Kenosha
In Kenosha, Kathy Vilski took the stand to share her experience as a kidney recipient. When Vilski was only three years old she became sick with strep throat, which ultimately landed an infection on her kidneys leaving her with kidney disease. The problems in her kidneys grew from acute to chronic. From that time until she was almost 20, Vilski was on a salt-free diet and under close medical supervision, yet, she said, she still lead a pretty normal life for a kid her age.
That ‘normal life’ changed when she was in her late twenties and, as she said ‘the balance sort of tipped.’ The kidney disease caused scarring in her kidneys over the years, and now that build up of scar tissue began to overwhelm the good tissue and her kidney function dropped off.
At that point in time, Vilski went on dialysis twice a week. In 1975, Vilski was all set to have her spleen removed, which she said, is what doctors often did back then, but on September 17th, just months before the operation would take place, she was told doctors found a new kidney for her. She later found out, doctors had only just approved her for the donor waiting list the day before. She called it a miracle that things worked out this way.
“A day earlier or a day later and I would not have gotten the kidney,” she said. Her new kidney, a better match than her own mother’s, came from a deceased donor, who she believes was from the Kenosha area.
Vilski remained in the hospital for seven weeks after the transplant. When she was healed, she returned to teaching. Vilski has now been retired for 25 years.
“It’s been a wonderful experience,” said Vilski. “I just feel very blessed because I was able to teach all those years and, I hope, influence some lives there in some small way.”
She and her husband spend their time together traveling and attending concerts and plays.
This September it will have been 35 years since she received her gift of a kidney. She and her family are planning a party for the anniversary. That is, after Vilski competes in her first ever Transplant Games! She’s planning on swimming some of the individual races and said if she can she wants to also join in the 5k Run/Walk for Organ, Tissue and Eye Donation with the community on July 31st at 9:00 a.m. at the Capitol Square.
Wendy Healy also shared her son’s donor story. Healy’s son Merritt died in a motorcycle crash only days after discussing his desire to be an organ donor with his mom.
Because of the crash, Merritt’s organs could not be donated, but his tissue could be. That tissue touched the lives of 72 people. A final act of kindness by Merritt from the son Healy calls ‘wonderful.’
“Now, 72 people have better lives,” Healy said. “My son didn’t die for nothing.”
Just a reminder, if you haven’t signed up online to be a donor, the Web site is YesIWillWisconsin.com. Having a dot on your driver’s license isn’t enough anymore. The online registry is legally binding. All you need to sign up is a driver’s license or state ID. There is also no age cap on the registry, in other words, you can’t be too old to sign up. :)
Links to media coverage:
http://www.kenoshanews.com/scripts/edoris/edoris.dll?tem=lsearchart&search_iddoc=9115709
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Day 3 of Legacy Tour
Green Bay
As the tour rolls on, Green Bay becomes the next host city. The tour stopped at the Bay Park Square Mall to hear more stories of life-saving gifts and life-changing decisions. Hillary Sweere shared her son, Rece’s, story. When he was only three days old, Rece needed a new heart. Sweere said it was a very difficult time and she was fearful an organ wouldn’t come in time for her son. But eight days later, he was given a new heart. She said the family tried to stay optimistic the entire time, because it was the only way they could get through it. Rece stood by her side today while she spoke at the event.
A picture of Teresa Paulus' son, Brian, stood by her side in Green Bay as she shared his story. Brian was only three years old when he drowned while camping. It happened 15 years ago. Brian’s mother pointed out he would have been graduating high school this year.
“I can’t go to his graduation,” she said. “But I can tell everybody about Brian and what a great boy he was and how proud we are of him.” Brian’s family chose to donate his organs. His eyes and heart valves gave others a second chance.
“Brian didn’t have a choice to live,” Paulus said. “But we had the chance to donate to help other children live.”
For the 15 years since Brian’s death, Teresa has been spreading the word on the importance of organ donation. She calls the work her passion.
“Donation is a good thing for families left behind,” said Paulus.
