A Quarterly Newsletter of LifeShare Of The Carolinas

VOLUME 18

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ISSUE 2

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SUMMER 2016

IN THIS ISSUE:

1 You’ve Got Mail!

2 Third Save a Life GolfClassic Moves to Shelby

2 Congratulations Dr. Denny

3 LifeShare Says Goodbye toTwo Veterans

4 Donate Life Month 2016

6 Spotlight on BrendaThrasher

7 Donor Statistics by Hospital

8 Numbers Count

A Donate Life Organization

You’ve Got Mail!When was the last time you actually sat down and wrote a letter? Or received a

hand-written one? In a world of e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, written communication

has gone the way of the typewriter. With one exception. Transplant recipients and

the families of their donors still correspond by mail.

We sometimes hear from donor families who are anxious to know that their loved one

made a difference. For some, a response never comes and they are left disappointed.

LifeShare encourages organ, eye and tissue transplant recipients to write to their

donor families. It doesn’t have to be a long letter. A simple thank you will do.

Send your note to the transplant center where you received your transplant and it

will be forwarded to the appropriate organ procurement organization. Please don’t

identify yourself in your note. On a separate page however, provide your name, the

type of transplant you received and the date of your transplant.

Simply give your first name, tell a little about yourself and how your life has

changed since your transplant. To maintain anonymity, all correspondence is

screened and identifying information is deleted before the letters are forwarded.

LifeShare’s policy on meetings between transplant recipients and donor families

starts with written correspondence by both parties. Later, if both agree, arrangements

can be made for the two families to meet.

If you think you’d like to meet your donor’s family or vice-versa, get your pen out

and start writing!

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2 L I F E S H A R E O F T H E C A R O L I N A S

LifeShareOf The Carolinas

1-800-932-GIVE

www.lifesharecarolinas.org

Editor

Debbie Gibbs

Associate Editor

Ben Martin

O U R M I S S I O N

Improving lives through organ,

eye and tissue donation.

OU R V I S I O N

We envision a day when everyone

who needs a transplant will be

able to get one.

CongratulationsLifeShare would like to congratulate Dr. Roger Denny, recipient of the Carolinas

HealthCare System Excellence in Diversity Award for 2016. Dr. Denny (center) is one

of the transplant surgeons we work with on a regular basis. Joining him in the photo

are Debra Plousha Moore, Senior Vice-President for Human Resources and Dr. Roger

Ray, Executive Vice-President and Chief Physician Executive, both with Carolinas

HealthCare System.

Third Save a Life Golf ClassicMoves to ShelbyThe third annual golf tournament to benefit LifeShare is moving to a new golf course

this year. The event is scheduled for the River Bend Golf Course in Shelby, NC on

Saturday, September 24, 2016.

With the change in venue comes a reduction in price. Golfers will be pleased that

the price to pay is significantly lower this year at only $125 per player versus $375

when it was at Trump National.

In the first two years, the Save a Life Classic raised $67,500 for LifeShare to fund

the cost of DMV advertising throughout our region. Since the tournament started,

the percentage of registered donors statewide has increased from 49% to 53%, thanks

largely in part to the tournament and other public education efforts.

The organizing committee is still in need of sponsors and players. If you are interested

in supporting a good cause, please visit the website at www.savealifegolfclassic.org or

call Gary Simmons, the founder/chairman of the Save a Life Group at (704) 699-3046.

We hope to see you there!

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Number of Candidates on theNational Transplant Waiting List

Kidney 99,771

Liver 14,686

Pancreas 983

Kidney-Pancreas 1,904

Heart 4,098

Lung 1,433

Heart-Lung 44

Intestine 270

NATIONAL TOTAL 120,555

North Carolina 2,976

South Carolina 950

Based on OPTN data as of June 16, 2016.

S U M M E R I S S U E – 2 0 1 6

LifeShare Says Goodbyeto Two VeteransParting is such sweet sorrow. After more than two

decades of employment with our organization, LifeShare

said goodbye to Gary Burris in April. Gary was one of

LifeShare’s original organ recovery coordinators.

