Take ‘recycling’ to its maximum
By Joanne Anka
(8 minute ToastMaster’s Speech)

I’d like you to meet my son, Michel. Fourteen years ago, when I was pregnant with Michel, I went for a routine ultrasound. After an hour, I asked the technician why it’s taking so long. The technician replied, “The fetus is not emptying its bladder. I’m waiting for the fetus to pee.”

Well, it didn’t pee. The doctors concluded that there was a blockage in the urethra. That’s the tube that connects the bladder to the outside of your body. They predicted there would be bladder and kidney damage.

So I had a progressive surgery where a tube was inserted through my abdomen, into the fetus’ abdomen, and into its bladder so it could drain. Otherwise, the bladder would have burst. This saved the baby’s life.

At birth, Michel was born with severe kidney failure. At age 3, he underwent his 13th surgery which was a kidney transplant. The kidney was donated by a living donor–his father, Claude…my husband.

Michel is now 13 years old and has always been very healthy. The doctors have always had great control of his condition. He leads a great life. He plays hockey, he’s a professional actor. But he takes medication 3 times a day and has a needle every night. In probably 10 years, he will need another kidney transplant because transplanted kidneys don’t last the rest of your life.

Ladies and gentlemen…This experience has taught me something that is very important…to sign my organ donor card. And I would like you all to consider the importance of signing a donor card too, if you haven’t done so already. I’m not appealing to you to sign a card so you can give a kidney to Michel. The next donor will probably be me anyway. In Canada, right now, there are more than 4000 people on the waiting list for a transplant. 250 of these people will die while on the waiting list…that’s 5 people per week dying in Canada…just because there aren’t enough organs and tissue available. There aren’t enough people signing their card.

Firstly let me explain that there are 3 types of donors:

1—living-related donor—like Claude to Michel
2– living donor—like a friend to a friend
3—cadaver donor—deceased person

It’s for donor type number 3 that we need to sign our donor cards. We never know when a fatal accident might occur. And you can’t raise your arm and say after the fact, ”Wait a minute, I want to give my organs!” You have to make that decision now!

• One cadaver can provide organs and tissue for 75 recipients.

• Studies show that donating organs and tissue after you leave this world helps families to cope with their loss by knowing that their loved one saved other lives.

Everyone can be a donor.
• Age is not a concern: The oldest Canadian organ donor was 92 years old.
• Medical history is not a concern: Even totally blind people can donate their eyes. And aids patients can give to other aids patients.

o 1-Sign a donor card and carry it with you.

o 2-Tell your families about your decision so that it will be honoured in a difficult time, because 40% of organ donors are lost because they have not told their families and in the event of a tragedy, the families are not willing to let their loved ones organs go.

Some people are concerned that doctors won’t do everything they can to save their life in an emergency if they have signed their card. This is a myth.
If you have a serious emergency, you would be seen by a doctor who most closely matches your medical needs. And doctors are in the business of saving lives. They don’t say “Hey Frank, let’s let this one go and give the organs to that boy down the street”. Once all lifesaving methods have been exhausted, the doctors will then refer a patient to the transplant team, which is a whole other team of doctors.

I brought with me tonight, organ donor cards and pamphlets, which I will put on the back table. Please take one and give this some serious consideration.

The way I see it…We are living in a world of recycling. Let’s recycle ourselves and save some lives. There’s no point in leaving this world with perfectly good organs and tissues.

Take a look at my son Michel. You see a healthy happy boy. Transplants save lives.

May 25, 1996 our family received news that we won the fight to double list and I was able to double list in the United Sates. On May 25, 1996 my family and I were on our way to Texas. After a number of hours in the Dallas Fort Worth Air port, we finally found our luggage and located our rental car and were on our way to Denison, when suddenly my beeper went off…..
We stopped at a taco bell that we had seen on the side of the road, from the highway, to use the pay phone to call Edmonton. This was call that saved my life; they had a new heart waiting for me.
May 26, 1996 I received my life saving heart transplant.

I was told by several doctors that I would not be able to have children, because the medication that I was on was very powerful and would not allow my body to carry a pregnancy. In March 2001, I defied the odds, I was pregnant with twins. September 30, 2001 I gave birth to two healthy babies, Shaylynn Dawn Plotsky, who I named after my heart donor, and Mckayla Mona Plotsky. The twins were born two months premature but otherwise very healthy; I became the first heart transplant recipient in the world to give birth to twins, and the first heart transplant to give birth while being on the medication that I was on. After hearing of this news, my donor family had requested to meet me. I met with my donors’ mother, aunt and sister. It was at this time that I learned that my heart donor wanted to have twins very badly and that she always talked about it; it was also at this time that I learned my heart transplant birthday, May 26, is also my donor’s birthday. I celebrate this day every year. Thanks to my heart donor I’m not only alive; I am a mother as well.