Other Team Wisconsin members who stopped by took turns telling stories as well. I’m not able to fit everyone’s stories in here, so like I said in my introductory blog, feel free to share your stories on the comment board for this blog. I think it would be really neat for this to become a collection of stories of triumph, perseverance, hardship and healing. Whatever your connection may be to organ donation, the Games or anyone I mention in the blogs feel free to share. Even if it’s just that you yourself are a registered organ donor, or you think the Transplant Games sound fun, everyone is welcome here.
Links to media coverage:
WFRV-TV
http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/96099689.html
WBAY-TV
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=12630843
Appleton
Right next door to Green Bay, Appleton became the next site for the Legacy of Life Tour. The event was held at the Paper Discovery Center, a really neat place that you can actually take tours of, which seem pretty interesting.
Teresa Paulus traveled to Appleton after Green Bay and again told the story of her son Brian and the choice she made to donate his organs after he passed away at the age of three.
Anne Grahl was also at the event with her seven-year-old son Mason. Mason and his mom will be going to the Games at the end of July for Mason to compete! He received a kidney donation from his own mother about four years ago.
Links to media coverage:
WHBY-AM 1150
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Day 2 of Legacy Tour - Marshfield
Next dot on the map, Marshfield! We set up shop at the YMCA in Marshfield and again had computers up for anyone to sign up for the online donor registry. Just in case you’re reading this and want to join it, the web site is www.YesIWillWisconsin.com . One of the really neat people I met at the Marshfield event was Richard Koch. Koch is on the Board of Directors for the Lions Eye Bank of WI (LEBW) and one of the FIRST to sign up on the online registry. He said he knew it was coming out because of a press conference he had been informed about, so back in March he kept checking online to see if it was a go yet. The first day it was up he happened to be checking, saw it, grabbed his driver’s license (all you need to sign up) and got in on the online registry. Koch said his wife’s sister was an organ donor and just two years ago his cousin received a kidney transplant, both of those things, along with being part of the LEBW, have made him very aware of the importance of organ donation.
“It’s important to sign up on the online registry because there’s a long list of people waiting for organ donations,” said Koch. “And there are a lot of people on that list that never get an organ because there aren’t enough. Being on the online registry makes it easier for family in a hard time so they don’t’ have to make the decision of whether or not to have their loved one’s organs donated on their own.”
I included a picture of Koch at the computer showing me how he signed up back in March.
Another very sweet person we met in Marshfield was Bill Reigel. Reigel had a heart attack back in July of 1979 when he was only 40 years old. After the heart attack he recovered and was doing well, but then went into cardiac arrest in an airport in New York when he was leaving a convention in 1987. He told me that from then on his heart just kept getting worse so he got moved up on the list. On May 12 1992, his deceased father’s birthday no less, he received a working heart.
“It has been an awesome experience,” said Reigel. “I have seen my family grow.”
Two weeks ago he and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! Congrats to both you and your wife, Bill! :)
There was no donor family member to speak at this event, but the quilt panel on display did have a patch recognizing a Marshfield native, Kristina Jane Marty. Marty was 16 when she passed away.
Her patch says, “We loved her so much but God loved and wanted her more.”
I included a picture of Kristina’s patch.
I also have a picture of Reigel presenting an LEBW member with another panel of the quilt.
Links to media coverage:
Marshfield News Herald
http://www.marshfieldnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20106100396
This marks the end of the fourth event! June 10th the Legacy Tour will be in Green Bay and Appleton. If you’re in the area I hope you can join up with the tour for the day!
A lot of Team Wisconsin members have used these events to get hooked up with other team members in the area. In Wausau team members exchanged contact information and were planning a time to get together so if you can make it to one of the tour’s in your area it would be really fun to get team groups together!