He began his tenure with LifeShare in 1990 as an

Organ Recovery Coordinator. We only had four employees

at the time sharing a small office space in the old Doctors

Building near downtown Charlotte. Through the years,

as the organization grew, he grew with it, serving as the

Chief Operating Officer from 1997 until his departure in

April. He also served as the Treasurer of Donate Life

North Carolina.

The Joint Commission is Gary's new employer.

Meanwhile, LifeShare is active engaged in idenifying his

replacement.

During the transition, Jerome Menendez is serving as

our interim Administrative Director and Chief Operating

Officer. Jerome has over 22 years of transplant experience and actually began his

donation and transplantation career as an Organ Recovery Coordinator with

LifeShare in 1994.

In addition to Gary, we are also saddened by the announcement that Tom

Aspenwall is resigning. Many of you will remember Tom from previous newsletter

articles. A heart transplant recipient, Tom is a fixture among our Family Support Staff.

Tom received countless letters and accolades from the donor families he worked

with for his sensitivity and caring. He has worked with LifeShare for over six years.

The good news is he is not going away completely. He will work part-time hours

beginning in August while he decides what he wants to do next.

We will miss Gary and Tom but look forward to welcoming their replacements.

S A V E T H E D A T E

September 24, 2016 • River Bend Golf Club • Shelby, NCSave a Life Golf Classic

The goal is toincrease the organdonor registry andto honor donors.

CALENDARof events

July 10–23, 2016Donate Life ECHO

Nationwide

September 24, 2016Save a Life Golf Classic

River Bend Golf Club

Shelby, NC

November 11–13, 2016National Donor Sabbath

Congregations Nationwide

DONATE

LIFEMONTH

2016

4 L I F E S H A R E O F T H E C A R O L I N A S

5S U M M E R I S S U E – 2 0 1 6

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PLANNING A PROGRAM?

As your organization plans its meeting

calendar for the year, please think of

LifeShare. Speakers from your community

whose lives have been touched by

organ or tissue donation are available

to talk to local groups.

If you would like to schedule a

free, informative presentation tailored

to the needs of your organization,

call the LifeShare office nearest you

at (704) 512-3303 or (828) 255-8699.

If you are interested in joining our

Speaker’s Bureau, we’d also like to

hear from you.

Lots of opportunities are available

to help in the office, to staff a booth

at a health fair or to make presentations

to community groups. Call us.

CONSIDER MAKING AFINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION

By making a donation to LifeShare,

you can help to save lives by raising

organ and tissue donation awareness.

You may contribute in several ways.

In lieu of flowers, LifeShare may

be designated as the organization to

receive memorials for funerals.

Contributions may also be made in

the name of a transplant recipient,

donor or other loved one. Each person

who makes a contribution to LifeShare

receives a thank you letter. A separate

letter is sent to the family or person in

whose honor the donation was made.

Please mail your check, payable to

LifeShare, to the address on the back

of the newsletter. All contributions

are tax-deductible and are used for

public education purposes.

L I F E S H A R E O F T H E C A R O L I N A S

Brenda Thrasher is one who believes in putting her money

where her mouth is. While attending a Transplant Ethics

Symposium in the spring of 2008, she was struck by the

words of one of the speakers who said, “If everyone truly

believed in living donation, everyone in this room should be a donor.”

Though she believed the statement was “pretty presumptuous,” it had an impact

on her. A Nurse Practitioner, Brenda has worked with kidney transplant patients at

Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) for over 38 years. She has seen lots of changes

throughout her time; but the one thing that has not changed is how she feels every

time a transplant is done.

“It was all about timing,” said Brenda, adding

that because she had been widowed for a few years

and had an adult daughter, she felt free of some of

the everyday responsibilities she might have had

earlier in her life. The idea of becoming a living

donor was firmly etched in her mind.

As luck would have it, there was a young man on

a prayer list that was being circulated throughout

the Western Conference of the Methodist Church.

Brenda had the opportunity to meet him at the Annual Conference that June. That

was the moment of decision where it all came together and she felt it was her calling

to become a living donor.

That October, Brenda underwent surgery to donate her kidney to the young man.

