July is always difficult for me to write about in these brief words I offer for the monthly anniversary posts. While, as usual, there is an abundance of joy in remembering the wonderful gifts most of us have successfully given, to great positive effect for our recipirnts and ourselves, these are shadoed for me, always, by the story of donor Patti McRoberts and her recipient husband. Joyful, and affirming her decision for a reporter just before being anesthetized and taken to surgery, she suffered from catastrophic arterial internal bleeding, undetected until after the surgery was complete. Her husband, recovering well from receiving her kidney, returned to her bedside at the hospital and sang to her every day for nearly four years. She died two days before the fourth anniversary of their surgeries. Their tragic story, among others, appearing in the press shortly after my own donation, were much on my mind as I began to speak out publicly on behalf of all living donors and candidates on the path to donation. Tragedies like this persist to this day, and by all accounts, while they might be reduced in frequency and severity, they cannot be eliminated. Planning for them, personally and institutionally, is a minimum requirement for informed consent as well as institutional responsive and responsible support. Take care, all, and revel in your joy while you can.
Thirty-ninth anniversary:
Barbara Outz Johnson donated a kidney to her brother on July 5th, 1973
Thirty-fifth anniversary:
Kathleen Mahoney, then 20, donated a kidney to her brother, then 14, on July 11th, 1977. All well for their 34th anniversary in 2011!
Twenty-second anniversary:
Joan Schurman donated a kidney to her son on July 8th, 1990
Seventeenth anniversary:
Mare Medernach donated a kidney to her brother, Mark, on July 19th, 1995
Twelfth anniversary:
Laura Hawes donated part of her liver to her mother on July 25th, 2000
Patti McRoberts, a living kidney donor to her husband on July 31st, 2000, never woke up, and died on July 29th, 2004
Eleventh anniversary:
Jenny Lee donated a kidney to her daughter on July 9th, 2001
Lisa Steele donated a kidney to an unrelated recipient on July 12th, 2001
Stephanie Ritchon donated a kidney to her sister on July 16th, 2001
Tenth anniversary:
Jess Coleman donated part of his liver to his wife on July 3rd, 2002
Gerda A. Coakley donated a kidney to her brother on July 10th, 2002
Margaret donated part of her liver to her mother on July 12th, 2002
Michaela Robertson donated a kidney to her father, Calder Robertson, on July 16th, 2002
Ted Whitehead donated part of his liver to his brother on July 19th, 2002
Julie Michaels donated a kidney to a friend on July 24th, 2002
Tim Hurley donated a kidney to his son on July 24th, 2002
Ninth anniversary:
Steven Seidner donated a kidney to his father on July 8th, 2003
Tom Falsey donated a kidney to a stranger on July 15th, 2003
Patricia donated a kidney to a stranger on July 22nd, 2003
Zell Kravinsky donated a kidney to a stranger on July 22nd, 2003
Donna Vogelgesang donated a kidney to her father on July 30th, 2003
Karen Kennedy donated a kidney to her mother on July 30th, 2003
Linda Marshall donated a kidney to her mom on July 30th, 2003
Eighth anniversary:
Gary W. donated a kidney to his father on July 7th, 2004
Lisa Quinn donated a kidney to her mother-in-law on July 7th, 2004
Susan Kuhn donated a kidney to her husband on July 9th, 2004
Kimberly Moity donated a kidney to her husband on July 13th, 2004
Mike donated a kidney to his uncle on July 20th, 2004
Barbara Romine donated a kidney to her daughter on July 28th, 2004
Sherry donated a kidney to her husband on July 28th, 2004
Fifth anniversary:
Irismer donated a kidney to her cousin on July 2nd, 2007
Kevin Vericker donated a kidney to his brother on July 5th, 2007
Ellen Sweeney donated part of her liver to her sister, Susan, on July 12th, 2007
Tristan Smith donated a kidney to his 11 year old cousin on July 12th, 2007
Tanya Moder donated a kidney to a stranger on July 17th, 2007
Charissa Cook donated a kidney to her father, Joseph DiBeneditto, on July 18th, 2007
Matt Jones donated a kidney to an unrelated person on July 18th, 2007
Laurie Fosburg Carlo donated a kidney to her sister-in-law on July 20th, 2007
Joyce Hennes donated a kidney to a friend on July 24th, 2007
Fourth anniversary:
Marilyn (Moe) Shea donated a part of her liver to her employer on July 1st, 2008
Breann Dobben donated a kidney to her boyfriend on July 7th, 2008
Jonas Read donated a kidney to his childhood friend, Austin Pierce, on July 31st, 2008
Third anniversary:
Anne Caldwell donated a kidney to a friend from church on July 7th, 2009
Jody Clement donated a kidney to her best friend, Faye, on July 8th, 2009
Macey Leigh donated a kidney to her cousin, Marc, on July 10th, 2009
Cathy Hopkins donated a kidney to her uncle on July 16th, 2009
Jordan Brough donated a kidney to a stranger (and then friend) on July 16th, 2009
Laurie Stuart donated a kidney to her ex-husband, Paul, on July 22nd, 2009
Second anniversary:
Nicki Hayes became a non-directed kidney donor on July 13th, 2010
Tom O'Driscoll donated a kidney to Carolyn Branson, suggested by Chaya Lipschutz, on July 23rd, 2010
Nina Brown donated 60% of her liver to her sister-in-law's best friend, Lynn Deal, on July 15th, 2010
Dawn made a non-directed kidney donation on July 26th, 2010
Betty (Bryant) Shelton made a non-directed kidney donation on July 27th, 2010
Sara Guzman donated a kidney to her husband, Julian, on July 27th, 2010, after her received a liver transplant. He died on November 1st, 2010 due to other complications.
First anniversary:
Rebecca Kelley donated a kidney to her ex-husband, Frank, on July 7th, 2011
Julie donated a kidney to her adopted sister on July 15th, 2011
John Milligan donated a kidney to his wife, Jane, on July 22nd, 2011
Topic: July 2012 Anniversaries (Read 6300 times)