Blog

As April is Donate Life month, I would like to thank the family that provided me with the greatest gift of all, the Gift of Life.  Nineteen months ago, at age 23, I was given a new liver by  an organ donor. Because of this generous gift, I have been able to return to nursing school, volunteer for Lifebanc (our area’s organ donation and procurement agency) and travel to Ireland to study health care. 

I have truly learned the value of each day and have a new outlook on life. I am filled with joy and gratitude.  There is a critical organ shortage in Northeast Ohio and across the United States. My hope is that more people will join the Ohio Donor Registry at www.lifebanc.org or call 216-752-5433/1-888-558-5433.

Organ donation is the one unselfish gift that can save eight lives.  My family is very grateful for the donor who saved mine, and I can now live a full, healthy life because of that single gift.

Amanda Goodwin, Liver Recipient - Munroe Falls, Ohio  Read Amanda's Blog

Amanda's letter was published in the Akron Beacon Journal as a Letter to the Editor.

On August 14, 1984 I received one of the best gifts of my life, my son Michael. He spent his life always helping and doing things for others but he never felt like he truly fit in anywhere. Many people have told me that he will never be forgotten not because he died young and tragically but because of what he always gave to others. Through Lifebanc my son continues to give to others and his legacy lives on.

It was March 5, 2006. I got a phone call from my son's friend who told me Michael was in an accident while riding his four-wheeler. The day stays etched in my mind as if it was only yesterday.  When I got to the scene, the ambulance had already left and was on the way to the Hospital. My mothers' intuition kicked in and I knew it wasn't good. I made all necessary phone calls on my way to the hospital. I knew that my 21-year-old son, who lived life on the edge and to the fullest, would not survive this accident. As family and friends began to stagger in and we were told that he didn't make it my husband suggested cornea donation. We spoke to a hospital social worker and his process of cornea, bone and tissue donation began

On Michaels' 21st birthday, when we were at the BMV he was asked if he wanted to be an organ donor. He turned to me and asked if I was one. Regrettably, I said no and so did he. I am thankful that we were able to do otherwise.  Since his accident my husband and I have become registered organ donors.

Although this, the greatest tragedy any mother should ever have to endure, I know that my son's life and his death were for a reason...to help others. I don't feel that my sons' life was cut short; I feel that helping others through donation was his purpose.

Written by Lynn Washko, mom of donor, Michael Cardinale

Well I am not a writer but I wanted to tell you how I feel about organ donation. My name is Theresa and my husband was Simon.  Simon died unexpectantly when he went through what was supposed to be a simple medical procedure.

Even though he was only 25, we had a wonderful life together and out of it we have three beautiful girls that are so much like him! The one thing I remember most was two days before he went into surgery he got to hear our youngest say “daddy” for the first time.  That made him so happy! He loved our girls and they were everything to him.

After I was told he passed away, someone from Lifebanc talked to me about Simon being an organ, eye and tissue donor. I always knew that I wanted to be a donor and Simon was always willing to help others.  For me, this was not a difficult decision knowing that he always wanted to help save peoples live! So when they asked me, I immediately said yes.

I wanted to write to the recipients and hopefully get to meet them one day!!  Not even a month after he died, I wrote to each recipient and prayed that maybe one day we would get to meet.

Each year, on Simon’s birthday I hold a balloon release to honor and remember my husband.  On July 2, 2010, I got the wonderful chance to meet the person who received his kidney and pancreas! It was Simon’s birthday but I was the one who received a wonderful present.  We continue to stay in contact with each other.

At the July 2011 balloon release, I got to meet the person who received his heart and lungs!  The really amazing thing is this person was under my nose and his sister and I are good friends from church!!

Honestly, I never thought I would ever get to see the other side of this blessing.  I never expected someone so close and dear to me to die so young.  But knowing that my husband and the kids daddy has helped other people to live - has been a great comfort through this whole situation. 

I thank God for all the wonderful blessings in my life and our girl’s lives. But without a doubt, the best thing to come out of the losing Simon was being able to meet and communicate with the recipients.  Simon continues to live on and help others as he did in life.

Theresa Agens - Donor Family Member

On August 14, 1984 I received one of the best gifts of my life, my son Michael. He spent his life always helping and doing things for others but he never felt like he truly fit in anywhere. Many people have told me that he will never be forgotten not because he died young and tragically but because of what he always gave to others. Through Lifebanc my son continues to give to others and his legacy lives on.

