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This Thing Called Life is a podcast about acts of giving, kindness, compassion, and humanity. Host Andi Johnson, will introduce you to powerful stories about organ, eye, and tissue donation from individuals, families and front-line health care teams, whose experiences will hopefully inspire you and remind you, that while life is hard and unpredictable, it’s also beautiful. We hope this podcast serves as a catalyst for you to register to become an organ, eye, and tissue donor.
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Episode 10: Grief Shows Itself in Many Different Ways with Jenn Proffitt
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
Tuesday Dec 22, 2020
During this episode of This Thing Called Life Podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Jenn Proffitt, one of Andi’s coworkers at LifeCenter. Jenn is a Family Aftercare Coordinator, working to help support the families of donors after the donation process takes place. With so much experience of supporting people in their own grief, Jenn has unique insight into what grief really looks like.
Episode Highlights:
- Jenn helps donor families after the donation process by providing resources and emotional support.
- Family Aftercare Coordinators work with all sorts of organ donor families, from eyes all the way to the liver.
- Before she was a Family Aftercare coordinator, Jenn was a Family Services Coordinator.
- Family Services Coordinators support families through the entirety of the donation process.
- It takes a special individual to sit with a family that has experienced such an unexpected loss.
- Right now is a very heavy time for people all over the country.
- Jenn became a licensed social worker in 2003, working with many different demographics.
- After years of social work, Jenn decided to take a hiatus and became a nurse in 2013.
- A particular case as a nurse involving a baby inspired Jenn to support a loved one emotionally and join LifeCenter.
- Andi and Jenn have both realized the importance of listening to those that just want to be heard.
- Everyone grieves differently, so what you see from one grieving person may not be the signs shown by other grievers.
- Debbie Pollino is an example of someone who made the choice to not get stuck in the deep dark hole that is grief.
- Support and connection plays a large part in someone’s ability to deal with their grief.
- Grievers should seek out help when they find themselves in a dark place for a long period of time.
- When people offer to help, it’s important to accept it and let people love you.
- Society falls short when it comes to supporting someone who is grieving in the long-term.
- Andi had a very hard time at night when her son was having trouble breathing as a baby.
- Nighttime represents a time when you have to be alone with your grief, things such as journaling and meditation can help.
- Scheduling plans over the holidays gives grievers the ability to be around support while honoring their loved one.
- At the end of the day, there is no universal answer because there is no universal way of grieving.
- You never know what someone is going through, so, be kind to everyone and show grace.
- When Jenn is feeling overwhelmed, she likes to take a walk or sometimes watch Netflix.
3 Key Points:
- Jenn has served as both a Family Services Coordinator and a Family Aftercare Coordinator, supporting donor families throughout the entirety of the donation and post-donation process.
- Loved ones that are in the room for a medical emergency have no idea what’s going on and need the support that is often not offered to them.
- Grief looks different for everyone. Everybody reacts differently, but just because one person cries and one holds it in doesn’t mean that one is hurting less than the other.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- Jenn Proffitt (Linkedin)
- This Thing Called Life Episode 09
- What's Your Grief
- Refuge In Grief
- Grief In Common
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Episode 09: Grief Looks Different For Everyone with Debbie Pollino
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
During this episode of This Thing Called Life Podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Debbie Pollino, a Donate-Life Ambassador for LifeCenter. Unfortunately, Debbie’s experience as an ambassador found its roots in the death of her son Nick after a car crash in 2014. Debbie knows firsthand that grief looks different for everyone and she hopes that sharing her son’s story can help others deal with their own tragedies.
Episode Highlights:
- In January 2014, Debbie lost her son Nick to a car accident, suffering a brain injury that he could not recover from.
- Debbie had no idea that her son Nick was very passionate about organ donation until he noticed that she was one on her license.
- Nick was able to save multiple lives with the organs that were donated from his body.
- 4 months after the death of her son, Debbie attempted to become a Donate-Life Ambassador, but it was still too soon.
- After about 18 months of recovering from the death of her son, Debbie started sharing Nick’s story at schools.
- Nick was a very adventurous and outdoorsy person, driving across the country multiple summers in a row to Northern California.
- After attending Northern Kentucky for college, Nick transferred to a school in Northern California for a forestry program.
- What was supposed to be a 3-month trip to Hawaii for Nick, turned into a 5 ½ year trip.
- The Bernie Madoff pyramid scheme collapse brought an end to Nick’s trip to Hawaii.
- Debbie’s nephews and nieces were like siblings with Nick in life, children to her after Nick’s death.
- Fortunately for Debbie, her family continued to talk about Nick, keeping his spirit all around them.
- Nick had the kind of spirit that makes people proud to remember who he was as a person.
- Debbie had a meltdown recently when she was looking through pictures and realized that she will never have a current one.
- Nick made it all the way to Lima, Peru on a buddy pass for New Years, sleeping in the airport for a week.
- The first time that Debbie went to visit Nick in Hawaii, he jumped off a 60-foot cliff and climbed back up.
- With how up and down the grieving process is, it’s important to have people that you can ask for help.
- Though support groups work for some people, Debbie felt it was more beneficial to be around positive reinforcement.
- Nick was very spiritual in his own way, using nature as his church, as a way to find peace.
- Debbie and her family celebrate Nick on a variety of occasions, especially Thanksgiving, his favorite holiday.
- On August 4th every year, Nick’s birthday, Debbie’s family throws a party to celebrate his life.
- Debbie had the pleasure of meeting Nick’s heart recipient, Brian, and welcoming his family into her family.
- Brian looks and acts the same as Nick, with a similar build and a love for outdoor adventure.
- The pandemic has been especially difficult for Debbie, given how close she is with her family.
- Though it’s hard during the pandemic, don’t hide away from other people while you are grieving.
3 Key Points:
- Debbie lost her 36-year-old son, Nick, after a car accident in January of 2014. Because of his passion for organ donation, he was able to save multiple lives.
- While most days are good, filled with great memories, some days are rough for Debbie when all she wants is a hug from her son.
- Nick’s heart recipient, Brian, a father of 2, has since become a part of Debbie’s family, along with the rest of his family.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- Nick’s Heart YouTube Video
- What's your Grief
- Grief in Common
- Fern Side