WANTED:
A person in excellent physical health, blood type O+, weight between
125-175 lbs., height between 4’9”– 5’10” who is willing to give 60% of
their healthy liver so Teri might live.
Too much to ask?
Well, there are some other ways you can help!
I sincerely hope that you will find it in your heart to help my Mom during this tough period. Any contribution, regardless of amount, would be greatly appreciated and would help tremendously during this difficult time. Teri is a deeply caring person who is always ready and willing to help a fellow human being in distress. We now have an opportunity to show how much we care by lending a helping hand during this demanding time. Please keep Teri in your thoughts and prayers as well. I know I will.
Below or some ideas and ways to help. Please contact me with your support!
(Margaret Trujillo)
Advanced: For those with the Time & Means!
· Contribute to ALF fund http://www.liverfoundation.org/
· Transportation: flyer miles?
· Lodging assistance
· Gift Certificates:
Local Grocery Stores: Albertson’s
Local Pharmacy: Longs
Intermediate: For those with only some Time & Means!
· Stamps & Stationary
· Visits: "If you have a sick or lonely person at home, be there. Maybe just to hold a hand, maybe just to give a smile, that is the greatest, the most beautiful work."
- Mother Teresa
· Pre-Paid Phone Cards
· Pre-Paid Gas Cards
· Campaign to end Myths
· Donor awareness
· Annie & Jessie: come play with them!
· Cook a Meal
Basic: For those with little or no Time & Means!
· Prayers
· Phone calls: "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa
· Cards & Letters
American Liver Foundation (ALF)
http://www.liverfoundation.org/
In an effort to help alleviate some of these financial worries, a 501(c)3, non-profit fund has been set-up in her honor with the American Liver Foundation (ALF) Transplant Assistance Fund. This allows contributions sent to her fund to be tax deductible. Also, any money raised in this fund can be used for transplant related expenses only.
ALF Transplant Assistance Fund
Contributions for Teri may be made directly to the American Liver Foundation (ALF) Transplant Assistance Fund. Here's how to do it.
Please make checks payable to:
"American
Liver Foundation Transplant Fund"
Print in memo section of check:
Transplant
patient: Mary Gray
Please send to:
American Liver
Foundation
1425 Pompton Avenue
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009-1000
All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. ALF will send an acknowledgment of any contributions, your check will serve as your tax receipt.
To learn more, contact ALF Fund Coordinator Joan Gallagher (1-800-223-0179 ext. 231).
Campaign to end the myths!
Get the facts! There are so many misconceptions about Transplantation & Hepatitis C.
I hope that in the following you will find the answers to some of your questions.
Myths about Hepatitis C
Kissing and hugging your loved ones cannot spread this disease!
Hepatitis C: The "Silent Epidemic''
According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 3.9 million Americans -- or 1.8 percent of the country's population -- have been infected with the hepatitis C virus. Of that number, at least 2.7 million people are chronically infected. In the United States, 8,000-10,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-caused liver disease. Dubbed the "Silent Epidemic'' by medical experts, hepatitis C is one of a family of viruses that can cause liver disease, and often lurks undetected in people for up to 40 years with no symptoms. Approximately 85 percent of those who are HCV-infected go on to become chronically infected. Chronic hepatitis C infection can lead to chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
 | In 10 years, Hepatitis C will kill more people than AIDS. |
| 4-5 million Americans currently have Hepatitis C. |
| 8-10,000 die each year, and this number will increase 2 to 3 times by 2008-2010. |
| 50% of all liver transplants are attempts to treat this disease which currently amounts to 4000-5000 transplants per year. |
| Hepatitis C is spread primarily by contact with infected blood. |
| At highest risk are those who had blood transfusions prior to 1992, or any IV drug user. |
| It is remarkable how difficult it is to transmit hepatitis C through sexual intercourse: in monogamous couples, one of whom is infected with hepatitis C, the rate of transmission over decades of intercourse is relatively negligible. |
| Sharing razor or toothbrush can spread hepatitis C. |
| It is known as the "silent epidemic" or "silent killer". |
| A vast majority of those infected never have symptoms (such as weakness, fatigue, vomiting). |
| It takes 15-20 years to develop full symptoms and by then treatments are not very beneficial. |
| Worldwide 170 million people are infected. |
| Only 1% in the U.S. has it, but in Egypt, Central Africa, and Northern China the infection rate is about 10%. |
| At this time there is no vaccine or cure. |
| Treatments are only effective 40-60% of the time. |
There are many myths that follow this chronic illness. Hepatitis C, is a blood borne liver disease, which has no cure. You see Hep. C mutates so many times that no one is able to follow its pattern nor do the researchers know how to stop it from destroying your liver. There have been cases that have been diagnosed in the early stages and through treatment have been thought to have been stabilized or cured only to have it's ugly head rear up again.
