Last modified: 11 May 2000
Several New England members enrolled in the conference, but an even larger number were there to participate in a different way: by hosting the out-of-towners. Chapter members prepared registration kits, manned the registration desk, answered questions, gave directions, recommended activities, and successfully dispelled the myth that New Englanders are unfriendly.
A large contingency of professionals was also in attendance at the conference, many of whom were speakers or panel participants or manning booths in the Exhibition Hall. Others were there to learn along with the rest of us.
The three-day conference offered a variety of speakers and topics. Of the ones I attended, a highlight was ``Beyond Donation: The Importance of Donor Families.'' Reginald Green, father of Nicholas Green, the child who was tragically murdered in Italy, was one of the panelists at this session. Nicholas' parents lovingly and generously donated their son's organs, immediately saving several lives. But the impact of the Green's gift was more far-reaching, as it dramatically increased the rate of organ donation throughout Italy, thus saving even more lives. The Greens continue to promote organ donor awareness, sharing their story with others, because they feel it is an important tribute to their son. Second panelist was Barbara Musto, donor mother and representative of the National Kidney Foundation's Family Council. The National Donor Family Council is working on developing national guidelines for communication between donor families and recipients. They also publish a quarterly newsletter for donor families, have developed a Bill of Rights for donor families, and have created a donor family quilt that serves to remind all those who see it about the donors who have saved thousands of lives through organ and tissue transplants. (Ed. Note: We will try to find out more about this very active organization and its work. Meanwhile, you can contact them at 1-800-622-9010.)
On the lighter side of the conference, there were the sightseeing trips. Joe and Karen Ferreira and Tom and Linda Fall did an extraordinary job leading two groups of conference attendees on a Friday night expedition. One group headed to the Museum of Science and the other to Quincy Market, on a nippy (but dry) New England night. These tour organizers even managed to make buses appear at the last minute. And by all reports, no one got lost and everyone had fun.
The conference finale was the Celebration of Life banquet on Saturday night. Held in the ballroom of the elegant Park Plaza Hotel, attendees donned their finest at they gathered for the last session of the 7th annual conference. It was definitely party time! After welcoming remarks by Lisa Kory, Executive Director, and an invocation by Rev. Jim Chandler, transplant recipient, the next big event of the evening was the presentation of the 1995 TRIO scholarships. This year there were four $1000 scholarships awarded to transplant recipients. Winner of the Susan Lynch Memorial Scholarship, which was presented by her husband Tim Lynch, was Courtney Ridd, a sophomore at Bentley College and member of TRIO New England. Courtney had a liver transplant in April, and is returning to Bentley College this fall to continue her studies in International Business. Congratulations to Courtney and all the other scholarship recipients.
The Tree of Life Ceremony was next on the agenda, and was movingly introduced by Joyce Willig, recipient, and Scharleen Colant, donor mother. After their remarks, recipients and donor families moved to the two ``trees'' to hang a momento in honor of donor families everywhere. Making this ceremony even more symbolic was the donor family quilt which hung above us. This was a fitting ending to an emotional and interesting three days.
Congratulations to the planners and organizers.
The 6-year honorees are: Sister Agnes Clare, S.P. (heart, MGH); Henry Tobyne (heart, MGH); Barbara Gardner (liver, MGH); and Jean Quinn (kidney, MGH).
Phyllis Ware (kidney, Medical Center Hospital of Vermont) is celebrating her fifth anniversary.
Raymond Comtois (heart, MGH) and Mary Lorente (liver, NEMC) are marking three-year anniversaries while Harold Johnson (kidney, Tampa), A. Peter Davis, DMD (kidney, B&W), and Leo Smith (kidney, Maine Medical Center) have reached their one-year anniversaries.
Best wishes and good health to all of you!
The dinner was chaired by Jack Connors, Jr., President of Hill Holliday Advertising, and Carl Yastrzemski, former Boston Red Sox outfielder and Baseball Hall of Famer. Master of ceremonies and key organizer was Sid Cohen, who really knows how to make things happen, ably assisted by the tireless Marty Smith.
The ballroom was beautifully decorated, the service of the Park Plaza staff flawless, and the speakers all highly entertaining. Among the notables present this year were Drs. Tom Starzl and Fritz Bach, Frank Avruch, Gino Cappelletti, and Curt Gowdy.
It is impossible to name all the people and corporations who contributed to making this event a success. Support for TRIO is far-reaching. But special thanks have to go to Chisolm and Hunt Printers Inc. of Gloucester who donated their services for printing the invitations, programs, and posters; to Jean Quinn who spent hours with calligraphy pen in hand creating place cards; and to Dorothy Lourie who pulled together the silent auction that was held during the reception.
While the final tally isn't in yet, it is clear that the fundraiser was successfulÄat raising awareness and raising money for TRIO programs.