It was March 5, 2006. I got a phone call from my son's friend who told me Michael was in an accident while riding his four-wheeler. The day stays etched in my mind as if it was only yesterday.  When I got to the scene, the ambulance had already left and was on the way to the Hospital. My mothers' intuition kicked in and I knew it wasn't good. I made all necessary phone calls on my way to the hospital. I knew that my 21-year-old son, who lived life on the edge and to the fullest, would not survive this accident. As family and friends began to stagger in and we were told that he didn't make it my husband suggested cornea donation. We spoke to a hospital social worker and his process of cornea, bone and tissue donation began

On Michaels' 21st birthday, when we were at the BMV he was asked if he wanted to be an organ donor. He turned to me and asked if I was one. Regrettably, I said no and so did he. I am thankful that we were able to do otherwise.  Since his accident my husband and I have become registered organ donors.

Although this, the greatest tragedy any mother should ever have to endure, I know that my son's life and his death were for a reason...to help others. I don't feel that my sons' life was cut short; I feel that helping others through donation was his purpose.

Written by Lynn Washko, mom of tissue donor, Michael Cardinale

To me, Lifebanc equals grace - giving to other in faith.

Giving the Gift of Life - donating eyes to give a stranger sight.

Or just the skin off your bones - saving the life of another whose to sick to leave their home.

Have you ever listen to the beat of your heart-and imagine giving the gift to someone for a fresh start?

The very lungs from your body - helping someone whose life isn’t healthy.

I think we should consider what a life can give-give a stranger the second chance to live.

I believe God wants us to share - and give hope to those suffering elsewhere.

I know it sounds scary - but we are suppose to share in this community.

And if sharing means to give a body parts - we should give that heart.

That lung, that kidney, even the skin-Faith is suppose to be shared with her, him.

I know I'd want someone to save my life-or give me a heart or the gift of sight.

I say think of it as if it were you sick, alone, suffering, hurting as you go throw.

Think of it as that Doc. Ask you to give-so that child on the list might live.

Think if it was your son-dying because he needs an organ from someone.

Think of it as you throw the consent form away - that might be you one day.

Laying sick asking why - waiting for someone to die.

For someone’s family-to give you the means and ability to be healthy.

Think about it, as you pray and give thanks-someone somewhere is also

praying you donate to the "Lifebanc."

Donate, Save, Prolong A Life.

By: Patricia Robinson, SC

Thank you to Patricia Robinson for this prose she submitted to Lifebanc

Gratitude

Asante, Gracias, Merci, Shukran, Danke, Arigato

Although there are many ways to say “thank you”, the act of gratitude is universal. In many cultures gratitude is expressed by the act of exchanging gifts.  What is a gift? A gift is an expression of endearment whether tangible or intangible.  “It is better to give than to receive” are words of wisdom that serve as a constant reminder that I was created to be a blessing for another person.  Sometimes, the giving of gifts is not always easy.   Giving a gift to someone when you are facing a difficult and challenging time in your life is not always an easy decision. It requires you to look beyond your situation and circumstance to bring hope to another.   Donor families are examples of sacrificial giving.  They choose to give despite the emotional turmoil, grief, and pain experienced at the loss of their loved ones. They give the most precious gifts that can be given; an enhanced quality of life for a mother which will allow her to see her kids grow up to be world changers; redemption of time which allows a man to share Thanksgiving dinner with his family for one more year; the opportunity for a young boy or  girl to grow up knowing the limitless possibilities because she someone said “yes” to life.

Asante, Gracias, Merci, Shukran, Danke, Arigato…..no matter what your gratitude may sound like or look like, give thanks for life, for health, and for love. This is what you were created for.

By Yolanda D. Hamilton,

Lifebanc Multicultural Outreach Coordinator

Dr. Kenneth Woodside’s Words to Donor Family Members

I started on a transplant recovery team as a sophomore in college two decades ago and now I'm one of the surgeons at University Hospitals Transplant Institute.  As a surgeon, I have recovered organs from donors and transplanted the Gift of Life into recipients.  I've been part of both the tragedy and triumph of transplant every day during that time.  You know the tragic portion, but I want to share the hope that you brought into the world of others, at a time of your tragedy.