Hepatitis C, is known as the silent disease. This chronic illness is one that millions of people have and they don't even know it. The only way to find out if you have Hep C, is to ask to be tested for it. How many of us go into the doctors office and ask for lab work for Hepatitis C?
Myths about Organ Donation and Transplantation
Recent studies have shown that the US public has many misconceptions
about organ donation and transplantation. One misconception is that
emergency room physicians will not try as hard to resuscitate
individuals if they have an organ donation card in their wallet or
attached to their driver's license. The truth is that emergency room
physicians do not "allow someone to die" if he/she has an organ
donation card. Another common myth is that money and celebrity status
is a major determinant of prioritization on organ Waiting Lists. This
may be the case in certain foreign countries, but not in the US. If
more people discussed with family members and loved ones about
preferences for organ donation in the event of an unfortunate
accident, more organs would be available for transplant. Culture and
stigmatization associated with death in our society often preclude
such frank conversations from being the norm.
Myth #1
"I heard about this guy who went to a party, and woke up the next
morning in a bathtub full of ice. His kidneys were stolen for sale on
the black market!"
Reality
There is no documented case of this ever happening. Period.
First, it is illegal to buy and sell organs in the United States.
"Public
Law 98-507 prohibits the sale of human organs. Second, due to
the complexity of transplantation, piracy is practically impossible.
The process of matching donors with recipients, the need for highly
skilled medical professionals to perform the surgery, and the need for
modern medical facilities and support necessary for transplantation
make it highly unlikely that this system could be duplicated in
secrecy. " References:
HRSA,
UNOS
Myth #2
"If I'm in an accident and the hospital knows I want to be a donor,
the doctors won't try to save my life!"
Reality
The medical team treating you is separate from the transplant team.
The organ procurement organization (OPO) is not notified until all
lifesaving efforts have failed and death has been determined. The OPO
does not notify the transplant team until your family has consented to
donation.
Myth #3
"My religion does not approve of donation."
Reality
All organized religions support donation, typically considering it a
generous act that is the individual's choice.
Myth #4
"I don't want my family to have to pay if I want to donate my organs."
Reality
A donor's family is not charged for donation.
If a family believes it has been billed incorrectly, the family should
immediately contact its local organ procurement organization.
Myth #5
"If I donate, I would worry that the recipient and/or the recipient's
family would discover my identity and cause more grief for my
family."
Reality
Information about the donor is released by the OPO to the recipients
only if the family that donated requests that it be provided.
Myth #6
"I am not the right age for donation."
Reality
Age limits for organ donation no longer exist;
however, the general age limit for
tissue donation is 70. Organs may be donated from someone as young as
a newborn.
Myth #7
"I heard that they take everything, even if I only want to donate my
eyes."
Reality
You may specify which organs you want donated.
Your wishes will be followed.
Myth #8
"Organ and tissue donation means my body will be mutilated and treated
badly."
Reality
Donated organs are removed surgically,
in
a routine operation similar to gallbladder or appendix removal.
Donation doesn't disfigure the body or change the way it looks in a
casket. Normal funeral arrangements are possible.
Facts About Organ and Tissue Donation
Across the country
approximately 62,000 people currently are waiting for organ
transplants. A new name is added to the national waiting list every 6
minutes.
•
As of April 30, 1997, the national waiting list included 1,841
children younger than 18-years-old.
•Approximately
10,000 Californians need organ transplants. Thousands more need tissue
transplants.
•
In 1996, 3,926 transplant candidates – one
person every two hours – dies while awaiting
transplantation. Many of those candidates would have lived if the
families of every medically suitable potential donor had said ‘yes" to
donation.
