A Parent's Love

Most children like to think of their fathers as heroes. But for Tristan Theerman, it’s the real deal. His dad, Jeremy, literally saved Tristan’s life.

Little Tristan was born with biliary atresia, a disease that destroys the liver’s bile ducts. Tristan was in bad shape. They waited three months to see if a donor organ might become available, but the chances are slim with an infant. So Jeremy decided he would donate a portion of his own liver to save his child. And it worked. To read more about Jeremy’s heroic act, click here.

This article reminded us of a similar story involving an NFT patient. Courtney Williams was born with a genetic disease that severely damaged her liver. As an infant, she was diagnosed with cirrhosis, and a transplant was her only hope.

At that time, very few liver transplants had been performed using a living donor. Courtney’s mother didn’t hesitate to give a piece of herself to save Courtney’s life.

The family had to raise $150,000 before Courtney could be transplanted, so they turned to NFT for help. In just five months, they raised the entire amount, and Courtney received her transplant in May 1990. Today, she’s 21 and hopes to become a nurse. To read more about Courtney’s transplant journey, click here.

Click here to view our video, which features Courtney and two other NFT patients.

March Patient of the Month: Paul Adkins

In 2001, after years of struggling for every breath, Paul received a lifesaving lung transplant. His doctor compared the transplant to a marriage, saying "when you find the perfect mate, it's for life." Paul's new lung has survived a heart attack, quadruple bypass, back surgery and pneumonia.

But now Paul's health is failing, and he was recently diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, an illness that causes scar tissue to build up in the kidneys. His immune system is heavily suppressed from his essential anti-rejection medications, eliminating dialysis as a treatment option. Doctors say a kidney transplant is critical for his survival.

Paul considers himself blessed to have two perfect marriages: Shirley, his wife of 45 years, and his lung transplant. His children and grandchildren want nothing more than to see him healthy again. The shortage of organ donors has created difficult odds for Paul to find a match, but his granddaughter, Sarah, is being evaluated to donate one of her kidneys for a paired kidney exchange program. She's not a compatible match for Paul, but she'll donate her kidney to another patient in exchange for someone else donating to save her grandfather's life. His family hopes this will give Paul a better chance of finding a donor match soon.

To read more about Paul, please visit his NFT web page.

Dinner raises $11,000 for heart recipient!

Julie Bacon's family and friends know how to throw a great party. They held a dinner/auction fundraiser in February that raised more than $11,000 to help Julie with her transplant expenses.

The sold-out event -- appropriately called "Heart Dat!" to represent Julie's heart transplant and their New Orleans pride -- included food donated by four local restaurants. Guests bid on more than 50 auction items, including hotel stays, restaurant gift cards, original art, jewelry and sports tickets.

February marked the 6-month anniversary of Julie's heart transplant and the beginning of her new life.

The past five years have been incredibly difficult for Julie and her family. In 2005, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and began chemotherapy. Several months later, she learned the chemo had permanently damaged her heart, causing cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. Doctors said a transplant was essential, and she waited for two years before receiving her lifesaving transplant in July 2010.

Just one month after Julie's heart failure diagnosis, Hurricane Katrina hit, causing further stress for the Bacon family.They had to leave their home for a month while damages were repaired. Her husband, Barry, owned a printing business, and the flooding destroyed all his equipment.

We’re thrilled that things have finally turned around for Julie and her family – and we congratulate her campaign volunteers on such a successful event!

300 guests attended to show their support for Julie.

Julie and her daughter Stephanie.

These wonderful ladies donated desserts.

Dedicated volunteers!

Children enjoyed a special crafts room.

Happy new birthday to you!

We are so happy for our patients who recently received their lifesaving transplants! Many people are unaware of the lifetime of expenses related to transplants and the essential medications and follow-up care. NFT is dedicated to helping these patients continue to raise funds so they can return to a normal life without worrying about the expenses.

Kerry Baumann (lung/liver/pancreas) at Duke Univ. Medical Center

Ellen Broner (stem cell) at Univ. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

John Cusimano (kidney) at Mayo Clinic in Florida

Anthony Hollaway (double-lung) at Univ. of Texas in San Antonio

Lolita Lee (kidney) at Medical University of South Carolina

Scott McCoy (heart) at Emory Transplant Center

Miguel Nunez (liver) at Tampa General Hospital

Clara Woolley (liver) at Univ. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Brother, can you spare a kidney?

About 80% of the people on the transplant waiting list need a new kidney. Living kidney donors are true heroes, and we need more of them. Last year, we had the privilege of meeting Cindi Love, a living donor who saved NFT patient Tom Wirt's life. Tom and Cindi had never met and lived in different areas of the country. They found each other on matchingdonors.com, and Cindi gave Tom the best Valentine's gift imaginable: a brand-new kidney.

We featured Cindi and Tom in our spring 2010 newsletter. To read more about their inspirational story, click here.