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This Thing Called Life is a podcast dedicated to acts of giving, kindness, compassion, and humanity. Host Andi Johnson introduces you to powerful organ, tissue, and eye donation stories from individuals, families, and front-line healthcare teams. These stories are meant to inspire and remind you that while life can be challenging and unpredictable, it’s also incredibly beautiful. We hope this podcast inspires you to connect with our life-saving and life-healing mission.
Episodes
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
During episode 15 of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Paula Franckhauser, a woman who has been in the fight for a long time but is now retiring from the kidney transplant game. Paula knows all things kidney and has dedicated almost half of her life to changing the lives of so many!
Episode Highlights:
- Paula turned 65 recently and thinks that after over 20 years of service, it’s time for younger nurses to take over the fight.
- For the last 5 years, Paula has taken over the responsibility of handling the kidney transplant waitlist.
- Some people have to wait years on the kidney transplant wait list depending on their blood type.
- Paula feels as though she has become part of the families of those who are waiting on a kidney transplant.
- After working on the floor as a nurse and as a case manager for a few years, Paula fell in love with her role in the transplant office.
- Paula’s 30-year nursing career started out in long-term care but she has held a plethora of roles since then.
- When Paula first started at Christ’s hospital in Cincinnati, there was only one nurse.
- Most people are severely undereducated about how their kidneys work, thus leading to unhealthy habits.
- The morning after a transplant, people have color back in their eyes and a smile on their face.
- Many people don’t know how well they can do after a kidney transplant with only one kidney.
- People make the mistake of thinking that just because they don’t match their loved one, they can’t make a difference.
- The National Kidney Registration, NKR, offers a solution to a massive issue in a network that stretches across the country.
- Paula has enjoyed watching friendships evolve from kidney transplants between the recipients and the donors.
- Kidney donation programs are incredibly picky with living donors, but 20-years ago, there wasn’t enough known genetically.
- The biggest problem that non-compliant recipients have is that Medicare goes away after 3 years.
- If any complications come from the kidney transplant for donors, Medicare covers them for life.
- Paula has found an incredible amount of joy in making the phone calls to long-waiting recipients to tell them they have a kidney.
- For young nurses and doctors who are looking to join the transplant field, they need to get involved in their off-time.
- The Transplant Breakfast and Kidney Walks are great ways for young medical professionals to get involved.
- 2020 has taught everyone the importance of coming together as a community to lift each other up.
- One of the biggest myths surrounding healthcare is that medical professionals will not save a life if they are a registered donor.
- The communication between donation centers and hospitals has improved an incredible amount over the last 20 years.
- Paula, unfortunately, lost a patient at the beginning of her career but did everything she could to comfort his wife.
- When you are as involved in and connected with the lives of recipients as Paula is, a bond is formed forever.
- The Kidney Foundation is always accepting volunteers, so don’t be afraid to reach out.
- Through the pandemic, The Christ Hospital only slowed down a little with living donors but did as many overall as they ever do.
3 Key Points:
- The education process around kidney function is massively underdeveloped, and Paula would love to establish better education starting in high school.
- The parent-kidney donation program involves someone who doesn’t match their loved one but does match with someone else on the list and vice versa.
- Medicare stops covering prescriptions after only 3 years, so many of the recipients who don’t work are forced to find jobs in order to afford their medicine.
Resources Mentioned:
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Community Heroes is a special extension of This Thing Called Life’s podcast. In this series we talk to community leaders, share important information about organ and tissue donation, and honor those who have been instrumental in saving lives through the gift of donation.
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
During this episode of This Thing Called Life podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Donna Jones Baker who recently received the gift of life through the donation of a kidney and a heart. Donna has learned to appreciate organ donation and its ability to help save so many lives!
Episode Highlights:
- February 14th is National Donor Day, a day to honor all those who have been affected by organ donation.
- Donna was originally born in Paducah, Kentucky and went to Murray State University.
- After getting married, Donna lived in Baltimore for 22 years before moving to Cincinnati to become the CEO of The Urban League.
- Had it not been for the heart attack that she suffered, Donna believes she would still be at The Urban League.
- Initially, Donna received a Z-pack for what she thought to be a cold or a flu.
- Donna was able to make it to the hospital after suffering from a heart attack where she was equipped with an LVAD.