Here’s the rest of the schedule in case you haven’t seen it:
Thursday, June 10th - Green Bay and Appleton
Monday, June 14th - Kenosha
Tuesday, June 15th – Janesville
Tuesday, June 22nd - Milwaukee
Wednesday, June 23rd - Madison
Day 2 of Legacy Tour - Wausau
As the Legacy Tour continues, we made a stop in Wausau at the Marathon County Public Library. There were lots of folks from the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin as well as members of Team Wisconsin that met up with us there. Each shared their stories, like Alex who had a double lung transplant when he was 11, Ted Gerbig who also had a lung transplant and now works with Donate Life and coordinates group events with Wausau area transplant recipients, and a number of other recipients were at the event as well. Lee Belmas spoke at the event as a recipient. He was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) years ago. For those of you out there like me, who had no idea what this was, Belmas explained to me that it is a disease that eventually turns into cancer, “a ‘when’, not an ‘if’” as he told me. In October of 2006 doctors found a tumor on his liver. He began chemo and radiation. But when Belmas got an infection in his blood he had to be transported to a Madison hospital, and after an exploratory surgery, which found the cancer was confined to his liver making a transplant a possibility, he was put on the waiting list to receive a new liver. Just three weeks after being put on the list, Jan. 31, 2007 he was given that gift. His family got to share the birth of two of his grandchildren with him. Belmas was also there for his son’s wedding, major events he likely would not have been a part of without a transplant. Belmas has written his donor family but never received an answer. He said if he did get to speak with them he would want to say, “Thank you for sharing your loved one with me and giving me a second chance at life. You’ll forever be in my heart.”
Cindy Geiss also spoke at the event to share her family’s experience with organ donation. Geiss’ husband, Gordy Miller, died from an aneurysm and because his family knew his wishes to be an organ donor, they were able to make that decision easier at such a hard time.
“It’s important to communicate with your family on your wishes,” she said.
Geiss and Belmas both presented a panel from Patches of Love: The National Donor Quilt to the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin. I included a picture of the presentation with this blog.
I also am including a picture of the transplant recipients from the Wausau area standing with Geiss by the quilt. From left to right is Ted Gerbig, Alex (I’m sorry Alex I misplaced your last name), Cindy Geiss, Lee Belmas and Alex’s dad.
Links to media coverage:
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Legacy of Life Tour - Day 1
Hey Team Wisconsin and Friends,
The first event in our legacy tour was a success! To begin the day, we set up in Eau Claire at Borders bookstore. We met members of Team Wisconsin as well as representatives of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin who are transporting the donor quilt along the way on our Legacy Tour.
Josh Bergeron introduced himself to us at the event. At the age of 14 he noticed something was wrong while playing basketball. After only ten minutes of playing, he was exhausted. Doctors quickly determined it was his heart and put him on the waiting list for a new one. Doctors told Bergeron if he didn’t receive a heart transplant, he had only three months to live. Two months later in April of 1999, Bergeron was given a new heart. Bergeron got back into athletics and still trains year-round. He even won a gold medal in track at the World Transplant Games in Australia. Bergeron is part of Team Wisconsin and will be competing at this summer’s Games in Madison. Bergeron is so grateful for the choice his donor made and stresses the need for more donors.
"All over Wisconsin and actually, all over the world, we need donors because if I wouldn't have gotten my heart when I did, the doctor was prepared to tell us that I had three months to live," said Bergeron.
Links to media coverage:
WQOW in Eau Claire
http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12617172
Our next stop was La Crosse where we met two women, one who’s husband donated his organs and the other received a life-saving gift from another stranger.
Debbie Morovits shared with us the story of her husband, Dennis, who died in a crash while riding his moped. Dennis was transported to the hospital and given a 1% chance to live.
“There was no doubt in my mind that if Dennis could be a donor that's what the boys and I wanted,” said Morovits. “He became a kidney donor for 2 Wisconsin patients that suffered from end- stage kidney failure, whom we have met and will be at the Transplant Games in Madison. He helped 37 people, through the gift of donated bone and soft tissue, ages ranging from 9-80 and we have been told the bone grafts were sent for transplant in 28 different states. He also donated both eyes.”
Morovits said Dennis filled his time in life by doing kind acts for others.
