Video Courtesy of KSL.com
Lucky Girl
11 years ago
Monday, June 6, 2011
Important Links
To Register to be an Organ Donor: http://www.yesidaho.org/ or http://www.yesutah.org/
More information on organ donation (my daughter's website): http://aliverstory.wordpress.com/
More information on organ donation (my daughter's website): http://aliverstory.wordpress.com/
Fox 13 News - Leaders of Different Religious Faiths
Fox 13 News Story
Link to news coverage.
http://www.fox13now.com/videobeta/?watchId=5da61f99-65ff-4ef6-8968-f0a1c0977438
Link to news coverage.
http://www.fox13now.com/videobeta/?watchId=5da61f99-65ff-4ef6-8968-f0a1c0977438
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Article in Mormon Times
Tracey, Kristene, and Rob
Rob at Jeremy's gravesite
Rob and Tracey in their homeOrgan donation brings families closer together, closer to God
Author: Caitlin OrtonSource: Mormon Times23 May 2011 3:30am
Kristene Rose was at the Walmart in Rexburg, Idaho, buying dog food when she got the devastating call. Her husband, Jeremy, who was thousands of miles away on a construction site in Hawaii, had been in an accident and lay unconscious with no promise of waking up.
"The next thing I knew, Jeremy's mom was picking me up," she said. "We flew out that night and got there at 8 in the morning, where he was already brain-dead."
Devastated, Rose sat next to her husband, who was hooked up to several machines, praying he would come back.
Meanwhile, Rose's longtime friend Rob Parkinson sat helpless at his desk at work in Rexburg.
Jeremy Rose was not only a perfect friend and neighbor, but also a perfect match to Parkinson's failing liver. Parkinson was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis in 1994, and after 16 years of suffering, his health was wearing down.
Over those years, five of Parkinson’s immediate family members had stepped up to be tested as live donors, but every test came back negative. He and his family had accepted defeat. So, weak and terrified to leave behind his wife and seven children, Parkinson was overwhelmed by Kristene Rose's decision to make her husband's last living act to give life to Parkinson.
“The gift of life is one of the greatest Christlike things a person can do,” Parkinson said. “It’s almost always a tragic situation, and for her to take a few minutes when the world was falling in on her to think about someone else during that time, it’s overwhelming.”
However, experience had taught Parkinson and his wife Tracey to have little hope that the donation would come through. The liver needed to travel to Utah from Hawaii, a journey rarely, if ever, successful. But by some miracle, the liver made it to Salt Lake City, and Parkinson went into surgery Jan. 24, 2010.
“Before the surgery, we tried to decide what to do, and we knew there were no other options,” Tracey Parkinson said, adding that her husband’s health had declined drastically over those last few months. “We said, 'We either face it today or we face it two months from now.’ So we decided to try it.”
But the surgery wasn’t smooth sailing, and as Tracey Parkinson sat in the waiting room she prepared for the worst.
“The liver should have been placed by midnight, and at 3 a.m. they told me it still wasn’t in place,” Tracey Parkinson said. “I came unglued. I was fully prepared it wasn’t going to work. It was after four hours of trying to gain peace when the doctors walked out and said the liver was placed and everything was functioning.”
After nearly two decades of overwhelming responsibilities, grief for the future and careful planning, the Parkinsons couldn’t fathom how life was going to play out. And now, a year and a half after the surgery, the family is still getting used to the change.
“We’ve all unwound over the past year, especially our younger sons,” Tracey Parkinson said. “They’ve only known their father when he’s sick and they’re saying, 'Is this really dad?’”
It was an exhausting 16 years for the Parkinsons, without a moment to breathe easily, but in exchange for the burdens and heartache, the family rallied together and turned to the Lord for support.
“There were so many people involved that is was absolutely no question it was a miracle,” Tracey Parkinson said. “I wish our children didn’t have as much of the burden, but I wouldn’t take away what they’ve become. We still feel like it was an amazing preparation time in our lives that we couldn’t have had the experience we did in any other way.”
The Parkinsons weren’t the only family spiritually feeding from the miracle. Kristene Rose, despite the sudden loss of her husband, said she saw the Lord’s hand hard at work.
“It’s brought me much closer to God,” she said during the months it took her to figure out God's will for the new direction in her life.
