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.

The Photographers are moving in!

I have been asked by Trillium to be a part of their 2011 calendar! I'm so excited and can't wait till it comes out! Unfortunately I can't share the picture yet, legal stuff, but I can tell you that I'm Miss December!

I'm happy with December. It's a busy month so I expect people will be looking at me quite a lot!

The photo shoot was very interesting. They tried to keep it simple and full of impact. In my opinion, it was definitely that. I'm happy with the end result.

I will share the picture as soon as I can! Stay tuned!

St. Mary's Rehabilitation Centre Open House

The St. Mary's Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre was recently expanded and renovated. To promote the changes to the centre, the staff hosted an open house today. Past program participants were invited as well as hospital staff.
I was personally asked if I wanted to include a booth at the open house to promote my organ and tissue donation apparel. I was very excited for this opportunity to not only include my products, but to encourage more people to register to be a donor. After all, that's the goal of the apparel I have designed anyway.
So I got busy making plans and gathering pamphlets and giveaways. Trillium supported the booth and provided information to share with people and register donors.
I also included my good friend, and pump=pal, Pam. She is the other person in Cambridge supported by an LVAD. She has also been attending rehabilitation classes at the centre. Pam was a great addition to the booth and added some additional enthusiasm to registering for organ and tissue donation. Thanks Pam!
There was some media present to help promote the Open House and Pam and I were included in the CTV segment (watch here) and the report in Waterloo Record (read here). The CTV segment was brief but hit the point of promoting the importance of the rehab centre. The Record story had a little more detail and included a little more personal perspective from Pam and me. I was very happy with both reports.

All of the staff involved in the open house:

The Pump-Pal workin' the booth:

YES!

Friday night was my final event for NOTDAW. I was so excited because Shaun and my parents were joining me for this one. It's called "Illumination of the Falls" and/or "Light-the-way".

The plans were:


- Trillium will host a booth near the falls for people to sign their consent for organ and tissue donation.


- There will be a talk by some significant people in Niagara Falls and Trillium Gift of Life.


- Green rain ponchos, glow-in-the-dark sticks and 'YES' cards were handed out.


- The horseshoe falls was illuminated in green for organ and tissue donation.


- We walked together across the Rainbow Bridge to meet with our American counterparts.


In the short time I have been involved with Trillium there were some people I already knew, which was really nice. I met some of those directly involved in the transplant process and also people that have had a transplant as well as the families of both donors and recipients. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person with such issues.


I have learned that I'm one of very few that would be able to attend such an event while waiting for a transplant. People are more than happy to see how well I'm doing and the LVAD.


We had a hard time locating the event.... which was very frustrating because I was so excited about this event.... but eventually we found everything, barely in time for the walk across the bridge. Funny how the locals couldn't find their way.....

This week is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (NOTDAW). There are events going on around the province. The intention for this week to get the message out and encourage people to sign up for their consent to donate.

I volunteered today with Trillium Gift of Life at St. Mary's hospital in Kitchener. We had a booth set up with forms to fill out with postage paid. If someone didn't want to sign up right there we gave them a package with the form and information about organ and tissue donation. It's a great thing to do and I learn so much by getting involved.

Something of interest... You are more likely to need an organ than you are to donate an organ.

Unfortunately, there are families out there that will certainly take an organ to live but will not sign their consent or choose to donate a family member's organs. It's a shame. These people are incredibly selfish. There are countries that take into account if a person is an organ donor when they need an organ. In other words, when the list is created for those waiting for an organ, the people that are organ donors go higher on the list than those that are not organ donors. I think this is great! I think the list should also consider those who have chosen to destroy their organs when there is information to inform them of the risk. But that's a whole other conversation.

I would like to list a few things I learned today. I hope there is at least one person out there that will read this and understand the honour in being an organ donor.

No one would want my organs. Well. What I've learned, there are only three definitive illnesses that can guarantee you cannot donate. These are cancer, HIV and hepatitis. I'm not sure what types of these illness are considered, but why not sign the consent and let the professionals decide?

I'm too old to donate. The oldest donor we know of was 90 years old. You read that right. She was able to donate her liver and it was a successful transplant. Enough said.

I have put my wishes in my will. If you aren't actually deceased yet, no one will read your will. This is a good start but unfortunately, it is not enough. If you register your consent with OHIP your wishes will be available to Trillium and they will share it with your family as soon as the time is right. No fuss.

Whatever your concern is, please educate yourself. There are many misconceptions out there that are simply not true. Make the decision that can directly save lives.