events the Life Donation Awareness Association can work to plan.

I was very excited to see so many of the members from the group come out to help and support this event. It's really wonderful how people come together to make a difference.

Janet, Pam and Ray

Presentation Panel: Father Tim, Claire, Andrea, Carol and Versha

Working Hard to Save Lives

Today was a special day for me. I had the opportunity to meet the people that work for Trillium Gift of Life Network. These individuals work very hard to save lives. There are the nurses that deal with the donor families in their time of grief, the call centre staff that converse with the doctors and medical professionals, those that work on the transplant side to ensure the recipient's needs are met, and the others that coordinate the paperwork and organization of the overall process.

How do you thank the people that work so hard to make transplants possible?

I feel a great deal of compassion for this group. It is difficult to express my gratitude.

I was invited to this event by my good friend Judy, who is the donor coordinator for Waterloo/Wellington. We have worked closely over the past while to get the Life Donation Awareness Association off the ground. Judy has been a wealth of information. She has also given me a glimpse into her work, dealing with donor families. I have a great deal of respect for Judy and the other nurses working in that position especially. The emotional challenge they face to see many tragic events must be difficult. To thank them does not express what they deserve.

I was so lucky to meet the nurse, Katherine, that dealt with my donor family. Such a pleasure. Thank you Katherine. I felt a strong sense of closeness to Katherine and a sense of connection to my donor family through her. (insert tear)

I know what most of you are thinking, did I learn anything about my donor? It is the law in Canada that I am not allowed to learn details of my donor or donor family. I did not ask any questions. I feel that my donor family is entitled to their privacy and if I'm supposed to know something, I will find out. I sent the family a thank you letter and if they choose to respond, I would be especially happy to hear from them. However, if they choose not to respond, I respect and appreciate them just the same.

I was also lucky enough to go into the call centre tucked in the back of the Trillium offices. These are the individuals that deal with the medical professionals over the phone to ensure the donation/transplant process is carried out efficiently. Another very important part. I actually met the lady that dealt with my specific case. Another great pleasure.

Judy has shared with me that when a case is coordinated, the nurses on the donor side loose touch with the recipient part of the process. They typically don't get to know much about the recipients at all. Since I previously had a connection with Judy and I'm Miss December in the TGLN calendar, Judy and the other staff took advantage of this blog to follow my progress. That is such an honour for me and I owe appreciation to my sis-in-law, Shannon for keeping it updated.

I feel very honoured to give the TGLN staff a glimpse into a recipients life and success. I only wish that I have given them encouragement in their career and hope to share with the donor families.