The lives of the Roses and Parkinsons are now intricately intertwined, and as both families look back on the experience, they are stunned at the miracle of organ donations.
“If I were placed in that situation, I would hope I could be as unselfish as Kristene,” Rob Parkinson said. “Sign up to donate, just because it changes lives. My life is different, my wife’s life is different because she has a husband, and my children’s lives are different because they have a dad.”
Author: Caitlin OrtonSource: Mormon Times23 May 2011 3:30am
Kristene Rose was at the Walmart in Rexburg, Idaho, buying dog food when she got the devastating call. Her husband, Jeremy, who was thousands of miles away on a construction site in Hawaii, had been in an accident and lay unconscious with no promise of waking up.
"The next thing I knew, Jeremy's mom was picking me up," she said. "We flew out that night and got there at 8 in the morning, where he was already brain-dead."
Devastated, Rose sat next to her husband, who was hooked up to several machines, praying he would come back.
Meanwhile, Rose's longtime friend Rob Parkinson sat helpless at his desk at work in Rexburg.
Jeremy Rose was not only a perfect friend and neighbor, but also a perfect match to Parkinson's failing liver. Parkinson was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis in 1994, and after 16 years of suffering, his health was wearing down.
Over those years, five of Parkinson’s immediate family members had stepped up to be tested as live donors, but every test came back negative. He and his family had accepted defeat. So, weak and terrified to leave behind his wife and seven children, Parkinson was overwhelmed by Kristene Rose's decision to make her husband's last living act to give life to Parkinson.
“The gift of life is one of the greatest Christlike things a person can do,” Parkinson said. “It’s almost always a tragic situation, and for her to take a few minutes when the world was falling in on her to think about someone else during that time, it’s overwhelming.”
However, experience had taught Parkinson and his wife Tracey to have little hope that the donation would come through. The liver needed to travel to Utah from Hawaii, a journey rarely, if ever, successful. But by some miracle, the liver made it to Salt Lake City, and Parkinson went into surgery Jan. 24, 2010.
“Before the surgery, we tried to decide what to do, and we knew there were no other options,” Tracey Parkinson said, adding that her husband’s health had declined drastically over those last few months. “We said, 'We either face it today or we face it two months from now.’ So we decided to try it.”
But the surgery wasn’t smooth sailing, and as Tracey Parkinson sat in the waiting room she prepared for the worst.
“The liver should have been placed by midnight, and at 3 a.m. they told me it still wasn’t in place,” Tracey Parkinson said. “I came unglued. I was fully prepared it wasn’t going to work. It was after four hours of trying to gain peace when the doctors walked out and said the liver was placed and everything was functioning.”
After nearly two decades of overwhelming responsibilities, grief for the future and careful planning, the Parkinsons couldn’t fathom how life was going to play out. And now, a year and a half after the surgery, the family is still getting used to the change.
“We’ve all unwound over the past year, especially our younger sons,” Tracey Parkinson said. “They’ve only known their father when he’s sick and they’re saying, 'Is this really dad?’”
It was an exhausting 16 years for the Parkinsons, without a moment to breathe easily, but in exchange for the burdens and heartache, the family rallied together and turned to the Lord for support.
“There were so many people involved that is was absolutely no question it was a miracle,” Tracey Parkinson said. “I wish our children didn’t have as much of the burden, but I wouldn’t take away what they’ve become. We still feel like it was an amazing preparation time in our lives that we couldn’t have had the experience we did in any other way.”
The Parkinsons weren’t the only family spiritually feeding from the miracle. Kristene Rose, despite the sudden loss of her husband, said she saw the Lord’s hand hard at work.
“It’s brought me much closer to God,” she said during the months it took her to figure out God's will for the new direction in her life.
The lives of the Roses and Parkinsons are now intricately intertwined, and as both families look back on the experience, they are stunned at the miracle of organ donations.
“If I were placed in that situation, I would hope I could be as unselfish as Kristene,” Rob Parkinson said. “Sign up to donate, just because it changes lives. My life is different, my wife’s life is different because she has a husband, and my children’s lives are different because they have a dad.”