Here are just a handful of my patients that are here today because of your generosity.

A young boy with a metabolic liver disease, fixed by an unfortunate young liver donor with grieving parents who wanted to help someone else at a time when they could no longer be helped.

A small woman with a big heart – literally, it was so large from heart failure.  When I was an intern, she was the first patient I ever got to tell directly-“we have an organ for you.”  It was a life-saving heart.   She is a middle-aged woman with new grandkids.  Over a decade ago, she knitted me a couple of kitchen potholders that comes out every December for the holidays

A formally strong man who is strong again.  He had a kidney and pancreas transplant from which it took months to recover.  He came in to see me a couple of months ago just to tell me he was chopping wood for the winter-something he hadn't done in years.

A new bride, bright yellow from liver failure. She brought a smile to everyone who encountered her.  She received a liver, just in time.  In just over a week, she had lost the tan from jaundice, and was home with her husband.

All of these people have something they did not have before.  They have a chance at Life.  Not every recipient makes it.  Diseases sometimes recur and organs sometimes reject.  But, your loved one gave them a shot.  Your loved one gave the recipients and their families’ precious time, and precious life.  Your family member helped someone when there was nothing left to help them, and gave hope to someone else when their own hope was lost.  As these patients' surgeon, I am grateful.

I'd like to mention one more patient.  A young man recently transplanted-who will now be able to live a life off dialysis because of a kidney donated by someone who didn't take it with them when he passed.

This young man will no longer need dialysis and his life should be significantly longer because of that kidney transplant.  When I met with him and his parents recently,  I told them that I would be communicating with donor families.  This young man became teary-eyed and quiet for a minute, then simply said, "Tell them thank you."  His parents could barely speak, and nodded in sincere agreement.

[Edited for length by Lifebanc.]

My name is Dan Martinelli and I have recently joined Lifebanc as the Director of Preservation Services.

The role of the Organ Preservation Specialist (OPS) has been described many ways.  However, you may not have heard it described in the following manner:  An OPS is the conductor of the orchestral process of organ donation - the surgical recovery of transplantable organs.  An OPS has the critical responsibility of ensuring that the organ recovery process occurs in an organized manner, that the organs being recovered are perfused properly, that the anatomy of the recovered organs are described accurately, and that each organ is packaged and labeled according to industry standards.  The OPS serves as a surgical first assistant to our recovering surgeons and in addition OPS will surgically recover organs for research when deemed not transplantable.   An OPS also has the responsibility of machine preservation of kidneys. Some of the responsibilities included in machine preservation are, surgically cannulating and placing kidneys onto a kidney perfusion machine, pharmacological management, monitoring and adjusting pressures, monitoring renal flow and renal resistance values of the kidney.  These key responsibility areas of the OPS ensure that these generous gifts are transplantable. An OPS serves as a critically important member of the team of individuals involved in the donation process.

Although that is a technical definition of our role – I like to think of it as simply preparing and preserving the precious Gift of Life for the journey to the recipient.

I’m Bev Alt and I work in Lifebanc’s procurement department.  My responsibility is to oversee the medical management of our organ donors in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in many hospitals throughout northeast Ohio.

It takes collaboration between Lifebanc, hospital and transplant staff to manage our organ donor cases.  Lifebanc’s staff is in the ICU from the time our Family Support Liaison obtains authorization or consent from the donor family, until all the organs are transported to those waiting transplants.  On average, this process takes 36 hours. 

There are times we have eligible donors who for one reason or another do not become actual organ donors. We work to keep our donor’s metabolic numbers stable so that the organs will be viable for transplant.  That may seem simple, but in many cases it is not.  Many times eligible donors are unstable due to the nature of their injury and the brain death process. Our procurement/recovery department is a diverse group of nurses, respiratory therapists and paramedics, which is led by our Chief Clinical Officer and medical director.  We all have critical care backgrounds and are able to share our strengths and grow from one another’s experience. Our diversity, I believe, is what makes us the strong group we are. Our job is ever changing and growing. It would be an uncommon occasion to not learn something new every day. I started working for Lifebanc five years ago, and the things I do now are so different from what I was doing then. This is a relatively new field, and the advances are amazing.

