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Liver Giver
Member
Username: Beteboop
Post Number: 477
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, December 21, 2008 - 05:11 pm: | 
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With Christmas just days away, I wanted to acknowledge and thank each family who made it possible for someone or ones to have the chance of a lifetime despite their loss.
I respect and am in awe of each of you, for having the strength to make such a difficult decision. You must know how your gifts have changed the lives of others and I pray that gives you some peace in your hearts.
Your families are in my prayers as this Christmas falls upon us, and I thank you for giving us here at transplantbuddies the opportunity to know of the "hero" in your life.
Merry Christmas.
Dawn
Forum Leader Living Organ Donation
Liver Donor 11/19/07 to brother Anthony
Good and bad things happen in life, but what matters, what defines us, is how we handle them |
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Janet
Member
Username: Jan
Post Number: 187
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 01:38 am: |
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You are so welcome....I thank God every day that I was patient enough to listen to the transplant coordinators long enough to realize that donating was what our son would've wanted.....and as I said earlier....spending time with all of you have helped my heart to heal more than anything else that I could've done since Joe's death....You are welcome...and THANK YOU for sharing your thoughts with us.
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Happy2Bhere
Member
Username: Happy2bhere
Post Number: 1580
Registered: 02-2008
| | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 01:42 am: |
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Liver Giver's words above echo my sentiments exactly.
Ol' Bob
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Hostess Risa
Board Administrator
Username: Risa
Post Number: 7382
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 11:58 am: |
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Thank you Dawn for posting your thoughts of appreciation.
I never thought about it before until I read what Janet just wrote.
She was glad that she listened to the coordinators. I never thought about it like this. She had the choice to push them away. All donor families could simply brush the organ procurement team away but many did not.
I will remember this Janet. My Donor Famiiles were kind and caring Listeners.
With love to all Donor Families this Christmas
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Janet
Member
Username: Jan
Post Number: 191
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 12:23 pm: |
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Risa, you are such a special person....you have helped me more than you will ever know, just by inviting me to this site.....along with all of the other wonderful things that you do. I am so glad to be 'back'...it has been way too long.
Yes, I did say no that day when asked about donation....I felt Joe had already given enough, he had given his life to save another's life and I didn't feel it was 'fair' that they were asking more of him. But, somehow, Joe got through to me at that time, and helped me to make the right choice...and I am so thankful for that...and the Transplant Coordinators....we are still friends to this day...they were the best thing that could've happened to us that horrible day....we love them to pieces.
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Hostess Risa
Board Administrator
Username: Risa
Post Number: 7385
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 12:43 pm: |
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Thank you Janet for writing back and Thank you so much for joining our site again. I see you have made some special friends and I am so pleased to see this. Tell us more about your friends (coordinators).
God Bless all that Joe has done for all of those on Earth and may he continue to watch over you and your family.
With Love,
Risa
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Karen R.
Member
Username: Relivkaren
Post Number: 2278
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Monday, December 22, 2008 - 03:10 pm: |
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Janet:
I want to thank you for being so open and honest about your ups and downs with organ donation. It has really helped me understand and accept that one day a family will lose someone they love and that loved one will give me a chance to go on living. I will never forget the day Jerry and I left the Cleveland Clinic after our first consultation with one of the Interstitial Lung Specialists. He didn't even talk about treatment or medication. He just started out talking about lung transplant. We knew it was coming, but you never really know how you will feel until you are directly faced with something. It really shook us up. As we were driving home in silence, Jerry took my hand as we both cried. I think that we were relieved that we finally had an answer, but afraid of what we had looming ahead of us, but most of all we both knew that someone had to die for me to get a second chance at life. Being a part of this website and reading stories like your Joe's has helped me so much. Your wisdom and grace about donation has helped me accept, appreciate, and pray for my donor and their family whoever they may be. You have brought so much to this site. I am glad that you are back and that I had a chance to get to know you. Thank you for being such a wonderful donor mom. Joe was a very blessed and brave young man!!
Merry Christmas!!
Karen
Dx: BOOP - May 2006. Rediagnosed with Bronchiolitis Obliterans Nov. 2006
Listed Feb 2008 - Double Lung at Cleveland Clinic
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. |
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Janet
Member
Username: Jan
Post Number: 193
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - 12:24 am: |
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Risa, Rick and Tom were the coordinators for Joe. Dave said that he has seen them around the hospital a day or two before Joe died....so, I guess they were in the background, watching, waiting, knowing that the inevitable would be there sooner than we wanted it to be. But I have to say, even with myself and my daughter and son YELLING and screaming 'at' them, they never took it personally, and were all more than willing to be there for us when we needed them in the weeks, months and years to come. I still call Rick every now and again, just to talk about anything and everything that is bugging me. If I have a question about anything in the news....I always know where to get to get the 'straight story'. They have been very good to us, and to Joe...he has been honored by them in so many ways. I think, he was just a 14 years old that died and we donated his organs.....but he was never JUST THAT to any of them.......he was a person who gave a gift to so many, and continues to do so through educational programs that he is a part of.
Tom and Rick were just the best of the best....when I hear stories about how other families were treated or asked about donation...I thank God that they were the two selected to be by our sides. Never once did they say we had to donate, not even after I said NO.........they had the patience of saints. Even after my daughter screaming at them at the top of her lungs...they were still loving and gentle with us. I can not even imagine having a job like theirs. I asked them a few times why they didn't walk away from us that day.......and they just replied that there was something there that was special, and they didn't want to give up on us.......but they never 're-asked' either, we decided that on our own.........with a lot of love and support from two wonderful people....and the chaplain of the hospital was a big help also. He used to be a priest at our church.............he baptized Joe when he was a baby....so, we knew him well. With his help we changed our minds, and decided it would be what Joe would've wanted. To be able to help others, even in his death. And it is such a comfort to know that two of his recipients still are alive out there somewhere, because of the gift he gave to them.
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Janet
Member
Username: Jan
Post Number: 194
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - 12:31 am: |
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Karen, thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, we had many ups and downs...and it took me 'forever' to feel at ease with the decision that we finally did make. It was mostly me that was having a problem with it all....not my hubby Dave. Maybe it was a mom thing, or something. But, when I finally realized that I did exactly what Joe had wanted....it made all the difference in the world to my grief journey. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders.
I think the one thing that all of the recipients here, and those waiting have to remember, is that none of you caused the death of your donors....all of them would've died whether they were a donor or not......They would've either taken their organs with them, or they could allow another person to live a longer and healthier life through donation. So, you have nothing to do with their death....just helping them to continue to live on through all of you....for them to still be able to make a difference in this world long after they are gone from this earth.
Bless you all for keeping our loved ones so near and dear to your hearts. THANK YOU for being here and sharing with me.
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