Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Tracy Morgan Undergoes Successful Kidney Transplant


TODAY news services: Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan is recovering from a kidney transplant undergone earlier this month, his publicist said in a statement on Monday.

Morgan, 42, will miss at least two episodes of the television show, "30 Rock", in which he co-stars with Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and plays a caricature of his own days on "Saturday Night Live." According to E! Online, his character's absence will be explained by some "happy news."

His successful transplant occurred around Dec. 10.

"Tracy is doing well and taking some much needed time to recover after the surgery," said the statement. "He is looking forward to going back to work after the holidays."

Morgan was diagnosed with diabetes nearly 15 years ago, but said in his first "30 Rock" season he did not take the disease seriously. The episodes Morgan will miss are due to air in March.

As E! Online pointed out, Morgan is the second member of "30 Rock" to have a transplant this year. Grizz Chapman, who was suffering from end-stage renal disease, also received a new kidney.

Reuters and E! Online contributed to this report.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Successful Event Raises More than $17,000!

NFT patient Kenny Cox is a regular on the Florida music scene. When his friends and community members heard of his need for a kidney transplant, they wanted to help. Volunteers held "Blow Out to Go Out," last month in Kenny's honor.

On November 20, the Rock for Hair and Nails salon donated proceeds from hair and nail appointments while several bands, including the Kapo Kings and Chasing Sparrows, played throughout the area. When the day was over, more than $17,000 had been raised in honor of Kenny!



To see more photos from this event, visit NFT on Facebook.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

NFT Patients Held More Than 200 Fundraisers in 2010

Congratulations to the countless volunteers who held successful fundraisers in honor of NFT patients in 2010! This year, more than 200 events were held across the country to raise funds in honor of our transplant patients.

Thank you to the volunteers, friends, family members and community supporters who made this possible! If you were involved in an NFT fundraiser, please feel free to send your event details and photos to info@transplants.org. We love to hear about them!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Counting Her Blessings

The following article is from The Courier of Montgomery County.

After 14 years of common law marriage, Esmerelda and Jose Luis Miranda officially tied the knot, walking the aisle as friends and family smiled through tears at the La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa Sunday.

Recently as seven months ago, however, this scene would have seemed impossible to the bride.

“This is very, very special. A dream come true for us,” said Miranda, who resides in the Houston area. “I never thought this was gonna happen.”

More than 109,000 people are currently awaiting an organ transplant in the United States, according to LifeGift, a non-profit organization that recovers organs for people needing transplants. Less than a year ago, Miranda was one of them, awaiting a heart at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston.

Born with a heart murmur, doctors have told Miranda that she would be able to live with the irregular heartbeat. However, she had gone through three open heart surgeries before collapsing in the street in her hometown of Weslaco in 2009 with a hole in her heart “the size of a silver dollar,” said Elvia Valdez, public relations coordinator for LifeGift.

On May 18, Miranda received a transplant after almost a year on the waiting list at St. Luke’s, which she referred as “one of many blessings” she’s experienced recently. The second blessing came from the Wish Upon a Wedding organization, which granted her a dream wedding at the resort, free of charge.

Heather Sims, president of the Houston chapter of the organization, said it was founded in January, and this is the first wedding put on by the Houston branch. Sims spoke with Miranda initially at a presentation at the St. Luke’s hospital several months ago, and Miranda’s story set her apart.

“It was the journey they had gone through to get to where they are,” Sims said.

The organization partnered with Wish Centers to provide the dress, rings, food and location for the wedding. Sims said “a lot of people came together to pull this off” and praised La Torretta for their help, “going above and beyond.”

“It’s a dream come true for all of us,” said husband Jose Luis Miranda. “We’re really appreciative for what they’ve done for us.”

Miranda said the wedding was especially important for her maid of honor, her 14-year-old daughter Josephine Marie Miranda.

“She’s so proud of her father,” Miranda said. “She told me she’s proud of how he’s stood by me through this. She has friends whose parents split up over less.”

Although family were in attendance, several invited guests were friends she has met through St. Luke’s Hospital. Linda Roberts, LVN, and Melissa Roberts, PCA, attended the wedding and said they have grown close to Miranda during her stay at the hospital, as they witnessed her highs and lows.

“We were there to see her when she had given up, so to see her at the wedding is amazing,” Carroll said. “You know you’ve come this close (to patients) when you go to their weddings.”

