"Eh Yo", with the Steelers losing tonight my heart weeps sadly but "God Damn" it's been way too long for me writing on the Priest board!!!! Just some quick words from me, "I truely hope everyone is doing awesome"!!! So whats cooking, you'll???

		DEN1673 wrote:
		Much Thanks to, Joe/Becks/Guido and everyone else who knows my story but "Much Love" for keeping my "Kidney Disease Thread" alive!!!!!!!!! It means so much!!!!!! Keep it going guys & gals, so will I.......

Awesome video of a 6 or 8 way transplant. I forgot how many!!!

Hope you all like it, those of you that will watch it.

Thanks

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/kidney_donations_connect_stran.html

Hi Den I saw that on Cnn last nite  what a marvel of modern medicine.... Iam happy that woman can finally lead somewhat of a normal life.. 

I cannot believe the guy only served 7 years in jail..... what a pity to the justice system... I say..

He should be in jail forever.

HUgs MG~

		DEN1673 wrote:
		Face transplant patient: ‘I'm not a monster’ 46-year-old Ohio woman can smile again with the help of a stranger's face CLEVELAND - When Connie Culp heard a little kid call her a monster because of the shotgun blast that left her face horribly disfigured, she pulled out her driver’s license to show the child what she used to look like. Years later, as the nation’s first face transplant recipient, she’s stepped forward to show the rest of the world what she looks like now. Her expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish. Her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles. But Culp had nothing but praise for those who made her new face possible. “I guess I’m the one you came to see today,” the 46-year-old Ohio woman said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed. But “I think it’s more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person’s face.” Until Tuesday, Culp’s identity and how she came to be disfigured were a secret. ‘I got me my nose’ Culp’s husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left. A plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Risal Djohan, got a look at her injuries two months later. “He told me he didn’t think, he wasn’t sure, if he could fix me, but he’d try,” Culp recalled. She endured 30 operations to try to fix her face. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell. Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp’s face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive. “Here I am, five years later. He did what he said — I got me my nose,” Culp said of Djohan, laughing. In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said. No information has been released about the donor or how she died, but her family members were moved when they saw before-and-after pictures of Culp, Siemionow said. Culp said she wants to help foster acceptance of those who have suffered burns and other disfiguring injuries. “When somebody has a disfigurement and don’t look as pretty as you do, don’t judge them, because you never know what happened to them,” she said. “Don’t judge people who don’t look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away.” It’s a role she has already practiced, said clinic psychiatrist Dr. Kathy Coffman. Once while shopping, she heard a little kid say, ‘You said there were no real monsters, Mommy, and there’s one right there,”’ Coffman said. Culp stopped and said, “I’m not a monster. I’m a person who was shot,” and pulled out her driver’s license to show the child what she used to look like, the psychiatrist said. Only a few pills a day Culp, who is from the small town of Unionport, near the Pennsylvania line, told her doctors she just wants to blend back into society. She has a son and a daughter who live near her, and two preschooler grandsons. Before she was shot, she and her husband ran a painting and contracting business, and she did everything from hanging drywall to a little plumbing, Coffman said. Culp left the hospital Feb. 5 and has returned for periodic follow-up care. She has suffered only one mild rejection episode that was controlled with a single dose of steroid medicines, her doctors said. She must take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life, but her dosage has been greatly reduced and she needs only a few pills a day. The clinic expects to absorb the cost of the transplant because it was experimental, doctors said. Siemionow estimated it at $250,000 to $300,000. That is less than the $1 million that other surgeons estimate it costs them to treat other severely disfigured people through dozens of separate operations, she said. Also at the Cleveland Clinic is Charla Nash of Stamford, Conn., who was attacked by a friend’s chimpanzee in February. She lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids, and will be blind, doctors said. Clinic officials said it is premature to discuss the possibility of a face transplant for her. In April, doctors at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston performed the nation’s second face transplant, on a man disfigured in a freak accident. It was the world’s seventh such operation. The first, in 2005, was performed in France on Isabelle Dinoire, a woman who had been mauled by her dog.

Face transplant patient: ‘I'm not a monster’

46-year-old Ohio woman can smile again with the help of a stranger's face


CLEVELAND - When Connie Culp heard a little kid call her a monster because of the shotgun blast that left her face horribly disfigured, she pulled out her driver’s license to show the child what she used to look like. Years later, as the nation’s first face transplant recipient, she’s stepped forward to show the rest of the world what she looks like now.

Her expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated and squarish. Her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.

But Culp had nothing but praise for those who made her new face possible.

“I guess I’m the one you came to see today,” the 46-year-old Ohio woman said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed. But “I think it’s more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person’s face.”