- Doctors wanted to give Donna a heart transplant, but couldn’t because they discovered cancer on her kidney.
- After doctors removed her kidney, Donna was placed on the transplant list for a new heart and kidney.
- According to the numbers, people of color suffer disproportionately from the effects of COVID.
- The months between her kidney removal and kidney/heart transplant were very scary for Donna.
- Doctors feared that Donna’s remaining kidney would not be able to support her and that she would have to go on dialysis.
- The same doctor that fixed Donna’s LVAD performed her heart and kidney transplant.
- Donna had to be careful with the medications that she took because the heart and kidney don’t want the same things.
- With the help of her husband, Greg, Donna was able to make it through a transplant during a pandemic.
- Donna advises those going through a similar situation to try not to think about it all the time.
- The gifts of life and grandchildren keep Donna grateful for every day that she opens her eyes.
- Through the pandemic, Donna has remained in touch with her children and grandchildren via Zoom.
- Working in organ donation is a tough job, but one that saves many lives.
- Donna hopes to schedule a trip to Baltimore to visit her grandchildren once the pandemic is over.
- Right now, there are over 100,000 people in need of a life-saving transplant surgery.
3 Key Points:
- After initially thinking she had the flu, Donna agreed to host a round table event on Friday the 13th. That following Sunday, she suffered a heart attack from Giant Cell Myocarditis.
- Many African Americans decline to become organ donors out of a fear that if someone of note needed an organ, doctors would take it from them without consideration for their lives.
- To stay in touch and grow with her family members, Donna has started a Sunday night Zoom Bible study.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- Donna’s Story
- Urban League Of Greater Southwestern Ohio
Tuesday Feb 02, 2021
Tuesday Feb 02, 2021
During this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson speaks with Betsy Morgan, the Donation Support Services Trainer at LifeCenter. Betsy trains members of her team on how to approach families for donation interviews while remaining supportive in their time of need.
Episode Highlights:
- Betsy began at LifeCenter as a Donation Support Specialist Coordinator back in 2015.
- In her role, Betsy and her team approach and support families during the organ donation process.
- Before coming to LifeCenter, Betsy was a nurse manager, something she attributes to her love of helping people.
- Betsy loves her job because she gets to see the good things in life, even though the rest of the world is chaotic.
- Sometimes the right thing to say is to say nothing; just showing support is something that people need.
- You can decide the right thing to say to a donor family based on where they are in their donation journey.
- People just want to be heard sometimes, so it can be as simple as picking up the phone and listening.
- With her previous work experience, Betsy knew about organs but didn’t know there were so many ways to donate.
- As technology and healthcare methods change and move forward, there are more and more ways to help those who need donation.
- The process of interviewing the families is a long and difficult one, but Betsy focuses on all the good that the gifts will do.
- Answering the interview questions can be a very difficult and arduous process but is necessary to ensure safe donations.
- During a past Donor Family Ceremony, Betsy comforted a crying woman that she had actually interviewed over the phone.
- Dealing with death every day is difficult but workers at LifeCenter are given purpose when making connections with families.
- It takes a high level of compassion and belief in the job to comfort people in their time of need.
- Conducting interviews over the phone, due to COVID, makes it more difficult to read emotions.
- Betsy must stay open-minded and understanding when approaching a family, especially over the phone.
- In such an emotionally taxing role, Betsy relies heavily on the support system at LifeCenter.
- Talking about and debriefing on the more difficult cases provides Betsy and her team with a form of relief.
- Teams that feel supported and encouraged tend to feel more confident and do better in their individual roles.
- When coming into such difficult and emotionally heavy conversations, it’s important to remain your authentic self.
- Though donor families will feel very alone, especially during a pandemic, there are always people/organizations out there to support them.
- Finding people that can relate to the process or pain can be a great way for grievers to find an outlet.
- Betsy made it her goal this year to simplify life and find the good amongst the sea of bad.
3 Key Points:
- In a world filled with so much negativity and bad things, Betsy loves her job at LifeCenter because she gets to see so much positivity and good.
- While the interview process is filled with difficult and uncomfortable questions for donor families, it must be completed to ensure that the organs being donated go to the right recipients.