In November 2003, we received terrible news that Shaylynn was going to need a new heart; she was diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. Shaylynn was two years old at the time of diagnosis and was put on the waiting list December 2003. It scared me very much to know that there was a possibility that a heart may not come in time. January 23, 2004, we received the call telling us they had found a heart. The heart was coming from Michigan and alerted us that this could potentially be a dry run; this means that they prep you for surgery but you are not guaranteed the heart will be a suitable match until the organ gets to the hospital for more testing. We had our bags pack and we were off to Edmonton that day. Shaylynn received her new heart, but unfortunately there were some complications with the heart due to the distance that the heart had come from. We decided to insert a pacemaker in Shaylynn to help the heart beat on its own.

Shaylynn also received a wish from the wish foundation; her wish was to go to Disney Land to meet a real princess. We went to Disney Land April 2007 where she met Cinderella.

I celebrated my twelve year anniversary- and in May it will be 13 years post transplant. Shaylynn just celebrated her five year heart transplant anniversary; she is currently in grade one and doing amazing. McKayla is healthy and in Grade one as well. I am working full-time at a children’s mental health program and I am currently going to school. I am doing my degree in Health Administration.

I hope this helps people better understand the importance of signing your organ donor card, and talking to your family about organ donation.

Sign your donor card. If it wasn’t for the people who signed their donor cards, I wouldn’t be here and neither would my daughters.

Kristy

Jason was born in 1971 with a heart condition known as “transposition of the great vessels”.

The way it was described to him was that when he was young he was a “Blue Baby”. This is where blood flow is essentially reversed; meaning that instead of having that pinkish hue that most babies have; Jason was the colour of the clear blue sky on a sunny day.

By the time Jason was 18 he had endured 6 open-heart surgeries to correct the problem. Then in 1993, when Jason was a young man of 22, he received the gift of life, a new heart from another young man who had thankfully talked to his family about donating his organs.

That was 13 years ago. Since that time, Jason is a walking miracle experiencing a fulfilling life that he could never have imagined possible before his transplant when he was so young.

Please choose to become an organ donor and remember to speak to your family about your choice. Help turn a tragic circumstance of life into a miracle.

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Ali was diagnosed with Polycystic kidney disease when she was only 2 years old. She was able to stay off dialysis until she needed her first transplant in 1990 when Ali was 8 and her kidney failed. This transplant lasted about 9 months only when Ali had to go on dialysis for five years.

When Ali turned 13 in 1995 she was gifted with another transplant and this one lasted for about 7 months. Then Ali needed to go on dialysis to stay alive, until she went through another transplant in 2000. This is the kidney that she currently has – and fortunately it’ s been over 5 years and Ali has continued on with her schooling and is planning for an acting and writing career.

Ali is planning to become an actor and playwright and is studying to achieve her lifelong dreams. Ali is a miracle story that highlights the truly miraculous gifts that she has received through the unselfish generosity of others who chose to give the gifts of life to others by becoming organ donors.

Please choose to become an organ donor and remember to speak to your family about your choice. Help turn the circumstance of life into a miracle.

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Then came the phone call. Another healthy young man had died and
the family was willing to donate his liver. Joy and gratitude overflowed. He went immediately to the hospital, had the surgery and came home with the rest of his life now to live. But a couple of days later he was sick again. Back to the hospital. Something had gone very wrong. A deadly infection had invaded him. A day ater Blake died. With your help the Organ Donation and Transplant Association of Canada will do everything we can to encourage organ donation and to provide funding towards medical research needed to make more and more transplants in all areas successful.

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Ian had a love of nature and a love for life. Tragically, his life came to an end at the young age of 27 because of a drunk driver. He left behind a three year old daughter and a family who still miss him. But Ian did something that helped to save the lives of others. He made his wishes known to his family that he wanted to be an organ donor. His family followed his wishes and both his heart and kidney helped to save the lives of others. Through his compassion and his family’s understanding, Ian was able to help others lead a full life. “If anything ever happens to me, donate my organs, they will help someone else.” −Ian, after watching a TV program on organ donation.

Please become an organ donor.

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