Until Tuesday, Culp’s identity and how she came to be disfigured were a secret.

‘I got me my nose’
Culp’s husband, Thomas, shot her in 2004, then turned the gun on himself. He went to prison for seven years. His wife was left clinging to life. The blast shattered her nose, cheeks, the roof of her mouth and an eye. Hundreds of fragments of shotgun pellet and bone splinters were embedded in her face. She needed a tube into her windpipe to breathe. Only her upper eyelids, forehead, lower lip and chin were left.

A plastic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Risal Djohan, got a look at her injuries two months later. “He told me he didn’t think, he wasn’t sure, if he could fix me, but he’d try,” Culp recalled.

She endured 30 operations to try to fix her face. Doctors took parts of her ribs to make cheekbones and fashioned an upper jaw from one of her leg bones. She had countless skin grafts from her thighs. Still, she was left unable to eat solid food, breathe on her own, or smell.

Then, on Dec. 10, in a 22-hour operation, Dr. Maria Siemionow led a team of doctors who replaced 80 percent of Culp’s face with bone, muscles, nerves, skin and blood vessels from another woman who had just died. It was the fourth face transplant in the world, though the others were not as extensive.

“Here I am, five years later. He did what he said — I got me my nose,” Culp said of Djohan, laughing.

In January, she was able to eat pizza, chicken and hamburgers for the first time in years. She loves to have cookies with a cup of coffee, Siemionow said.

No information has been released about the donor or how she died, but her family members were moved when they saw before-and-after pictures of Culp, Siemionow said.

Culp said she wants to help foster acceptance of those who have suffered burns and other disfiguring injuries.

“When somebody has a disfigurement and don’t look as pretty as you do, don’t judge them, because you never know what happened to them,” she said. “Don’t judge people who don’t look the same as you do. Because you never know. One day it might be all taken away.”

It’s a role she has already practiced, said clinic psychiatrist Dr. Kathy Coffman.

Once while shopping, she heard a little kid say, ‘You said there were no real monsters, Mommy, and there’s one right there,”’ Coffman said. Culp stopped and said, “I’m not a monster. I’m a person who was shot,” and pulled out her driver’s license to show the child what she used to look like, the psychiatrist said.

Only a few pills a day
Culp, who is from the small town of Unionport, near the Pennsylvania line, told her doctors she just wants to blend back into society. She has a son and a daughter who live near her, and two preschooler grandsons. Before she was shot, she and her husband ran a painting and contracting business, and she did everything from hanging drywall to a little plumbing, Coffman said.

Culp left the hospital Feb. 5 and has returned for periodic follow-up care. She has suffered only one mild rejection episode that was controlled with a single dose of steroid medicines, her doctors said. She must take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of her life, but her dosage has been greatly reduced and she needs only a few pills a day.

The clinic expects to absorb the cost of the transplant because it was experimental, doctors said. Siemionow estimated it at $250,000 to $300,000. That is less than the $1 million that other surgeons estimate it costs them to treat other severely disfigured people through dozens of separate operations, she said.

Also at the Cleveland Clinic is Charla Nash of Stamford, Conn., who was attacked by a friend’s chimpanzee in February. She lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids, and will be blind, doctors said. Clinic officials said it is premature to discuss the possibility of a face transplant for her.

In April, doctors at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston performed the nation’s second face transplant, on a man disfigured in a freak accident. It was the world’s seventh such operation. The first, in 2005, was performed in France on Isabelle Dinoire, a woman who had been mauled by her dog.

PITTSBURGH - A Georgia man is recovering in Pittsburgh after becoming the first U.S. recipient of a double hand transplant.

A University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman says 57-year-old Jeff Kepner is stable after a day of surgery that ended Monday night.

Kepner is a native of Pennsylvania who lives in Georgia. He lost his hands and feet to a bacterial infection.

In March, the hospital performed its first hand transplant on a Marine who lost his right hand during a training exercise.

Eight double hand transplants have been performed abroad. French physicians last month performed the world's first simultaneous partial face and double hand transplant.

Hey ,

It's a bit strange to see a topic like this on a site like this, but I'm glad it is.I'm a kidney patient myself so I know what effect it can have on people.

Keep the faith and what ever happens never give in !

Organ Donation

As of January 2006, almost 65,000 people in the U.S.--including 800 children under 18 years of age--were awaiting a kidney transplant. Based on data from prior years, only about 16,000 of them will receive their new kidney before year’s end. About 6,000 of those kidneys will come from living donors.

There is a critical shortage of donor organs in the U.S., and the time spent waiting for a lifesaving organ can be several years. There are, however, steps you can take to help ease this shortage. Who knows... the life that you save may be that of a loved one or friend!

