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by Fred deRosa Ninety-six hospital stays. Twenty years of heart disease. Eighteen months on the heart transplant waiting-list. Four transplant false alarms. Then, at last, a new heart. The beat goes on.This is the story of Ron Bayne. It is not a story of hospitals, angiograms, medications, and heart attacks. This is a story of triumph. Ron, now 64 and living in Richmond, had genetics against him. His mother and two brothers all died young of heart disease. Add in a less-than-careful lifestyle, and Ron had his first diagnosed heart attack in 1980. The wake-up call had arrived. “My brothers weren’t very good at following doctors’ orders,” Ron says. Lesson learned. Ron became a star patient, a willing guinea pig for the latest drug treatments, and a success story. The pain. The morphine. The waiting. These horrors flowed in and out of Ron’s life over the next 20 years as he strove to go about his life, and continue working. Discouragement, uncertainty, and dwindling hope intruded with each hospital visit caused by one set-back after another. There were two support-group Christmas parties in a row, where Ron could not join other heart recipients in the singing of the song that celebrates the “gift of life.” Yet, Ron and his spirit survived with determination and with the support of his family. Determination has always been at the heart of Ron. As a marketing man, Ron knows how to get things done: look at the problem; assess it; tackle it. Whether it was opening a new drug store or dealing with a damaged heart, Ron got it done. Ron even voluntarily went off his disability pension because he was so anxious to work, to keep busy and contributing to society. Support has always been there from his family. Ron’s wife, Stella, often camped by his bedside or took those regular late-night calls. She unfailingly paid daily visits during Ron’s hospital stays. Ron’s sons were also there, disrupting their lives to be with their father. “They know family’s number one,” Ron says with pride. Eighteen months after being placed on the transplant waiting, and spending the last four months at St Paul’s Hospital, Ron finally received a new heart last February. A new heart marked the end of one chapter in Ron’s story and the start of another. Pumped up with new energy and a new warmth flowing right through to his fingers and toes, Ron and his wife began a new life. They now have a whole new family—a ‘heart’ family. This family includes members of the Heart Transplant team at St. Paul’s Hospital, the transplant support group, with people like Peter Quinn, and all the patients waiting for transplants. Ron even got a new job. The job description read simply “to give back.” The cornerstone of Ron’s new mission is the Heart Home. Along with Peter Quinn, Ron is laying the groundwork to take over a couple of apartments near St Paul’s Hospital. These apartments would serve as home to heart transplant patients waiting for treatment or recovering from transplant. Ron keeps busy looking for sponsors, devising fund-raising activities, and helping Peter plan the finances. The Heart Home? You will see it happen. Ron has never felt sorry for himself. Through all the pain, the hospital stays, and the medication regimens of sometimes dozens of pills a day, he has always reached out to others. Ron doesn’t listen when people say “you can’t do it.” Instead he questions, “Is it true that you can’t do it, or is someone just saying you can’t?” Ron doesn’t like whiners; he’s a doer. Ron Bayne will make the Heart Home happen because he has determination, support, and... a heart. A real big heart.
In an effort to thank the many doctors and nurses who perform a difficult role in the organ donation process, the BCTS Retrieval Department came up with the idea of delivering big decorative cans of popcorn to the hospitals that provided donor organs each year. That was 15 years ago. Today, Operation Popcorn, continues in the same spirit that it was envisioned. Popcorn is also delivered to the Immunology and Provincial Labs, both of which play an integral role in the transplant and donation process. Five years ago, a new tradition began. Transplant recipients now deliver the popcorn to the hospitals and are received positively. Because transplants in BC are only performed at one of three hosptials (all in Vancouver), many hospitals throughout the province face the emotional job, along with our Retrieval Department, of providing donor maintenance, but may never see the benefits of their work—transplant recipients. This program not only allows us to say thank you to these inavaluable people, but also lets them see, first-hand, the success of transplant and the importance of organ donation.
Hospitals that provided donor organs in 2001
The staff at Wal-Mart [#3098, Guildford Town Centre] recently raised $3,100 for the BC Transplant Society. The inspiration for the fundraising drive came from Leanne Walker, the daughter of a Wal-Mart associate, who has been waiting for over five years for a kidney transplant.