Randy Creech, of Kingwood, met Miranda through the hospital’s Heart Exchange Volunteer program, of which she also is a member. The group, made up of heart recipients, meets with people awaiting heart transplants and explains the process to them. Creech has seen more than 1,000 possible heart recipients in his 20 years with the program.

He said he was glad to attend the wedding and believes Miranda will continue to feel better with her new heart.

Miranda also volunteers with LifeGift’s Vital Volunteer program, and said her participation is important.

“Because somebody was there for me and explained to me what it’s going to be like,” she said. “I’m just giving back what was given to me.

“I was given a second chance at life. That’s the best gift you can give someone.”

Sofia Perches, outreach coordinator with St. Luke’s, said about 60 heart transplants are done every year at St. Luke’s Cooley Transplant Center and about 2,000 are performed across the country. According to LifeGift, although 10,000 Texans are currently awaiting organs, Texas is last in the country in registered number of donors.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Successful Chicken Barbecue Fundraiser for Transplant Patient

NFT patient Barbara Igney suffers from polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic condition that replaces healthy kidney tissue with cysts, causing the kidneys to stop functioning properly. Doctors say a kidney transplant is her only hope for a second chance at life.

A kidney transplant costs approximately $250,000, and that's only the beginning. Even with health coverage, she faces considerable medical expenses related to her transplant. For the rest of her life, she will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications. The cost of post-transplant medications can range from $2,000 to $5,000 per month--and they are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.

Volunteers held a chicken barbecue fundraiser in her honor last week to assist with her medical expenses. Even though it was a cold day, they raised more than $1,700!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

NFT Patient Gets Law License One Year After Near-Death Coma

The following article is from The Daily Citizen in Dalton, GA:

A year ago [...], Nancy Burnett was lying in a coma at Hamilton Medical Center, her life hanging in the balance as her damaged liver continued to poison her body.

Last month, Burnett, a liver transplant recipient, was alert and being sworn in as a member of the Georgia Bar Association as about 20 family members and friends gathered to watch at the Whitfield County Courthouse.

What a difference a year can make.

A member of the bar associations in both Tennessee and New York, Burnett has been a practicing attorney since 1990. In October 2008, however, she was forced to move back in with her family in Dalton after she became extremely ill with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a disease of the liver prevalent in obese individuals.

Years of problems had gone undiagnosed as doctor after doctor failed to understand what caused her legs to leak clear fluid, her mind to become slow and confused and her body to begin shutting down. When Burnett was finally diagnosed, she was shocked, she said. As her condition grew progressively worse, Burnett developed hepatic encephalopathy, a condition that clouds the brain as the body becomes unable to rid itself of the ammonia it produces through normal eating.

Burnett moved in with her brother, Mark, and mother, Pat in Dalton. By then, she could no longer add, subtract or sign her name, let alone practice law.

After Burnett recovered from her coma at Hamilton, she was able to return home only to be hospitalized again at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga within a week of being released. Burnett said she was sent to Memorial because of her insurance and later went to Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta for tests and eventually for a liver transplant in January.

“I had to lose weight to get the surgery,” she said. “From my heaviest to my thinnest, I’ve lost 150 pounds. I’ve gained some of that back. I’m about a hundred pounds lighter than I was.”

Burnett described liver disease as “a silent killer,” explaining the doctor who diagnosed her estimated she’d had problems for 15 to 20 years. Burnett, who has been listed as an organ donor for most of her adult life, said she did not notice anything was wrong until about 2003 or 2004.

Kathleen Tancrede of Tunnel Hill, one of Burnett’s sisters, said Burnett spent the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays as well as her birthday last year in the hospital. Burnett turns 48 on Monday and will celebrate by opening her law office at 217 W. Crawford St. where she plans to be a general practitioner.

“I’ll be doing divorce for sure because I did that for 12 years up in New York,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of bankruptcy in New York, so I’ll probably pick that up.”

Burnett was sworn in before Superior Court Judge Jack Partain on Friday along with law interns Robert Mikell and Kevin Morris, both of whom are completing year-long internships in the superior court system. Burnett has volunteered her time as a clerk at the office since July.

Judge Robert Adams said he has observed “a high standard” in Burnett and that she often took care of problems before he was even aware they were there.

Mark Burnett said seeing his sister be sworn in to practice law in Georgia was like watching a family member get a gold medal in the Olympics. In addition to her brother and sister, her mother, Pat, her father Reg and her stepmother Jean as well as several other family members and friends were all present.