Little-Known FactsDid you know?... Every one of us can save up to eight lives by donating our organs, as well as enhance the lives of up to 50 others through tissue donation.

Did you know?... Hospitals are required to notify an organ & tissue recovery agency about all deaths that occur in a hospital. These agencies work with the hospitals to offer families the chance to donate the organs and tissues of their loved one. Before donation can take place, however, the recovery agency asks permission from the family or next of kin, even if the person who died wanted to donate his/her organs and signed a donor card! This is why it is so important to let family members know about your donation wishes so that they will follow your wishes at the time of your death.

Did you know?... Signing an organ donor card and placing a pink "donor dot" on your driver's license does not record your wishes on an official list or donor registry. Despite popular belief, the Department of Motor Vehicles does not maintain a donor database. Therefore, giving consent for donation falls solely on the donor's family, who may not be aware of the wishes of their loved one.

Did you know?... There is a national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) that lists all patients waiting for a transplant and allocates donated organs. It is operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in Richmond, VA, under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. UNOS makes every effort to ensure that there is a fair allocation of donated organs and tissues, and their policies are continuously revised to reflect any changes in the scientific and medical basis of transplantation. Potential recipients are selected based on such factors as blood and tissue type, medical need, length of time on the waiting list, and the size and weight of the donor and potential recipients.

Did you know?... In recent years, more and more living donors have offered their organs (or parts of their organs) for transplant. The most common organ offered by living donors is the kidney. Living donors are usually blood relatives, a significant other, or close friend of the recipient. But an increasing number of non-related living donations are occurring. Even complete strangers are offering to donate organs to anyone who may need them, something that was virtually unheard of only a decade ago.

Did you know?... The need for donor kidneys is higher among minority populations such as African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans. This is because certain diseases that lead to kidney failure (diabetes, high blood pressure) are more common among these people than in the general population. The odds of obtaining a suitable kidney for transplant are higher when both the donor and potential recipient are of the same ethnic background.

Did you know?...
• African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Pacific Islanders are three times more likely than Caucasians to develop kidney disease.
• Native Americans are four times more likely than Caucasians to suffer from diabetes, the leading cause of kidney failure.
• African Americans are more likely to develop hypertension (high blood pressure), the second leading cause of kidney disease.
• While African Americans account for only 13% of the U.S. population, they comprise more than one-third (35%) of the kidney transplant waiting list.

Did you know?... The first successful organ transplant was performed in 1954 at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. The donor of the organ--a kidney--was the recipient’s twin brother.

Myths and Facts About Organ DonationMyth 1: If doctors in the hospital know I want to be a donor, they will not try to save my life.
Fact: It is important to understand that the medical staff trying to save your life is completely separate from the transplant team. Transplant surgeons are called in for the donation process only after all efforts to save a life have been made and death is either imminent or has occurred.

Myth 2: Some people can recover from brain death.
Fact: No one can recover from brain death, but they can recover from some comas. Brain death and coma are not the same. Brain death is final and irreversible.

Myth 3: Deciding who receives a donor organ discriminates by race. Therefore, ethnic minorities should refuse to donate.
Fact: Organs are matched by such factors as blood and tissue typing. Potential recipients are actually more likely to receive a suitable organ when that organ is donated by someone of the same ethnicity or race.

Myth 4: The rich and famous are given donated organs ahead of ordinary people.
Fact: Organ recipients are not selected based on fame or wealth. The national computerized organ matching system matches donors and recipients only by blood and tissue typing, organ size, medical urgency, length of time on the waiting list, and geographic location.

Myth 5: Senior citizens are too old to donate.
Fact: Organs and tissue can come from people of all ages, ranging from newborn babies to seniors. The most important factor is physical condition, not age.

Myth 6: Families will be charged for donating a loved one's organs.
Fact: The donor's family or estate is not responsible for the donation costs. Medicare and/or the recipient's insurance bear the cost.

Myth 7: My body will be disfigured if I donate.
Fact: Any incisions made during the removal of organs and tissues are always closed following the end of the procedure, so the body is not disfigured and is ready for burial.

Myth 8: Organs are often sold, giving the medical community enormous profits.
Fact: The buying and selling of organs is strictly prohibited by federal law in the U.S. Any violators are punished by heavy prison sentences and fines.

Myth 9: My religion may prohibit organ donation.
Fact: Virtually all mainstream religions support organ and tissue donations and view them as unselfish charitable acts. Those families who have donated believe they have followed high moral and ethical standards and have made a true Gift of Life.

Discussing Your Desire to Donate with Your FamilyEven if you have signed an organ donor card, the decision on whether to donate your organs or tissues after you die will be made by your family. So, it is important that they know your wishes ahead of time.

