Brother's transplant gift costs his life

A heart breaking story of two brothers and how one gave his life unknowingly in a living donor liver transplant.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40094048/ns/health-health_care/?GT1=43001

The Gentle Barn-Santa Clarita California

The Gentle Barn is a non-profit organization the rescues abused and unwanted farm animals. They are located in Santa Clarita, California. This amazing place helps abused and neglected animals as well as disabled and challenged youths! I have watched several videos on Youtube about them. It's just amazing what they do and how well the animals respond after being so abused and hurt. I urge all who read this blog to visit them or at least visit their site and read about the animal stories and how they are coming along now! I'm gonna put up their web address and a Youtube link that gives an overview about this non-profit foundation.  VISIT THEM TODAY FOR HEART WARMING STORIES!

http://www.thegentlebarn.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGS9EkUzFvc&feature=related

Phillipine House bill seeks to regulate organ donation, transplant

The sale of organs for black market use is illegal in the United States. It's good to see other countries taking steps to ensure illegal sale of human organs. As this article states the ones who usually lose out are the poor because they cannot afford the transplants. Also those who are poor and in need of cash sell their organs for quick money.  Here is the link:   http://www.gmanews.tv/story/205434/house-bill-seeks-to-regulate-organ-donation-transplant

The List still grows...

This morning I was thinking about all the people around the United States who are still waiting for their second chance at life....an organ transplant. In the 10 years of my transplant journey the list has grown from 76,000 candidates to 109,502 as of 2:15 pm EST today on the UNOS site. Many of the people on that list have been waiting quite a while. I was told my wait could be up to 4 years for a heart and lungs. I waited 2 years and 10 months-just short of 3 years so they were pretty close. The two organs in dire need are livers and kidneys. More people are waiting for those than any other organ category.

In a way I am lucky I got away with ambulance visits to my doctor and having to mix my own "live" medication each day. I wore it in a pack that had frozen packs to keep the live medication good. I was also tethered to a 50 foot line of oxygen tubing that connected me to 4 large liquid oxygen tanks. I would never want to be one of those who need kidney dialysis. Just hearing what the person goes through in dialysis would make me go crazy. Although to be fair, that can still be in my future. If I live long enough, the anti-rejection meds will have killed my kidneys and I will need a kidney transplant...such irony!

I have signed up to be a donor. Although my organs will never be used, it's my hope they can use my skin, corneas and such to help others. My organs are very healthy and have never seen a drop of alcohol or smoke but all the years of immunosuppresive therapy makes transplanting them a no no. I hope in the future that will change and medical science will find a way to make organs from deceased recipients viable for others to re-use. It's the ultimate in recycling!

For more info please go to: http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/

Trying some new stuff here

Today I learned how to take a video on my digital camera! I'm no tech genius but I thought I'd add a video of my boy, Pishka. He was barking at the noise outside. The city is cleaning our alley today. They are attempting to clean the weeds but somehow they always manage to make it look worse.....

I live in a small railroad town....so many of the properties have more than one home on them. The property I live on has the main house on the street which is divided into 2 apartments. I live in a duplex behind the main house. The alley gives us access to our home. One thing about the alley is that you'd think there would be much less traffic than a normal street...boy is that wrong at times! Sometimes it's so busy that I feel like I actually live on a street!

So hear is a video of Pishka and more to come on my doggers soon!



First post!

This is my first post on my new blog! A little about myself...I live on the west coast and am married. Our family consists of myself, my husband and our two miniature dachshunds. They keep me hopping most of the time! Right now they are napping on the couch. Their names are Frankie and Pishka and they are both 6 years old. Pishka is 6 weeks older than Frankie and he likes to rule the house, lol. Nothing is done without his approval I should like to think, lol! Of course truth be known when it's up to the barking he lets Frankie do the talking...until he decides to add a few barks in of his own. At that time mama gets tired of that and she puts them outside and closes the front door. Our front area including carport is fenced in and secure. So just closing the front door really makes a statement to Pishka and Frankie, lol.

I am also a transplant recipient. I received a heart and two lungs in August 2003 after waiting almost 4 years. I was born with what is now known as Eisenmenger's Syndrome. That is where the heart has some sort of defect and is usually accompanied by pulmonary hypertension of the lungs. Growing up was difficult outside of the family because kids in school would tease me greatly about my purple lips. That was caused by a lack of oxygen to my extremities. My fingers and toes turned deep purple in the cold as well. My family was really good about it. My cousins never asked me questions as far as I remember about it. Growing up I was pretty much like any other child...went to school, church and other activities. I also have a stubborn streak and I'm hyper. I'm sure that is what kept me going when the doctors kept telling my parents I wouldn't survive to see the next year, lol.

When I was 19 we went to Loma Linda Medical Center to see if anything could be done to correct my heart. I'll never forget it. After testing and consulting with Dr. Bailey, Dr. Applegate cried to my mother and I as she told us the news. No matter how good the technology was and what amazing things they could do-there was no way they could help me. The only answer was a heart and double lung transplant. My mom had heard those words before when I was a newborn. For me, it was a revelation that hit me like a ton of bricks. I denied it and I also figured God had brought me this far...he would keep me going. He did keep me going until exactly 10 years later when I received my transplant.