Several years ago when I was working in an ICU at a Cleveland hospital, a Lifebanc representative was educating the staff about donation and the organization. I faxed my resume in the next day and here I am. I loved working in the ICU, I got to do all the “fun nurse stuff” and still take hands-on-care of my patients. My family knew how much nursing meant to me. It’s all I can ever remember wanting to do, that and being a Mom. I did the Mom thing first and when my youngest was four I went back to school. When I took this job with Lifebanc it was hard for my family, who knew me best, to understand how I could go from working with my ICU patient, who would get better and go home, to working with “patients” that wouldn’t. But our organ donors are still someone’s, Mom, Dad, brother, sister or child.  I often imagine the level of care I would want if this were my loved one.  It’s true these patients aren’t going home, but someone else could.  In fact eight other lives could be saved through organ donation and transplantation alone.  So now, I not only take care of our organ donors but also the recipients.

I could tell you all the clinical things I do, but that’s not the real reason I love my job. Here is a story that sums up why I love what I do. I went out to start a case at one of our local hospitals. There was a gentleman; he had registered his decision to become an organ, eye and tissue donor, who’d been in a tragic accident. His family wanted to honor his decision to become a donor. A typical case is very busy with lots of testing and the bedside nurse is usually running non-stop. When I arrived at the hospital, the family was just leaving.  I started writing medical management orders and handing the bedside nurse the many tubes we needed filled for testing.  As we talked, it seemed as if something was bothering the nurse.  I thought she must just be extremely busy. When I asked if I could help, she told me that the only way she got this patient’s wife to go home and rest was to promise to bathe her husband. The nurse knew we needed to get this testing done, but she’d also made a promise to the wife to bathe her husband.  So, that’s what we did. We put everything else on hold and we took care of him. As a nurse, we knew our priorities, our patient was stable and a promise had been made. This is just one of many stories that I could share in which a case took a little longer because a Mom wanted to hold her child one more time or a husband needed to be alone with his wife for just a few more minutes to say goodbye. I get to work for an organization that is both passionate and caring.  So I still get to do all the fun “nurse stuff” and I get to give hands-on care to my “patients” so that others may live.

The most significant learning experience in my life happened eight years ago, when I had a heart transplant.  I learned a great deal about myself during the six months I spent in the hospital.  There were many aspects of my life where I had to stop and take a look.  This was not going to be an easy task for me.  I am used to being in control of everything in my life; this was one time I could not be in control, and it was very difficult for me.  I am used to taking care of others, and this time I had to let others take care of me.

One of the first things I had to learn was to have patience.  I was admitted into the hospital on January 7 and was positive that I would have my new heart and be out in time for my daughter’s twelfth birthday on February 3.  Ashley’s birthday passed, as did Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and my birthday.  Every day I would get up hoping that today was the day, but it would not happen. 

The nights were the longest; they seemed to last forever.  My daughter would call me crying, telling me she wanted me to come home and that she missed me.  I finally came to the conclusion that whoever had the heart that I needed, still needed it himself.  When they were done with it, it would be mine.  That gave me the patience I needed to make it though each long day.

My family has always been important to me, but they became even more significant to me while I was in the hospital.  As days grew into weeks, they established a visiting schedule. It became a ritual that was not interrupted..  They each had their own individual time with me; they made sure that their time was sacred.  We were no longer one large family unit, all together as a band, but just individuals, getting to know each other one on one.

Now that I have gone through the life-altering experience of having a heart transplant, I truly appreciate every day. I see the good in people and see the bright side of everything.  Because I was sick for so long, there were many things I was unable to do.  I made a list I called “My Heart’s Desire” of things to accomplish after my transplant.  They included swimming with dolphins, running up a flight of stairs, not being tired all the time, and talking to everyone about organ donation.  The only things I have not finished are becoming a registered nurse, which I am working on now, and learning to golf.  I never care about waiting in lines or waiting for an appointment.  I love the summer heat, the spring rain, the fall leaves and the winter snowfall.  I volunteer for two organizations that are very near to my heart and spread the word about organ donation to anyone that will listen, and even those that will not listen.  My brother is now waiting for a heart transplant, and he tells me that I am his inspiration, that I made it look easy.  I tell him it is just a matter of getting up every morning and being glad to be alive.