Thanks to the efforts of staff and volunteers from the New England Organ Bank and volunteers from TRIO New England, over 24,000 cards were distributed at Fenway Park on September 5 and 6. Feedback from those distributing the cards was positive: the cards were eagerly accepted and they were taken home from the park. If the cards did their job, more than one conversation about organ donation took place on the rides home from the park.
* Many kits used to monitor blood pressure at home aren't accurate enough for users to determine if they suffer from hypertension, according to a recent meeting of the American Society of Hypertension. The researchers used 10 different kits to test the blood pressure of 85 individuals. They found that only one kit (the Omron Hem-705CP) measures blood pressure accurately. We are not suggesting that you purchase this machine, but do speak with your doctor before purchasing any medical devices.
* Last month we talked about the National Family Caregivers Association. This month we would like to introduce the Well Spouse Foundation, which was founded in 1988 to provide support and information to the well spouses of the chronically ill and to educate human services professionals and the public about the needs of spousal caregivers and their families. For more information, contact them at P.O. Box 801, New York, New York 10023 (1-800-838-0879).
* Scientists are studying a newly identified protein fragment that is the first of perhaps a half dozen male markers that may someday reduce the risk of rejection, especially for bone marrow recipients.
Halloween is a fun and fanciful holiday, yet it can also be used as a forum to get our message out about the gift of life. Along with the candy you hand out on Halloween night, you can toss an important message into your trick or treaters' bags.
Most parents end up sorting through their children's bags of goodies to make a safety check of the contents (if not to dig out their own favorite treat!) and would stumble upon your message. Or if you prefer a more straightforward approach, and wish to bypass the children, you can hand out your messages directly to the adults who accompany your costumed visitors.
Along with this newsletter you will find a flyer you can photocopy for your hand-outs. It has been carefully worded to sound friendly and sincere, and to avoid any ghoulish connotations that might occur when connecting the subject of Halloween with transplantation. If you prefer to design your own flyer to distribute, go for it. Be creative! The important thing is that we get the message out and that we increase organ donor awareness. Halloween gives us the opportunity to inform neighboring families about the gift of life, brings the topic of organ donation into everyday life, and provides us with the chance to show that transplant recipients are good neighbors too!
To get a copy of this free publication, call 800-24-DONOR or write to UNOS, P.O. Box 13770, Richmond, VA 23225, Attention: Communications. At the same time, you might want to ask for free copies of two additional brochures: UNOS: What Every Patient Needs to Know and Organ Transplantation: Questions a Patient Should Ask.
This month's personal profile is about a TRIO member who lives in Elk Grove, Illinois. His name is Scott Frank, and he is a 32-year-old heart recipient who calls himself ``The Cardiac Kid.'' Scott was born with two holes in his heart, and had open heart surgery twice in one day at the age of 20. For 10 years, until the summer of 1992, Scott lived with a plastic valve in his heart. At that time, he became seriously ill and spent the next 5-1/2 months at Loyola University Medical Center. He received his new heart on January 2, 1993 and tells everyone he meets how wonderful he feels now.
Scott is an actor, writer, and athlete. He's written a book called, appropriately, The Cardiac Kid which he assures us will entertain, motivate, and inspire us. It will also make us laugh, he claims.
Scott won both a gold and bronze medal at the 1994 Summer Transplant Olympics. He has since joined with several recipient friends to form a three-on-three hoop shoot-out team called ``Spare Parts.'' They play other shoot-out teams for whatever charity needs them.
If you would like to read Scott's book, you can order one from the consignment desk at the Border's Books and Music Store nearest you. (It's on consignment from the Schaumbery, Illinois Border's store). You can also order directly by calling 708-330-0031. The price of the book is $4.95. (You can also borrow a copy from the TRIO New England library.)
* The editor of this newsletter is only moderately computer literate and has not explored the information superhighway at all. Thus, the Internet address published in last month's newsletter was totally wrong (something a net surfer would have immediately recognized). Anyway, the correct Internet address for TRIO New England is:
HTTP://WWW.MED.UMICH. EDU/TRANS/TRANSWEB/ SUPPORT/TRIO_NEW_ENG. HTML
And our E-mail address is: BYGJ31A@PRODIGY.COM
* Happy birthday to Frannie Cartier, who is celebrating her 70th birthday this month. Best wishes for many more!
* TRIO International published and distributed its quarterly newsletter in late August. If you didn't receive it, contact them at 1-800-TRIO-386.
* Below are some interesting statistics recently published by the New England Organ Bank in their newsletter.:
Kidney 331 Liver 124 Pancreas 16 Heart 68 Heart/lung 2 Single lung 6 Double lung 9 Bone 133 Heart for valves 164 Saphenous veins 47
Kidneys 1297 Kidney/pancreas 85 Pancreas 9 Liver 290 Heart 31 Lung 110 Heart/lung 11
Martin Smith
TRIO New England
172 Boston Street
Middleton, MA 01949
Phone: 508-777-6050
Fax: 508-777-0620
email: BYGJ31A@prodigy.com
Last modified:
11 May 2000