A son gives life back to his mother by Kevin Wilson I struggle to put words on paper when I think of giving one of my kidneys to my Mom. She never asked, never hinted, but the moment I was informed her kidneys had cascaded and began to shutdown, I called immediately to offer one of mine. “Can we do this right away? How about next month?” I cried at the thought of her discomfort¾her “increased aging”, her lack of clear thought, all a result of the toxins not being cleansed from her system. The Mom I knew was fading and was a mere shadow of her former self. If I could bring back that dynamic woman I knew only a few months earlier, I would. My Mom struggled with the idea of accepting my kidney. I did not understand her concern¾how often does a son have the honour of giving life to his Mom? How often does a Mother find herself in a position to accept life from her son? I remember assuring her that no power on earth or heaven would stop me from donating a kidney. She struggled with the thought of me in pain, the possibility of “complications”, and wondering if my wife was fully behind my decision. She was! A few weeks after my initial decision, I was in touch with the HOPE Transplant program in Alberta, and in June 1997 began the tests to see if I was compatible and physically able to donate a kidney. Months went by and then we got the call. I was finally “cleared” to donate. My Mom traveled from British Columbia, and on March 3, 1998 at the University of Alberta Hospital we underwent surgery. I remember waking up the next day and feeling the presence of my Father at the end of the bed, quietly crying¾I suppose at my discomfort. I cried too, not in pain, but in happiness to hear my Mom was doing well. Later that same day, I awoke again to the touch of my Mom’s hand as she sat in a wheelchair next to my bed. She had to see “her boy”. I couldn’t believe that my Mom had undergone such a transformation in just 24 hours. She was focused, articulate, and concerned for my pain. Within hours her toxin levels had dropped to near normal and her energy increased. Close to four years have passed and my Mom has had no problems with her kidney. Yes, HER kidney. I don’t want it back. I go to sleep each night thankful that a little part of me has been given back.
Family
appreciates donor ceremony Back to top
by Sally Greenwood Attending the Courage to Come Back Awards is an absolute honour at the best of times. But the 2002 awards were the most rewarding, humbling and exciting yet. This Coast Mental Health Association annual event was designed to recognize and honour people across British Columbia who have demonstrated the quiet courage needed to overcome the insurmountable. The intent is to honour ordinary people who have shown extraordinary courage in recovering from an illness, injury, accident or personal trauma. Its goal is also to expand awareness so as to remove the stigma of mental illness and other health conditions we, as a society, are so often quick to apply. But believe me when I say there is nothing remotely ordinary about these people – or about those people who support them. (For no one can do it alone). The winner of the 2002 Youth Award is someone very special to all of us at BCTS. Kelsey Kilburn received a kidney transplant at the age of four. Up to that point she had received six dialysis treatments a day, endured numerous other health challenges and today deals with fibrosis of the liver and other painful and demanding health issues. Most of us would never know this – for to know Kelsey is to know someone who embraces, spirit, optimism, generosity and courage beyond definition. Supported by a truly remarkable family – Kelsey has continued to overcome and conquer every obstacle placed in her path and in doing so has become a truly remarkable and beautiful young woman. When presented her award, looking like a princess, Kelsey spoke with the poise and dignity of one much older than sixteen years. She was gracious, unassuming and thankful for all she has been offered in life. Kelsey embraces each opportunity with energy and vigour. The result? An honour student, Student Council Vice-President, Counselor to kids on dialysis, volunteer for the BCTS and aspiring actress . As I sat back and continued to admire these six incredible honourees it became glaringly apparent that they shared two things: an indomitable spirit and an undying gratitude for life. And I walked away promising myself I would judge less, support more and put stigmas and labels where they belong - in a file labeled “archaic and no longer of use”. Congratulations to Kelsey and her family and to everyone who refuses to quit and keeps on pursuing their dreams. Back to top
I have been hearing a lot about the newly formed Provincial Health Services Authority. As someone waiting for a transplant I am interested to learn how this newly formed authority will affect the BCTS’ ability to perform transplants and specifically how it will affect patients involved in the transplant process? Anonymous Many thanks for your inquiry. The newly formed Provincial Services Health Authority is comprised of the following agencies or organizations:
If
you have a question for Mrs.
D, Mrs.
D Team
BC prepares for Transplant Games Children's
organ transplant group of BC |
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