- COVID has forced Betsy and others in her position to learn how to have these talks over the phone where emotion is harder to translate.
Resources Mentioned:
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
Tuesday Jan 19, 2021
During this episode, host Andi Johnson speaks with Renee Mahaffey Harris, President and CEO of the Center for Closing the Health Gap in Cincinnati. Renee and the CCHG are working tirelessly to educate everyone on the hidden factors that contribute to the racial disparity in the health of the American population!
Episode Highlights:
- Think about all the resources that you have available to meet all the needs in your life.
- Some people have to make a choice between necessities.
- CCHG works to close the health disparity that exists between races and socioeconomic classes in the Cincinnati area.
- According to multiple research studies over the last 40+ years, there is a disproportion of health amongst black and brown communities.
- COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on the black and brown communities.
- Last year, the pandemic and systemic racism combined to create a public health crisis.
- Renee has played a major role in the declaration of racism as a public health crisis in the Cincinnati area.
- Transportation planning is one example of a factor that contributes to systemic racism.
- The inhumanity of the murder of George Floyd sparked a movement in this country to fight systemic racism.
- Differences in police presence between BLM protests and the storming of the capital is a clear sign of systemic racism.
- Based on multiple studies, income has very little to do with one’s health outcome.
- A perception that black people have a higher threshold for pain has led to a disparity in prescriptions for black people.
- Systemic racism in this country can find its roots all the way back to slavery in the United States.
- Today, Cincinnati is the 5th most segregated city in America.
- Renee was actually told that she couldn’t run for class president when she was in 6th grade because she was black.
- Stress that is placed on black people by systemic racism plays a large role in their socioeconomic status.
- 2020 has taken the problem of systemic racism beyond conversation and into policy review and renovation.
- With such a small margin of profit, grocery stores will continue to locate in places that are easier for people to drive to.
- Early on, Renee did not want to be an organ donor because of a myth that perpetuated through the black community.
- Across the board in just about every area of today’s issues, there is a mistrust of the governmental system.
- CCHG has gathered information from black professionals in the health community in an attempt to garner more trust around the vaccine.
- Scientists were able to use information from the SARS epidemic to speed up the creation of finding a vaccine for COVID.
- Those that don’t believe there is racial disparity in the healthcare system simply need to look at the numbers from various research studies.
- Taking the bias out of the healthcare system has to start in medical school and medical training.
- CCHG started 16 years ago and is the only health disparity organization that both conducts its own research and houses its own data.
- Education is only as good as its ability to be understood by those it was created for.
- The “We Must Save Us” campaign is aimed at educating people around all the impacts of COVID-19.
3 Key Points:
- Multiple studies conducted since the Reagan Administration have shown that black and brown communities are disproportionately affected by health problems.
- How you treat people from other races is largely influenced by how segregated your childhood was and contributes to the systemic racism that we see today.
- Many people that distrust the speed at which the COVID-19 vaccine was created need to know that scientists were given a head start by the information available from the SARS epidemic in the early 2000s.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- Center for Closing the Health Gap (website, WMSU Campaign)
- COVID-19 Resources
Tuesday Jan 05, 2021
Tuesday Jan 05, 2021
During this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson speaks with Chamoda Palmore, a father to a son that was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident on his way to football practice in 2014. As a man, Chamoda knows that he might grieve differently than other people, but as someone going through his own journey of grief, he knows it’s important to find a way to grieve.
Episode Highlights:
- Chamoda is a business owner that lost his son, Chamoda Kennedy-Palmore, to a motorcycle accident.
- Throughout his journey of grief, Chamoda has experienced a rollercoaster of emotions.
- It takes a lot of patience to get through the grieving process.
- Chamoda has leaned heavily on his faith, friends, family, and various support organizations.
- After meeting a woman who lost 2 children to a car crash, Chamoda was able to put things into perspective.
- Even 6 years later, it doesn’t feel real to Chamoda, it feels like someone is missing.
- Chamoda found it difficult to engage with other people, staying away from family functions and gatherings.
- If you have other children or people that depend on you, it’s important to find some level of normalcy again.
- Giving back through Chamoda’s Candy Cafe and Chamoda’s foundation has helped Chamoda heal.
- Right now more than ever, people all over the world need support and care from anyone that can give it.
