Last modified: 11 May 2000
The Nation's Capital Area Chapter of TRIO will commemorate NOTDAW with a Donor Garden Dedication at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital and participate in other activities listed in this newsletter to thank organ and tissue donors and their families for their generosity for the GIFT OF LIFE, and to heighten public awareness of the shortage of donor organs for transplantation. Today, over 39,000 (compared with 32,000 in April 1994) persons are waiting on organ transplant lists for a life saving transplant. We hope that all TRIO members and friends will participate in one or more of the NOTDAW activities.
Refreshments following the Ceremony in the Maple Room. RSVP to Rick Kolavich at 301-279-6311. Parking is free in the Parking Lot across the street from the Hospital.
On Sunday, April 2 the Division of Organ Transplantation held the 1995 National Donor Recognition Ceremony at the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services. This year's event was tremendously successful as the number of participants tripled. Present were approximately 180 donor family members from around the country, 90 recipients and family members, and 40 staff members of transplant related agencies including organ procurement organizations, national associations, transplant centers, and government agencies.
The purpose of this event is to pay tribute to America's donors who gave the ultimate gift so others may live. After the Donor Family Processional, Judy Braslow gave welcoming remarks, followed by a Tribute to America's Donors by Kenneth P. Moritsugu, donor husband and Assistant Surgeon General.
There were personal remembrances from recipients, including Chester Szuber, the father who received his daughter's heart after her death about a year ago. Carl Jones, kidney recipient, from Memphis had met the family of his donor the day before and asked them to come forward to join him at the podium. (Need I add that this is a very emotional ceremony.)
The Nation's Capital Area Chapter of TRIO was honored to again be invited to participate in the program. Brian Rothermel expressed, on behalf of all recipients and families, our gratitude and appreciation to the donor families. Brian spoke of his experience of learning he needed a heart transplant, of receiving this wonderful gift, and now being able to lead the life he so enjoys -- participating in sports at the Summer Transplant Games and being back on the ski slopes and winning medals at the Winter Transplant Olympics. Brian has personally met his donor family and they have seen the benefits of transplantation.
Candi Thomas, who received a liver transplant in July 1983 and just turned 13, presented each donor family member with a silk rose tied with ribbon engraved "TRIO - Thanks for Giving." Kim Brown and Gloria Brooks from our Chapter were candle lighters during this part of the ceremony. Jesse Lowe, double lung recipient representing The Central Pennsylvania Coalition for Organ and Tissue Donation and the Delaware Valley Transplant Program presented a Gift of Life Donor Medal to all participating families. Soloist Rhonda Delaremore's beautiful and moving musical selections especially "Wind Beneath My Wings" will be remembered.
(At next year's ceremony, let's have as our goal the same number of recipients and family members present as donor family members present. If the date is announced far enough in advance, many TRIO members from around the country will make plans to be in Washington and attend this event. Recipients want to personally thank donor families and donor families want to meet recipients and see first-hand that Transplantation Works!)
Those of us who have had successful organ transplants are the beneficiaries of several miracles -- the generosity of our donor family, the skill of our marvelous surgical team, and the efficacy of our immuno-suppressant drugs. Each one of us also carries an important obligation -- to contribute back, in our own way, so as to forward the cause of transplantation. These are two sides of the same coin and we, the beneficiaries, are incomplete without both sides. Fortunately, the payback opportunities are numerous and growing. We can give money to our hospital, to TRIO, to related transplant causes. While money is helpful, it is by itself, in my view, a cop-out. What the transplant community really needs is our participation -- by volunteering for a speakers' bureau, by talking to candidates, by participating in activities that will help increase the pool of available organs.
The National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week kicks off on April 16. NOTDAW activities are outlined elsewhere in this newsletter. If you have not done so before, pick one (or indeed several!) to attend and participate. Start polishing the obligation side of that coin. Particularly if you have not done so before, I am sure that you will find such participation both easy and gratifying. And importantly, it will condition you to say "yes" when TRIO asks you to volunteer further. Happy NOTDAW!
