Patients await gift of life from donors
ANGIE DANIELSKI, Clarion Staff Writer
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News
It seems like it's been so long since you've felt like yourself, you almost can't remember what it felt like not to be sick. It seems like each day brings a new challenge. Not knowing how sick you will be each day takes its toll. The phone rings. You think, today might be the day. The call finally comes. You go into the hospital and go through all of the preliminary blood tests. When the results come back, you are hopeful that everything will look good. The time seems to drag by while waiting to see if it will be a match. As the doctors enter the room, you look at their faces to look for a hint of what they will say. Unfortunately, it wasn't a match and you are sent home. The disappointment sets in as you go home. Maybe next time things will turn out different. Hopefully your health won't deteriorate any further.
Many people who are waiting for a transplant go through this experience on a regular basis. Most people don't give organ, blood or tissue donation a second thought, but April is National Donate Life Month. For those who desperately need new organs, tissues, or blood, this is almost all they can think about. Each family has their own story of the struggles they have faced, but there are common threads throughout. For the Shea family, the roller coaster ride of ups and downs has been going on for the last 16 months while waiting on the liver transplant list.
Tom Shea was living a happy life in Florida when, in 2001, was told that he had cirrhosis of the liver and would eventually need a transplant. At that time, he didn't comprehend exactly what that would mean. He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and continued his work as a truck driver in central Florida. Finally, in 2005 he started to notice that he was just not feeling the same he used to. "I realized that things just weren't right," Shea said. At that point, he shared the news with the rest of his family. His liver was damaged beyond repair and was continuing to decline. When Tom's sister, Terry Shea, found out, she recalls being devastated, "I knew there was a chance he could die," she shares.
Many people who are waiting for a transplant go through this experience on a regular basis. Most people don't give organ, blood or tissue donation a second thought, but April is National Donate Life Month. For those who desperately need new organs, tissues, or blood, this is almost all they can think about. Each family has their own story of the struggles they have faced, but there are common threads throughout. For the Shea family, the roller coaster ride of ups and downs has been going on for the last 16 months while waiting on the liver transplant list.
Tom Shea was living a happy life in Florida when, in 2001, was told that he had cirrhosis of the liver and would eventually need a transplant. At that time, he didn't comprehend exactly what that would mean. He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and continued his work as a truck driver in central Florida. Finally, in 2005 he started to notice that he was just not feeling the same he used to. "I realized that things just weren't right," Shea said. At that point, he shared the news with the rest of his family. His liver was damaged beyond repair and was continuing to decline. When Tom's sister, Terry Shea, found out, she recalls being devastated, "I knew there was a chance he could die," she shares.
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