Before you begin a discussion with your family, educate yourself about the donation process, then tell your family you want to discuss a very important issue. Choose a comfortable environment in which to discuss the topic, one with as few distractions as possible so that each person can feel at ease as they share intimate thoughts and feelings about donation.

Some family members may feel OK with discussing donation in a group setting, while others may not. Talking one-on-one with each family member is an option. Be sensitive to everyone's feelings and needs. Each family member should know and take into consideration the views of the rest of the family.

Begin the discussion by honestly expressing your own feelings about donation. Try not to judge the feelings and beliefs of other family members. Instead, try stressing that transplantation is a successful procedure that has saved many hundreds of thousands of lives during the past half-century. Success rates for all transplants, particularly kidneys, continue to improve every year.

If you want to donate organs or tissue, make sure you:
• Obtain a donor card, sign it, and carry it with you. This card allows you to specify which organs and tissues you wish to donate.
• Declare that you want to be a donor on your driver's license.
• Sign up with your state's donor registry (37 states now have one).
• Make sure you discuss your desire to donate with your family. Most hospitals will not accept a donor's organs, even if they have signed a donor card, unless the family gives final consent. To discover the procedure in your state, contact the Coalition on Donation at www.shareyourlife.org.

Telling your family about your decision to donate organs or tissues is of critical importance. Even though you may have signed a donor card or placed your name on a state registry, many hospitals will not take your organs for transplant unless they have the consent of your family or next of kin.

Many families feel a spiritual sense of closure knowing that a part of their deceased loved one is living on in someone else. Some families even get to know and become lifelong friends with the recipient of their loved one's organ(s). These families believe that donation is something to embrace and be thankful for.

FACTS
26 MILLION Americans are in early stages of kidney failure.

20 MILLION More are at risk of developing it and don't know it.

DID YOU KNOW... ?

• Early diagnosis and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) dramatically slows its course giving you a longer, more healthful life. (See Kidney Times article #281 by Dean Kujubu, MD)

• There are specific things you and your loved one can do to prevent or delay the onset of CKD.

• CKD is a progressive loss of kidney function over time and doesn’t go away by itself.

• The three main causes of chronic kidney disease are DIABETES (45% of new cases), HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE (30% of new cases) and OBESITY

If you have any of these causes, see your doctor and get an estimated GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) assessment based on a simple blood test.

Are You At Risk?
Do you have…1. Swelling or numbness in feet, ankles, or hands2. Changes in urination (frequency, color, foam in urine)3. Fatigue and lack of energy4. Difficulty concentrating, mental confusion5. Headaches6. Itchy skin7. Muscle twitching, especially in legs8. Loss of appetite9. Metallic taste in the mouth10. Nausea and/or vomiting11. Insomnia12. Changes in skin color (yellowish tint)13. Fragile bones

If you or someone you know exhibits these symptoms, it is important to get tested for kidney disease promptly. Remember, the signs and symptoms listed above may be due to other factors, but only your healthcare provider can give you an accurate diagnosis.

Visit GovTrack to view the Senate Response

Burn victim receives face and hand transplants

Doctors in France performed world's first simultaneous procedure

PARIS - Dozens of doctors working in teams over 30 hours performed the world's first simultaneous partial-face and double-hand transplant during the weekend, Paris' Public Hospital authority said Monday.

The authority described the recipient as a 30-year-old burn victim. The man, whose name was not released, was injured in a 2004 accident that left him with scars "preventing any social life," it said.

No further details were provided by officials, but French media reports said the upper half of the man's face, including the scalp, forehead and eyelids, were transplanted.

The authority's statement said the operation, performed over Saturday and Sunday at the Henri Mondor hospital in the Paris suburb of Creteil, was the world's sixth partial-face transplant but the first to include hands as well.

A French woman, Isabelle Dinoire, underwent the first partial face transplant in 2005 in Amiens, France. Other recipients include another European patient, a Chinese farmer and a woman operated on late last year in Cleveland, Ohio.Dinoire was disfigured when her dog chewed her face after she passed out from an overdose of sleeping pills. She lost part of her nose, lips, chin, and parts of her cheeks.

French doctors gave Dinoire, then 38, a new face from a brain-dead donor, as well as bone marrow cells that they hoped would prevent rejection. Dinoire still had two instances of rejection — one month after her surgery and again a year later.

Other recipients have also have been plagued by rejection — a problem that worries Dr. Patrick Warnke, a professor of surgery at the University of Kiel in Germany who has expressed skepticism about the procedure.

"I think the hype about face transplants is too much," he said in a phone interview Monday.

He pointed to the risk of long-term use of immuno-suppression drugs aimed at preventing rejection, which he said could cause cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

"I'm worried that patients don't understand what it means to be on these drugs for the rest of their lives," he said.