Family members said several community members had donated money to her to help her cover her more than $100,000 in medical bills, and local churches had prayed for Burnett to get better. Burnett said she awoke from her coma at Hamilton on a Sunday shortly after morning church services released.

“There were at least three or four local churches praying for me,” she said. “It just really confirmed my belief (in the power of prayer).”

“I’m just so grateful to the community for all the support that they’ve given me and for the (50-year-old female) donor that she elected when she was alive to be a donor when she died,” she said.

Burnett graduated from Dalton High School in 1981 and was the STAR Student that year in recognition of having the highest SAT score at the school, she said. As a reward, she and other STAR students across Georgia received a tour of the state and were able to briefly meet Jimmy Carter.

Burnett graduated from Georgia State University, changing her major a few times as her interests swung between computer programming, international studies and accounting. Finally, her parents suggested she pursue a career in law.

“I fell absolutely in love with the study of law,” she said. “It absolutely captivated me. The study of law is very elegant.”

Burnett attended law school at Georgia State University for her first year then graduated in 1989 from Albany Law School in New York. She practiced in New York for 12 years and since 2003 in Tennessee.

Friday, December 3, 2010

December Patient of the Month: Patrice Martin

In 2009, Patrice was diagnosed with chronic renal failure, which also afflicts her father and aunt. Soon after her diagnosis, she began enduring regular dialysis treatments, which take a toll on her quality of life. Doctors have said a kidney transplant is critical to her survival. Although she has not found a donor match yet, several family members and friends are being tested to see if they could donate a kidney to save Patrice's life.

This devoted mother of two is determined to beat this disease so she can spend many more years with her children. Patrice says her children are her motivation to stay positive on a daily basis. After receiving her transplant, she looks forward to going back to work, taking walks and traveling. Because her illness leaves her so exhausted, her activities are greatly limited. More than anything, Patrice is anxious to have energy and resume her normal activities. But she needs your help.

To learn more about Patrice or to make a donation in her honor, please visit her web bio.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Myths and Facts about Bone Marrow Donation

Every year, more than 10,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia or lymphoma, and their best or only hope of a cure is a transplant from an unrelated donor or cord blood unit. The need for transplants is increasing. Medical advances are making transplants a treatment option for more patients of all ages than ever before.

Below is information from Be the Match to clear up some common myths about bone marrow donation. To learn more about joining the Be the Match bone marrow registry, visit their website.

MYTH: Marrow donation is painful.
FACT: General or regional anesthesia is always used for this procedure. Donors feel no needle injections and no pain during the marrow donation process. Afterward, most donors feel some pain in the lower back for a few days or longer.

MYTH: All marrow donations involve surgery.
FACT: There are two ways to donate. The majority of donations do not involve surgery. The patient’s doctor most commonly requests a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is non-surgical and outpatient. If the patient’s doctor requests marrow, marrow donation is a surgical procedure, usually outpatient.

MYTH: Pieces of bone are removed from the donor.
FACT: Pieces of bone are not removed from the donor. In marrow donation, only the liquid marrow found inside the bones is collected. In a PBSC donation, cells are collected from the bloodstream in a process similar to donating plasma.

MYTH: Donating marrow is dangerous and weakens the donor.
FACT: Though no medical procedure is without risk, there are rarely any long-term effects from donating. Only five percent or less of a donor’s marrow is needed to save a life. After donation, the body replaces the donated marrow within four to six weeks. The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), which operates the Be The Match Registry, screens all donors carefully before they donate to ensure they are healthy and the procedure is safe for them. The NMDP also educates donors, answers questions every step of the way, and follows up with donors after donation.

MYTH: Marrow donation involves a lengthy recovery process.
FACT: PBSC donors take the drug filgrastim for five days leading up to donation and may have symptoms such as headache, bone or muscle pain, nausea, insomnia or fatigue during this time. These symptoms nearly always disappear one or two days after donating, and the donor is back to normal. Marrow donors can expect to feel fatigue, some soreness or pressure in their lower back and perhaps some discomfort walking. Marrow donors can expect to be back to work, school and other activities within one to seven days. The average time for all symptoms to disappear is 21 days.

MYTH: Donors have to pay for the donation procedure.
FACT: Donors never pay for donating and are never paid to donate. All medical costs are paid by the patient’s medical insurance or by the patient, sometimes with assistance from the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). The NMDP, which operates the Be The Match Registry, reimburses donors for travel costs, and may reimburse other costs on a case-by-case basis. Although a donor never pays to donate, many people do pay the tissue-typing cost when they join the registry.