On Sunday, March 26, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., a special educational program co-sponsored by the Washington Regional Transplant Consortium (WRTC) and The Nation's Capital Area Chapter of TRIO was held for organ transplant candidates and their families at the WRTC headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. Approximately 100 people attended, including candidates and family members and recipients. Speakers were Linda Cheatham from our chapter and Lisa Kory, Executive Director of TRIO; WRTC representatives, Greg Komara, Angie Gilliam, Elling Eidbo and Lewis Larking; and Daniel Stockdreher, Manager of the Organ Center, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
The program's purposes of helping to promote better understanding of the organ donor program and the transplant waiting list were fully answered by both the excellent presentations and the subsequent answers to participants' questions. The lunchtime was spent with "like" organ recipients and candidates sitting together to discuss any issues and questions from the candidates.
Another program will be held on Sunday, June 4, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the WRTC headquarters. Any candidate wishing to attend should call Greg Komara, Transplant Services Coordinator for WRTC at 703-641-0100. Free parking and free shuttle service to an from the Dunn Loring Metro stop will be provided.
This is a wonderful opportunity to meet recipients from around the country (and the world), to exchange information and share experiences. Note the dates on your calendar now and plan to attend.
In the case of liver, heart and lung transplants no 'matching' is done except for blood group (O,A,B,AB) and organ size. An O organ can be used in an O, A, B, or AB patient, whereas, an O patient can only receive an O organ. The reason it works this way is because cells have proteins for the blood group on their surface such that:
AB patients have both A& B proteinsIf a patient lacks particular proteins, they develop antibodies to the ones they are lacking (the reason for this is unclear):
A patients have A but not B protein
B patients have B but not A
O patients have neither protein.
AB patients develop no antibodiesNow in practice, if a patient has a transplant with an organ that has proteins on it (say an A organ that has A proteins on it) and that patient already has antibodies against that protein (say a B patient that naturally has antibodies against A proteins) the organ will fail very quickly (within minutes).
A patients develop antibodies against B
B patients develop antibodies against A
O patients develop antibodies against A and B proteins.
So if the B patient gets transplanted with an A kidney, it will not function and be promptly rejected (by antibodies against B protein). This makes O a universal donor and AB a universal recipient.
For reasons of fairness, organs are allocated primarily to their own blood group. Otherwise, the O patients would only have access to a fraction of the organs, while AB patients would have access to all organs. Nevertheless, there are some inequities in the waiting times on particular blood group lists. Finally, what I have just explained does not seem to make much of a difference in the case of liver transplants; the reason for this is unclear. In other words it is known that one can use "blood group incompatible" livers (an A liver in a B patient) with success rates almost as good as blood group identical livers. We still use blood group identical livers when at all possible because the success rate is higher overall. The allocation schemes for organs takes these principles into account.
[Note: This is not medical advice; consult your physician.]
Cherry Whitney purchased a packet of cards.
Roslyn and Abe Cooper in honor of Al Leon's 8th anniversary of his heart transplant.
Claude & Nancy Brady in remem- brance of Frank Johnson, Stanley Valadez, and Susan Dutcher.
TRIO Telephone: 703-920-8746 received 35 messages between Jan 1 - Mar 26, which were appropriately responded to and resolved. A summary follows:
Requests for TRIO information/brochures 12
General questions relation to transplantation 7
Messages to specific TRIO individuals 6
Questions ultimately referred to other
organizations and/or relevant individuals 5
Requests for changes in mailing list 3
Requests for TRIO participation 2
The next lunch will be held at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, April 12 at the Sizzler Restaurant in Arlington: 2130 N. Glebe Road (one block south of Lee Highway on Glebe). The May lunch will be held at the same place on Wednesday, the 17th. For more information call Claude Brady: 703-534-7029.
Robert Brown, Jr., kidney, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital,'94
William W. Schmidt, Sr.,heart, Washington Hospital Center,'90
Avery J. Jackson, kidney, Walter Reed Army Medical Center,'93
Mary Little,kidney/pancreas, Washington Hospital Center,'92
Brian Hartford, heart, Washington Hospital Center, '90
Vicki L. Rhoades, heart, Fairfax Hospital, '94
Richard C. Sachs, kidney, Washington Hospital Center, '92
If we missed your anniversary or to be sure we have your anniversary, please contact Claude Brady at 703-534-7029.
Last modified:
11 May 2000