Within three weeks she was back at work. Today, her new friend and the recipient of

her kidney, is off of dialysis and continues to do well.

Brenda has since become a board member for Donate Life North Carolina, a

collaborative group of organizations that promote eye, organ, and tissue donation.

Though her experience with Donate Life North Carolina is still relatively new, she

says that so far it has been a great experience.

Deciding to become an organ donor is not easy for everyone, she admits but she

describes it as an opportunity to give recipients a chance at a better life or even a

new one. She said, “I know I can’t change the world, but I could change one person’s

world with a simple act and it did not cost me a thing but a little time.”

SUBMITTED BY MICHELLE KERN

SPOTLIGHT ON

Brenda ThrasherNurse Practitionerand True Believer

“I know I can’tchange the world,but I could changeone person’s worldwith a simple act...”

S U M M E R I S S U E – 2 0 1 6

LifeShare is pleased to offer

donor family members a

special way to remember

their loved ones—through

our memorial quilts, the

Quilts of Life.

We display the quilts in our

office and at special events

designed to promote organ

and tissue donation. Squares

are added to the quilts at

least once a year, usually in

the spring in time for

National Donate Life Month.

If you would like to add a

square in memory of your

loved one and to see our

quilts, visit our web site at

lifesharecarolinas.org for size

dimensions, a release form

and other details. You may

also call us for additional

information at (704) 512-3303.

We look forward to receiving

additional squares and to

sharing the memory of your

loved one with others.

LifeShare gratefully acknowledges the commitment of all nurses and other medicalpersonnel who help to further the ideals of organ and tissue donation. It is throughtheir efforts and the generosity of donor family members that donation occurs. Whencomparing statistics, please note that not all hospitals have the same donor potential.

DONOR S TAT I S T I C S BY HOSP I TA L

January –April 2016

Hospital Eye Organ Tissue

Angel 0 0 0

Anson 1 0 1

Asheville Specialty 0 0 0

CaED 0 0 0

Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) 27 12 16

CMC - Lincoln 6 0 4

CMC - Mercy 0 0 0

CMC - NorthEast 16 2 9

CMC - Pineville 2 2 3

CMC - Union 3 0 3

CMC - University 0 0 1

CMC - Valdese 0 0 0

CMC - Waxhaw 1 0 1

Caromont 22 2 14

Cherokee 0 0 1

Cleveland 3 0 3

Harris 1 0 0

Haywood 3 0 3

Highlands-Cashiers 0 0 0

Kings Mountain 2 0 0

Lake Norman 1 0 1

Mission 8 4 5

Murphy 2 0 1

Novant 10 1 4

Novant - Huntersville 0 0 1

Novant - Matthews 4 1 4

Pardee 2 0 1

Park Ridge 0 0 0

Rutherford 2 0 2

St. Luke’s 1 0 0

Stanly 3 0 3

Steele Creek 1 0 1

Swain 0 0 0

Transylvania 0 0 0

VA Medical 1 0 0

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Quiltof Life

LifeShareOf The Carolinas

5000-D Airport Center ParkwayCharlotte, NC 28208

Last year we provided an update on national transplant statisticsin the summer edition of our newsletter. The good news is thenumber of people waiting for an organ transplant in NorthCarolina declined to fewer than 3,000 for the first time in years.

National, regional and state figures are always available on theUnited Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) website under Data.Please note the statistics below include information on eye andtissue donation as well.

• It is estimated that nearly 30,000 patients began new lives in2015 thanks to organ transplants (8,500 deceased and 6,000living donors).

• Approximately 121,000 individuals await lifesaving organtransplants. Over 1,000 of them are age 10 or younger.

• The average waiting time for a kidney from a deceased donoris 3 to 5 years.

• More than 33% of all deceased donors are age 50 or older;more than 5% are over 65.

• There are about 30,000 tissue donors and more than one milliontissue transplants performed each year

• 48,000 patients have their sight restored through cornealtransplants each year.

Statistics from Organ Procurement and Transplantation Networkas of May 27, 2016.

Numbers Count!

Current U.S Waiting List by Ethnicity