- Chamoda’s 2 daughters and wife have all dealt with Chamoda’s death in different ways.
- When tragedy first strikes, it’s like the rainy season in April and it moistens up your heart to bloom in May.
- It’s important to plant the right things, love, support, passion, during the initial phase of grieving.
- Chamoda understood that it was a slippery slope to turn to a path of destructive behavior if grief is not handled correctly.
- For about 2 months after his son died, Chamoda couldn’t open the bible.
- Chamoda is comforted by knowing that as a tissue donor, Chamoda’s death was able to help many people.
- The local driver’s ed has incorporated Chamoda’s organ and tissue donation into its program.
- It’s hard for men to speak about their grief, but it’s important to find someone to talk to about their feelings.
- Men feel that they have to be so strong for the family but that doesn’t mean they can’t let it out somewhere else.
- Around the holidays, it’s important to find different ways to express your grief.
- Chamoda helped more than 30 people as a tissue and cornea donor.
- When his son died, Chamoda felt like an infant that just needed to be held.
- Have patience with those in your life that has lost someone; eventually, it will slow down, but for now, listen.
3 Key Points:
- Chamoda likens his journey of grief to that of a baby’s journey of learning to walk. Right now, he is holding onto the banister as he guides his feet.
- Giving back to other people out there that are hurting can help someone heal and get through their own grief.
- Chamoda’s organ and tissue donation, now a part of their local driver’s ed video, has helped encourage others to become donors.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- Chamoda’s Candy Cafe (website, Facebook)
- What's Your Grief
- Grief In Common
- Refuge In Grief
- The Center for Loss
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
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
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
Tuesday Nov 24, 2020
During this episode of This Thing Called Life, host Andi Johnson speaks with Donerik Black who she has known for over 20 years. Donerik had no experience with organ transplants until the day his father told him that he needed a kidney. A deep love for his father made it an easy choice. That, however, was just the beginning of his donor journey!
Episode Highlights:
- Donerik absorbed his parents’ values and work ethic which helped him become the successful entrepreneur he is today.
- After college, Donerik returned to run a PR company and start a newspaper, The Dayton Weekly, both with his father.
- The Dayton Weekly hoped to deliver content that focused on the underserved black community in the Dayton area.
- While in college in Washington DC, Donerik played collegiate basketball while carving out his niche as a government employee.
- Donerik decided to leave his life as a government employee and return to work with his father.
- With his feet dipped into multiple pools of employment, Donerik knew that either you were making or losing money.
- After spending 5 years on dialysis, Donerik’s father was told that he needed to have a kidney transplant.
- Donerik was first introduced to organ donation when he donated a kidney to his father in June of 2006.
- Working the newspaper and getting married in the same time period as the transplant presented various challenges.
- Due to complications from his kidney transplant, Donerik’s father was not able to make it to his wedding.
- Donerik’s father kept an open-door policy and that helped him establish deep roots throughout the Dayton community.
- During a regular check-up with his doctor, it was discovered that Donerik might have something wrong with his heart.
- After not addressing his heart issues, fluid began to fill up his lungs to the point where he couldn’t breathe.
- Donerik had to have a pig valve transplanted into his heart when it was decided that he was too far gone.
- Doctors decided to put a defibrillator into Donerik’s chest in case he started to have a heart attack.
- Donerik chose to own the narrative of his new reality and share his story and do more for the community.
- In late 2012, Donerik’s defibrillator had to activate on a regular basis because of consistent heart flutters.
- What Donerik believed to be a quick-fix procedure ended up seeing him flatline in the outpatient facility.
- It became more and more apparent that Donerik would need a heart transplant.
- In the back of his mind, Donerik didn’t think that he was going to survive, so he made sure to set up his business to run in the future.
- Donerik was forced to resign from his job and withdraw from graduate school while in ICU.
- The outpouring of support and respect that Donerik received is something that he feels that he can never repay.
- The hospital psychologist helped Donerik deal with the issue of someone else dying in order for him to live.
- Donerik chose to use a TAF, or a Total Artificial Heart, to buy himself more time until he matched with a donor.
- On his birthday, Donerik was surprised by the hospital staff that they had found a heart for him, getting a transplant later that night.
- Donerik kept a glass-half-full mentality throughout this process, learning to focus on what was in his control.