“He did in death what he did in life, he did a kind act for someone that needed him.”
Morovits shared her family’s story, and organ recipients thanked her for the choice her family made. She presented the representatives of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin with the donor quilt to be carried on to the next stop on the Legacy Tour.
Next, Betsy Klein shared her story and what it meant to her that her donor made the same choice Dennis did and what she’s been able to do with her life because of that choice. Klein, received her liver transplant when she was 34. After receiving a new liver, Klein went on to finish college and now helps out with Hospitality House for her church, a place outpatients or family members of those staying in the La Crosse hospitals can call home for a while.
Klein is incredibly grateful for the gift of life she received years ago.
“While this is an experience that I would not wish on anyone including my worst enemy I would go through it again in a heartbeat because it has made me the person that I am today and has given me a new appreciation for life and for each new day that I have been given,” she said.
It was an inspiring day filled with gratitude and triumph. A great end to the first day of our exciting tour!
Links to media coverage:
La Crosse Tribune
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_cb0e9e04-7375-11df-a547-001cc4c002e0.html
The first event in our legacy tour was a success! To begin the day, we set up in Eau Claire at Borders bookstore. We met members of Team Wisconsin as well as representatives of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin who are transporting the donor quilt along the way on our Legacy Tour.
Josh Bergeron introduced himself to us at the event. At the age of 14 he noticed something was wrong while playing basketball. After only ten minutes of playing, he was exhausted. Doctors quickly determined it was his heart and put him on the waiting list for a new one. Doctors told Bergeron if he didn’t receive a heart transplant, he had only three months to live. Two months later in April of 1999, Bergeron was given a new heart. Bergeron got back into athletics and still trains year-round. He even won a gold medal in track at the World Transplant Games in Australia. Bergeron is part of Team Wisconsin and will be competing at this summer’s Games in Madison. Bergeron is so grateful for the choice his donor made and stresses the need for more donors.
"All over Wisconsin and actually, all over the world, we need donors because if I wouldn't have gotten my heart when I did, the doctor was prepared to tell us that I had three months to live," said Bergeron.
Links to media coverage:
WQOW in Eau Claire
http://www.wqow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12617172
Our next stop was La Crosse where we met two women, one who’s husband donated his organs and the other received a life-saving gift from another stranger.
Debbie Morovits shared with us the story of her husband, Dennis, who died in a crash while riding his moped. Dennis was transported to the hospital and given a 1% chance to live.
“There was no doubt in my mind that if Dennis could be a donor that's what the boys and I wanted,” said Morovits. “He became a kidney donor for 2 Wisconsin patients that suffered from end- stage kidney failure, whom we have met and will be at the Transplant Games in Madison. He helped 37 people, through the gift of donated bone and soft tissue, ages ranging from 9-80 and we have been told the bone grafts were sent for transplant in 28 different states. He also donated both eyes.”
Morovits said Dennis filled his time in life by doing kind acts for others.
“He did in death what he did in life, he did a kind act for someone that needed him.”
Morovits shared her family’s story, and organ recipients thanked her for the choice her family made. She presented the representatives of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin with the donor quilt to be carried on to the next stop on the Legacy Tour.
Next, Betsy Klein shared her story and what it meant to her that her donor made the same choice Dennis did and what she’s been able to do with her life because of that choice. Klein, received her liver transplant when she was 34. After receiving a new liver, Klein went on to finish college and now helps out with Hospitality House for her church, a place outpatients or family members of those staying in the La Crosse hospitals can call home for a while.
Klein is incredibly grateful for the gift of life she received years ago.
“While this is an experience that I would not wish on anyone including my worst enemy I would go through it again in a heartbeat because it has made me the person that I am today and has given me a new appreciation for life and for each new day that I have been given,” she said.
It was an inspiring day filled with gratitude and triumph. A great end to the first day of our exciting tour!
Links to media coverage:
La Crosse Tribune
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_cb0e9e04-7375-11df-a547-001cc4c002e0.html
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