•Each
year in the United States, approximately 15,000 people die under
conditions which make them medically suitable potential organ donors.
Sadly, only 5,411 of those who died in 1996 became organ donors. In
1995, 5,357 families said "yes" to donation.
•Each
year, within the 150 hospitals that the California Transplant Donor
Network (CTDN) serves in Northern and Central California and Northern
Nevada, approximately 425 people die under conditions which make them
medically suitable potential organ donors. In 1998, 197 families
consented to donation. In 1997, 193 families consented to donation.
•Transplantation
no longer is considered experimental. It is desired treatment for
thousands with end-stage organ disease. Each year, more than 600,000
Americans receive tissue transplants and more than 200,000 receive
organ transplants.
•The
quality of hospital care is not lessened if the staff knows the
patient is willing to be a donor.
•Transplant
teams do not become involved until other physicians concerned with the
patient’s care have determined that all possible efforts to save the
patient’s life have failed.
•Organs
are allocated according to medical criteria like blood type, height,
weight and the urgency of medical need, not according to a patient’s financial, political, social or
celebrity status.
•Donation
is sterile surgical procedure. Open casket funerals are possible.
•Donation
is consistent with the life preserving traditions of most major
religions.
•Donor
families incur no expense for donation.
•Experience
shows that families are more willing to donate a loved one’s organs
and tissues, if they have had prior conversations about donation with
the deceased.
•Donor
families say donation helps their grieving.
•The
California Transplant Donor Network is federally-designated as an
organ procurement organization and serves more than 40 counties in
Northern and Central California and Northern Nevada. For more
information call 888-570-9400.
Liver Transplantation - Questions and Answers
When does a liver transplant need to be
done?
This is a very complex issue and
must be answered on a case by case basis. Anyone with hepatitis C
should be followed by a physician regularly. If signs of progressive
disease appear, the person needs to be referred to a
gastroenterologist (specialist in digestive diseases and liver
diseases). Since hepatitis C is known to progress very slowly, it is
not necessary to have a liver transplant until the disease has reached
"end stage". Factors to be assessed include the state of progression
of the disease, whether or not complications of liver failure have
occurred and laboratory value including albumin, bilirubin, and
prothrombin time.
What are my chances with a liver transplant?
The survival rate after liver transplant overall is approximately
80% at one year, and 70% at five years. The odds for hepatitis C are
approximately the same as for the average liver transplant for another
reason.
How long will a new liver last?
No one knows how long a transplanted liver can last. The longest
reported survivor is 25 years. Ten year survival is commonplace.
Hopefully improvements in techniques and medications that are
continually occurring will allow most patients receiving liver
transplants today to have long
productive lives.
Will the hepatitis C be cured by a liver transplant?
No. Hepatitis C can live in cells other than in the liver. Once
the old liver is removed and the new one is connected the hepatitis
spreads back into the liver within the first weeks to months after the
transplant. This is the bad news: at present we have no way to make
the hepatitis C go away completely.
The good news is that overall results with hepatitis C after liver
transplantation is good.
Although the disease comes back it does not seem to greatly damage the
liver in the majority of cases. It is possible for the hepatitis to
return so severely that the new liver fails, but this is uncommon.
Long term results (ten years) are difficult to interpret since we have
only been able to diagnose hepatitis C since 1990. Many people that
were transplanted in the 1980's may have gotten hepatitis C at the
time of transplant, since the blood supply was contaminated then.
These people may have different chances compared to those that had
transplant because of hepatitis C.
Realistically it is likely that hepatitis C will be a long term
problem in liver transplant recipients that harbor the virus.
We do not yet know how bad a problem this will be.
What can be done for hepatitis C that comes back in a transplanted
liver?
No treatment has been shown to change the course of the disease.
Interferon alpha is being tried in experimental settings without much
success.
I have hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Can a transplant still be done?
Yes, some transplant centers are currently doing liver transplants
for this indication.
Where do donated livers come from?
Livers are donated, with the consent of the next of kin, from
individuals who have brain death, usually as the result of a head
injury or brain hemorrhage.
How can I donate my organs?
If you wish to be an organ donor, carry an organ donor card and
place an organ donor sticker on your medical identification card.
Statistics to date:
There are 6,684 on waiting list for livers
There were 3,922 done in 1995
804 died waiting