- A clinician actually claimed that Donerik was an “unsalvageable patient,” giving Donerik the motivation that he needed.
- When looking back, it’s hard for Donerik to fathom his journey and the great luck that he has had.
- After going through what he went through, Donerik has made it his mission to share the knowledge that he has gained with as many people as possible.
- In such a crazy year, Donerik’s goal is to grow his business and create great relationships.
- Donerik makes sure that he spends his time now with people who he can benefit and that will have a positive impact on his life.
3 Key Points:
- Donerik’s father was a business owner and entrepreneur for his entire life, imprinting on him the fire that drives him to be a successful entrepreneur today.
- After avoiding a suspected heart issue and inconsistent symptoms, Donerik had to have a valve replaced in his heart with an organ from a pig.
- When Donerik went in for a simple heart procedure, he flatlined and had to be shocked 74 times with over 45 minutes of CPR to come back.
Resources Mentioned:
- LifeCenter (website) (Facebook) (Instagram) (YouTube) (Twitter)
- Andi Johnson (website) (LinkedIn)
- United Network for Organ Sharing
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
Tuesday Nov 10, 2020
During this episode of This Thing Called Life Podcast, host Andi Johnson speaks with Kris Grigsby, an incredible human being that has acted as the primary support system for a loved one. After struggling with Cystic Fibrosis for his entire life, Kris’s husband Joe had to have a lung transplant in 2012. Listen in to hear all about Kris and Joe’s inspiring story!
Episode Highlights:
- Organ donation doesn’t just affect the donor, but also changes the lives of the close friends and family.
- Not all transplant stories have a happy ending, but at the same time, not all stories end in tragedy.
- Kris’s husband Joe was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as an infant, beating the odds and living well beyond his initial life expectancy.
- When their twins were 3-years-old, Joe was operating at only 20-30% lung capacity.
- Lung donation requires a donor that has already passed away.
- Due to Joe’s convenient blood type, Joe only had to wait just over 3 months on the waitlist before getting his transplant.
- Spending 6 weeks at the hospital for the transplant, Joe and Kris went 5 weeks without seeing their children.
- Just 16 hours after his transplant, Joe was able to walk 150 feet.
- After the transplant, Kris had to change her mindset from one of a caregiver to one of a more normal wife.
- Kris continued to work full-time throughout the entire process for insurance purposes, but it also gave her some relief.
- Both Joe and Kris, very independent humans, had to learn how to say yes when people offered help.
- It took over 2 years to connect with the donor’s family, and now Kris and Joe are very actively connected with them.
- Staying connected with the donor’s family has helped with the healing process on both sides.
- Kris and Joe’s children do not remember the time when Joe was sick and unable to live an active lifestyle.
- Going through the transplant process alone is impossible, so it’s important to accept the help that is offered.
- The transplantation process is a journey for both the donor and their family/friends.
- As a result of the different recipient and supporter groups, Joe and Kris have connected with people all over the country.
- Kris’s grandpa passed away in April unexpectedly after marrying his new wife just a year and a half before.
- The funeral home director advised Kris’s grandpa’s widow to deny the option for her deceased husband to be an organ donor.
- It should be the #1 responsibility for transplant centers and funeral homes to support the family.
- We must all advocate for ourselves and our loved ones for what’s right in the moment of a donation decision.
- Leave the decision on whether you can or cannot be a donor up to the medical professionals.
- Tissue and cornea donation has the potential to help up to 50 people from one donor, and can change/save lives.
- Science is constantly evolving and as a result, the number of people that can donate is constantly increasing.
- Transplant is not a fix-all option and it’s important to remember that there will still be rough times.
- 2020, while chaotic, has presented an opportunity for everyone to grow closer to their families.
- Faith has acted as an essential support beam throughout the transplant process and life in general for Kris.
- Support groups are incredible resources for those affected by transplantations.
3 Key Points:
- Unlike kidney and liver donation where you can have a living donor, lung donation requires a donor that is already deceased.
- Kris and Joe actually watched the accident on the news that involved Joe’s donor but didn’t know it until later.
- A misguided funeral home director gave incorrect advice to Kris’s grandpa’s widow and ultimately swayed her to turn down his option to be an organ donor.
Resources Mentioned: