Thank You!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

16 Patients, 8 Kidneys

I'm a Kidney Donor.

My sweetheart was the recipient.

This is the most exciting thing I've heard in a long time.

I was just thrilled that this could even happen.

I heard this this morning on NPR, All Things Considered Then looked it up at the John Hopkins web page and a few others.

Johns Hopkins experts have successfully completed the first 16-patient, multicenter "domino donor" kidney transplant.

Surgical teams at The Johns Hopkins Hospital carried out the eight-way, multihospital, domino kidney transplant in collaboration with colleagues at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.


The 16 surgeries were performed on four different dates, June 15, June 16, June 22 and July 6.

They involved eight donors - 3 men and 5 women along with eight organ recipients - 3 men and 5 women.

"All Johns Hopkins patients are in good condition and are recovering as anticipated," according to Dr. Robert A. Montgomery, the director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center.

The procedure, kidney paired donation (KPD), takes a group of incompatible donor-recipient pairs, and matches them with other pairs in a similar predicament.

By exchanging kidneys between the pairs, it is possible to give each recipient a compatible kidney.

This way, each recipient receives a kidney from a stranger, and transplants are enabled that otherwise would not have taken place.

The experts involved in the transplant say that involving multiple hospitals created even more possibilities for matches, but it also made the procedure more complex.

"We performed a similar six-way domino procedure involving three hospitals earlier this year. We managed to perform all those surgeries on the same day. However, adding two more recipients, two more donors and another hospital meant that we needed a multi-hospital team of eight anesthesiologists, 16 nurses and nine surgeons. The logistics being that much more complicated, we decided it was best to spread the surgeries over several days, the first on June 15 and the last, July 6," says Montgomery.

What makes the new model interesting is the fact that apart from sheer logistics, performing large numbers of transplants on one day puts a lot of strain on the doctors, nurses and staff at each hospital, and also ties up too many operating rooms.

Montgomery believes that it will serve as a blueprint for a national KPD program in which kidneys will be transported around the country, resulting in an estimated 1,500 additional transplants each year. Source-ANI John Hopkins Hospital

Remembering

A wise friend once told me that "there are worse things in this life than death."

I believe that to be true.

But knowing this still doesn't make death easy.

Vivian Padgett

passed away Sunday March 22, 2009

As some of you know, we just attended my mothers brother and my Uncle Wayne's funeral in Memphis the end of January. He passed on Ja. 27th. I found out this morning that his wife, my aunt Vivian died on Sunday. They had a hard time and were unable to get a hold of us until last night. She was sick and when you talked to her, all she wanted was to go on and be with her beloved Wayne. They were separated less than two months.

James E. Hill

passed away Monday, March 23, 2009

Uncle James is the husband of my Grandma Padgett's sister, Betty Valentine Turner Hill. She's always been Aunt Betty to me but she is my Great Aunt Betty.

He was a righteous man and an active lifetime member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in many church positions during his life time, including president of the Atlanta Georgia temple. He was very beloved of his family and will truly be missed.

Laura Leigh Kirkland

passed away March 24, 2008

It's been a long and sad year for her family and all those of us who love her. We miss her bubbly personality so much.

Only praying that time will help to heal our broken hearts.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

(Matt. 5:4.)

Of all the Beatitudes, this one appears at first glance to be the most unusual and contradictory. How can it be a blessing to be in mourning? To mourn is to show grief or pain at the death of a loved one. This intense feeling cannot be hidden from the world or from God; it cannot be eased or pacified except with comfort and consolation from God through the Holy Ghost.

So why would the Savior say that it is a blessing to mourn? It may be that pain and suffering at the death of loved ones is an essential part of our mortal experience that obliges us to face the question of the reality of the spirit world and the hope of the Resurrection. It is through suffering that we discover what is eternally important.

It might be that it is a blessing for us to become more fully aware that God’s ways are not always our ways, and that we must trust him when things don’t go as we believe they should. When we can see the Lord’s purposes fulfilled in our sorrowful moments, the Holy Ghost can console us and the Atonement and Resurrection can become the cornerstones of our faith.

(Robert E. Wells)

Sew Fun

I got caught up on about half of my sewing projects. I sew love to sew sometimes it's all I want to do and other times it is such a chore. Lately I have wanted to sew and get irritated if someone bothers me when I'm hard at it.

On the other hand, THANK YOU sew much for your help with the serger information. The common consensus is that they all are a beast to thread. I must have someone show me over and over before I even think about buying one.

I'll let you know of my progress.

It will probably be slow because I sure don't want to waste my money for something else to sit around this old house and collect dust.

Make it a good day!

Being Thankful

Now most of you know me and know the things that are most important in my life. That being said, there are a couple of things I want to throw out there. I am really thankful that Harry is physically able to work and support our family and that they have plenty of work right now. I am also very thankful that we have Health Insurance. With the economy and the job market the way it is these days I feel we are very blessed. I have been so shocked at the massive cost of health care. Of course we have met our deductible and out of pocket expenses for this year. I seem to stay in contact with the insurance company trying to keep a handle on all of it. I'm put on hold a lot but with a lot of kindness and patients on my part, I seem to be making headway. It is easily a part time job.

On a different note, Harry had a great check up yesterday. His kidney function is even better than it was in the hospital. Things have steadily improved. He's getting better and stronger with his walking on his prosthesis. He is surly a blessed man. And I am very thankful for him!