Chopped Liver - A Community for Live Organ Donors and Recipients

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Spread the word - seeking a donor for Suzan

My friend Sesil forwarded me this message from her close friend, Mina Ozturk, whose sister is seeking a living kidney donor due to renal failure. Please spread the word!

Recruiting for Mission Critical Position:
Living Kidney Donor with Blood Type O

By Mina Ozturk, Talent Acquisition Consultant
SPHR, MA-HRIR

Recruit without boundaries. Reward without measure. During my tenure in the Human Resources field and in Talent Acquisition, I have been faced with difficult recruiting assignments in rather tough markets nationwide. This is, by far, my most challenging and time sensitive assignment to date. To fill a Mission Critical Position: A Living Kidney Donor with Blood Type O for my sister with a start date of “now”.

My sister, Suzan Ozturk, is experiencing kidney (renal) failure and needs a kidney transplant now to regain her strength and to prevent her from having to go on dialysis while waiting five years or more for a deceased donor kidney. According to the specialists at the University of Minnesota’s Transplant Center, a kidney from a living donor is her best option at this time. I have been evaluated by the team at the Transplant Center, but recently learned that our blood types are incompatible and I will not be considered as a potential donor. As a Type O recipient, Suzan may only receive a kidney from a Type O donor. Therefore, we are reaching out to relatives and non-relatives to locate a suitable match as quickly as possible.

...
More Information. If you are interested in finding out more about living donor organ donation, you may contact Cathy Garvey, the Transplant Coordinator at the Fairview University-Medical Center’s Transplant Center located on the University of Minnesota’ campus. Her contact number is listed below. She will conduct a confidential phone consultation to initially determine your eligibility. If you are eligible to donate, she will coordinate with you to have your blood drawn for typing either at your clinic or at the Transplant Center. She will also send to you additional information regarding the Living Donor program. All of this may be done confidentially and you do not have to share the results of the typing, or your final decision.

Contact: Cathy Garvey- Transplant Coordinator
Fairview- University Medical Center – Transplant Center

612-625-5115
Options 5-8-1, and reference Suzan Ozturk as the potential kidney recipient
cgarvey1@fairview.org
Business Hours: 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
http://www.fairviewtransplant.org/kidney/kidney_living_donor.asp

Sunday, January 21, 2007

A big day for donors in the WSJ

It's remarkable on its own that Mark Foster saved his father's life with a liver donation -- but even more amazing is that he got ink (lots of it) on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this weekend. The in-depth story about his journey, "The High Price of Keeping Dad Alive," is accessible only if you buy the paper this weekend or if you are a subscriber to the Web site ($79-$99/year).

But God bless it, most of the Web is free free free, including Mark's outstanding blog, SaveFoster.com. I'm adding a perma-link in the "other blogs" list to the right. (I'm also adding a link to Josh Carpenter's blog. He's a PSC survivor and transplant recipient who gets to celebrate his first "transpliversary" in just a couple of months. )

Also, note that Mark encountered some financial hardship as a result of donating. (Now that his blog is front-page WSJ news, I presume his financial woes will soon be addressed by the sympathetic high-income readers, and definitely hope so!) It's worth pointing out that this is exactly why I want to launch the Greatest Gift Foundation -- to assist would-be donors financially so they can worry instead about what matters most: giving, healing, and moving on. I can't move fast enough but have so little time!

Thanks to McNarney and Amy Willis for pointing out the WSJ story.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Hey, stranger

It's worth pulling out of comments and into a post Brent, an energetic and empathetic potential live donor I met through Chopped Liver, has started his "One-A-Day 2007" photo project to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. I encourage you to check it out and keep going back, because the volume and repetition is a definite part of its charm.

Brent aims to take and publish a photograph portrait of one complete stranger per day at his Flicker project site, with a brief comment on the nature of their conversation, which invariably will include the topic of organ donation. To do this, of course, he has to approach said strangers, engage them in a conversation that some people may consider awkward, get them to agree to be photographed, and get a signed release from them to allow him to publish the pictures. It reminds me vaguely of a great '90s movie, Smoke, about the poignancy of human connection, in which Harvey Keitel takes and stores photographs of his Brooklyn cigar store every day for several years. Brent, it's a beautiful concept, and without doubt my fave so far is your portrait of "G" from Day 12.

I'd encourage you to bookmark Brent's blog, CausalEffect, as well - because he has been coming up with some insightful and information-rich links on organ donation there lately, putting Chopped Liver to shame. And by all means, if you see this guy coming toward you with a camera, say cheese!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Happy BIRTHDAY, dear transplant....

There is no Hallmark card, oddly enough, to say "Happy One-Year Anniversary of the Day I Gave You an Organ!" -- so I'm kind of on my own to express what I'm feeling towards Joe on this Wednesday night, the eve of the first anniversary of our transplant. (Only kind of, because the blessed Yahoo Greetings comes close with its speak-what-you-type talking e-cards, as Joe knows quite well by now!) Frankly, there's no card that can even come close to expressing what I'm feeling toward my whole family, all my friends, my boss and co-workers, the surgeons at NMH, my faithful Chopped Liver readers, and everyone who I have been in touch with around the world about this life-changing series of events. This is love, people. Love, gusto, hopefulness, joy, pride, humility, a teensy bit of disbelief, and above all, gratitude.

Joe: Let's hope for an even better year two. I love you so much!

As you may have noticed, I've been taking a break from Chopped Liver. Frustrated by my inadequate progress toward the new Web site and non-profit foundation I'm trying to launch, and busy with a tough load of classes and a major merger at work, I just couldn't face it. It was feeling like a burden and I didn't feel very worthy of it all.

But here I am, just back from another life-altering early-year event -- a two-week MBA crash course in sustainable business in the heart of Costa Rica -- and my soul feels refreshed and my perspective healed. And suddenly, I love love love this blog again. So with renewed resolve, I pledge to return to blogging with more frequency and vigor.

Terry, Mike, Brent, thank you so much for your recent emails. I really love hearing from you and I promise to respond to you each personally very soon.

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