Donnie Wahlberg Tweet Helps Fan Find a Kidney Donor

The information below is from the Associated Press.

Donnie Wahlberg's Twitter skills have helped find a kidney for an ailing fan from Nashville, Tenn.

One of the New Kids on the Block singer's 183,000 followers on Twitter tweeted a link to a blog about a fan who desperately needed a kidney transplant. Donnie retweeted the plea in December and asked his fans to help Bobbette Miller.

The Boston Herald reports the request prompted a slew of calls to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and one of the callers was a match. Bobbette now is scheduled for a June transplant.

Donnie calls the success a team effort, saying it proves how valuable Twitter can be.

April is Donate Life Month

National Donate Life Month (NDLM) was instituted by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003 with the support of then Secretary of HHS, Tommy Thompson. Celebrated in April each year, NDLM features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those who have saved lives through the gift of donation.

An outgrowth of the celebratory month is the Flags Across America initiative that began in 2009. It honors and celebrates the hundreds of thousands of donors and recipients whose lives have been affected by organ, eye and tissue donation. The initiative rallies every donor hospital and transplant center, as well as all recovery agencies, to collectively fly the Donate Life flag during April.

April is a great time to spread the word about organ donation and encourage others register as organ donors! For more information about the NDLM initiative, visit Donate Life America.

To register to become an organ donor, visit the Transplant Challenge page on our site.

April Patient of the Month: Dale Shaylor

Dale Shaylor grew up in the remote parts of the Amazon in Venezuela, where his parents were missionaries. When he was only 13, Dale and his family were shocked to learn he had contracted hepatitis B and D while living in the jungle. He lost both his grandfather and aunt after they also contracted hepatitis from their time in the Amazon. His condition has worsened to cirrhosis, requiring his family to return to the U.S. for medical care. Doctors say a liver transplant is his only hope for a second chance at life.

Dale and his wife, Katie, have three children: Joel, Amber and Jemual. He enjoys reading, taking bike rides with Katie and spending time with their children. He loves his job as a bush pilot in Venezuela, but Dale's illness does not allow him to work or participate in many activities.

Although he has gone through many challenges, Dale relies heavily on his faith to guide him through life's obstacles. He is eager to return to his normal life, spend more time with his family and exercise. More than anything, he longs for the day he will be able to continue sharing his faith with others in Venezuela. But he needs your help. To learn more about Dale or to make a donation in his honor, click here.

Linking Hands for Life

The Mid-South Transplant Foundation, an organ procurement organization based in Memphis, is hosting Linking Hands for Life on Sunday, April 17. The organization invites donor families, transplant recipients, hospital partners and other organ donation advocates to come together and link hands, forming a symbolic chain representing the circle of life. Biodegradable balloons will be released in memory of those who have given the gift of life through organ and tissue donation. What a wonderful event to raise awareness about the important need for organ donation! We hope you can be there!

Linking Hands for Life

Sunday, April 17 2:00 p.m.

Levitt Shell at Overton Park

For more information, click here.

March Transplant Birthdays

We are so happy for our patients who received their lifesaving transplants last month!

Many people don't realize that transplant recipients face a lifetime of medical expenses related to essential medications, follow-up care and the surgery itself. NFT is dedicated to helping these patients continue to raise funds so they can return to a normal life without worrying about the expenses.

• Julie Camara (double-lung) at Methodist Transplant Center
  
• Robert Daughtrey (heart) at University of North Carolina Hospital
  
• Stan Flower (lung) at UCLA Medical Center
  
• Jan Johansson (heart) at University of North Carolina Hospital
  
• Holly Julian (lung) at University Hospital, San Antonio
  
• Gustavo Pinedo (kidney) at Baylor University Medical Center
  
• John Rigolizzo (kidney) at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
  
• Harold Seate (liver) at University of North Carolina Hospital
  
• Kevin Spencer (heart) at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital
  

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.