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Chad and Ryan Arnold Story
Ryan Arnold Family
Before my liver transplant, we pursued the option of a live donor. Obviously, we wanted to use a transplant center with the best of reputations and with plenty of experience. After a lot of research, we settled on the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver.
My wife insisted on being the donor. She underwent an extensive evaluation and we were sure she would be the donor. The phone call came from Denver. Because of the anatomy of her liver, they would not take the risk. Tracey was devastated. She was convinced that live donor was our best option. For three days, she sobbed uncontrollably. Later my son was evaluated, then my brother, then my brother-in-law and finally my brother Ryan. All had failed the evaluation for various reasons. Ryan called us from California telling us he had been denied. That was Jan. 8, just two weeks before the miracle.
In August after my transplant, my brother Ryan called and asked if I had heard the story about Chad and Ryan Arnold. I had not. He sent me to the following links. We couldn't believe how close we had come to going through with the live donor option. Although there have been hundreds of successful live donors, we thanked the Lord and the Rose family. They spared us from finding out what our fate might have been.
Chad and Ryan Arnold's story hit very close to home for us. When you go through the live donor option, they do a very thorough job of explaining the risks. The mental, emotional, and physical preparation is such that you feel as if you had actually been through the transplant. We actually had a date set once with my brother Mike and "just one last test" failed to meet the qualifications. I was always less than supportive of family members being live donors. I did not think it was right that anyone should suffer physical pain because of my poor health. But, family members insisted. My worst fear was that I would live and that they would not.
My brother Ryan and Chad' brother Ryan are about the same age, both have three children, and they look like each other. Experience brings compassion and empathy. Although I cannot completely know how the Arnold's feel, I can begin to understand. There are a lot of emotions involved. I have used over and over again Chad's quotes, "God writes the story" and "We still serve a good God". It is in God's hands and we do the best we know how. We are required to move forward.
Chad and Ryan Arnold's stroy emphasizes the need to raise the awareness of organ donation. Live donor surgeries would not be required if everyone who could donate would donate. I am committed to raising awareness whenever and however I can.
http://www.kdvr.com/kdvr-liver-transplant-death-txt,0,7224071.story
http://www.kdvr.com/kdvr-live-donor-risks-txt,0,39057.story
http://www.kdvr.com/kdvr-liver-death-changes-txt,0,7689633.story
My wife insisted on being the donor. She underwent an extensive evaluation and we were sure she would be the donor. The phone call came from Denver. Because of the anatomy of her liver, they would not take the risk. Tracey was devastated. She was convinced that live donor was our best option. For three days, she sobbed uncontrollably. Later my son was evaluated, then my brother, then my brother-in-law and finally my brother Ryan. All had failed the evaluation for various reasons. Ryan called us from California telling us he had been denied. That was Jan. 8, just two weeks before the miracle.
In August after my transplant, my brother Ryan called and asked if I had heard the story about Chad and Ryan Arnold. I had not. He sent me to the following links. We couldn't believe how close we had come to going through with the live donor option. Although there have been hundreds of successful live donors, we thanked the Lord and the Rose family. They spared us from finding out what our fate might have been.
Chad and Ryan Arnold's story hit very close to home for us. When you go through the live donor option, they do a very thorough job of explaining the risks. The mental, emotional, and physical preparation is such that you feel as if you had actually been through the transplant. We actually had a date set once with my brother Mike and "just one last test" failed to meet the qualifications. I was always less than supportive of family members being live donors. I did not think it was right that anyone should suffer physical pain because of my poor health. But, family members insisted. My worst fear was that I would live and that they would not.
My brother Ryan and Chad' brother Ryan are about the same age, both have three children, and they look like each other. Experience brings compassion and empathy. Although I cannot completely know how the Arnold's feel, I can begin to understand. There are a lot of emotions involved. I have used over and over again Chad's quotes, "God writes the story" and "We still serve a good God". It is in God's hands and we do the best we know how. We are required to move forward.
Chad and Ryan Arnold's stroy emphasizes the need to raise the awareness of organ donation. Live donor surgeries would not be required if everyone who could donate would donate. I am committed to raising awareness whenever and however I can.
http://www.kdvr.com/kdvr-liver-transplant-death-txt,0,7224071.story
http://www.kdvr.com/kdvr-live-donor-risks-txt,0,39057.story
http://www.kdvr.com/kdvr-liver-death-changes-txt,0,7689633.story
Monday, May 31, 2010
Remembering
Memorial Day is for remembering. We remember those who have given their lives for our freedoms. We remember ancestors who have sacrificed to establish traditions that benefit us. We remember the soul-satisfying relationships we have shared with loved ones. And, we remember our favorable circumstances.
I have often wondered why it is important to remember. We honor people by remembering them. There is no greater compliment than saying, "I will always remember your kindness". Although remembering is most often associated with the past, remembering helps move us forward to the future. For example, remembering how an ancestor faced difficult times can help us face our own difficult times. Remembering that they survived helps us know that we will survive. Remembering those who have given their lives for our freedoms helps us want to protect those freedoms into the future.
Now that I am four months from transplant, I would like to do a little remembering. I want to put it in writing so I will never forget.
I always want to remember how good I feel. As transplant moves farther away, I don't ever want to forget this feeling. Liver disease comes on gradually and affects your whole system. In some ways you don't realize that you are feeling so poorly. Then, in two months time, you are this new person. I am a changed person. My wife and children say that my personality has even changed. Before transplant, living through every day was a challenge. The fatigue was relentless. Now, living through every day is enjoyable. I actually look forward to the next day. I wake up in the morning refreshed and can't go back to sleep. Remembering how good I feel helps me face each day with optimisim.
I always want to remember my family and friends. Getting together with family and friends is a different experience. I now see each day as a gift (really we should look at life that way no matter what). A gathering with those I love and enjoy is something to hold onto for as long as the day will allow. My experience has taught me how much my family and friends love me and I want to give that love back to them. Also, my experience has taught me how much my family and friends are willing to give to me and I want to be willing to give to them. The other day, I looked at my son sitting across the room. I remembered him washing my hair and giving me my sponge bath in the hospital. Many nights I look at my wife sleeping next to me and I remember her sleeping on the little couch in the hospital room, night after night. She stood ready to help me when I couln't help myself. So many others - children, parents, siblings, friends, community members - please, let me remember them all. Those remembrances flood me with emotions. Remembering family and friends helps me want to find every available resource to give to them.
I always want to remember the gift of life. My last clinic appointment was on April 23, 2010 (I'm now at every-three-months clinic appointments). While we were meeting with Dr. Box, going over my progress, his beeper went off two times. He told Janet, the transplant coordinator, to check to see what was needed. She said she already knew. A few minutes later, I asked how Mike was doing. Immediately, Dr. Box became emotional and could not talk. Eventually, he mentioned that Mike was not doing well. Those beeper calls were from Mike's concerned family. I could not believe that Mike had suffered so long. Could he possibly still be alive? I wanted to leave my clinic appointment with my petty questions so Dr. Box could do all he could for Mike and his family. I found out later that April 23 was Mike's last day. While it is rewarding for the transplant team to see success stories, it is heart wrenching to realize you have the knowledge and capability to save a life but not the ability. Remembering that not everyone receives a second chance at life helps me spread the word that we can do more for organ donation by talking to family about our feelings and desires.
I always want to remember the Rose family. Living in the same community with the Rose family is a rewarding experience. They are such kind and giving people. We visited Jeremy's grave on the Sunday before Memorial Day. It was my first time there. The grave was still fresh, the grass had not completely grown back. The Idaho breeze was cool. The site was on a hill, overlooking the farmland. We took flowers with a sign that assured the family that, "We will always remember your gift. The Parkinson Family". After looking at my explanted liver, the doctor said that I probably had only four months left. That means that people could have been visiting my grave this Memorial Day weekend. That is a sobering thought. There are a lot of mixed emotions with transplantation. Questions go unanswered. Being a recipient has a few emotional challenges. The unanswered questions include, "Why do I live and he doesn't?" or "Why does my seventh-grade son have a father and why does his seventh-grade daughter not have a father?" or "Can I live my life well enough to deserve such a gift?". The Rose family has been so kind to my feelings. They have always taken the position that the accident was going to happen anyway - "We're just thankful that so much good could come from it." I will always respect and honor them. All I know to do is move forward in gratitude. I want to always remember the Rose family and their gift to me.
I always want to remember and then move forward to the future.
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