One, Two, Three Patients

Patient One
Michael has turned a corner and is beginning to recover from his deadly staph infection.  Last Wednesday/Thursday were difficult days as Michael was very, seriously ill.  He is still in the hospital.  His CMV levels have come down, hence he's going to receive his CMV meds via oral form vs. IV.  However, he still needs four more weeks of IV treatment for the staph infection.

Patient #1 improving

Patient Two & Three
On Monday afternoon, my parents were involved in a serious car accident while en route to hospital to visit my brother.  They were traveling on the Gardiner Expressway when they were hit on the drivers side by another vehicle which caused them to spin and hit the guard rail.  The other driver was charged with careless driving.  They were taken by ambulance to the hospital where they were x-rayed and my dad assessed by the transplant team.  They are bruised and extremely sore [chest & back - from the seat belt & being tossed about - are among some of the aches and pains being experienced].  Getting up & down and mobility are quite difficult for them at this time.  However, given the nature of the accident & state of their car, they are LUCKY to be alive. 

Patient 2 & 3 being discharged from the hospital

The drivers side of the vehicle after the crash...

Staph Infection...Another Hospital Visit

Michael was admitted to Toronto General Hospital for the second time this summer on Wednesday evening.  He had was fevered, vomiting & lethargic.  He really appeared to be in a bad way.  Thursday morning, his temperature had come down from 39/40 to 37.7.  However, he was still extremely lethargic.  Dr. McCready [an infectious disease doctor from Toronto General Hospital] came to the 10th floor to try to determine the cause of the infection.  The lab confirmed her suspicion that he had a staph infection.  We all have staph & strep bacteria on our skin.  More than likely, the staph bacteria entered his blood via the pique line in his arm that was meant to administer the CMV antibiotics [CMV was the reason for his previous hospital visit a few weeks back]. 

Michael's cocktail of antibiotics & saline

He is receiving Vancomycin to treat the infection along with two other antibiotics to continue to treat the CMV [one of which is Ciprofloxacin].  He had a chest xray and echo, both of which showed no damage to his heart.  Hopefully, with the Vancomycin he'll bounce back & will be feeling more like himself in the next few days.

Numbers....actually Michael's blood pressure is probably higher than mine!

Summer vacation at Toronto General Hospital...

Michael with his daughter, Maddy [photo courtesy of his wife]

Michael & his family were set to go on summer holiday [the holiday they canceled last summer due to his congestive heart failure], when TGH [Toronto General Hospital] called to say he needed to be admitted.  Apparently, Michael's routine blood work came back with dangerous levels of CMV which is a virus that affected 20-60% of transplant patients.  In fact, our dad had it post-transplant as well.  However, he was treated via IV at home.  Michael will be in hospital for a week while being treated intravenously.

The Three Transplanteers

For the first time since my brother's heart transplant in October, 2010, the three family heart transplant recipients were all together in the same room!  We were celebrating my Aunt Catherine's [our Dad's eldest sister & Brian's mother] 92nd birthday.  They all looked fantastic!

From left to right: John McBride [14 years], Michael McBride, [8 months] & Brian Conway [8 years]

Aunt Catherine with her granddaughter, Eloise

Michael's last biopsy was a level A1.  This means that there are rejection cells in the heart.  The good news is that this is expected now and again.  The prendizone was reduced by 2.5 mg for a new dose of 7.5 mg per day [original post-transplant dose was 30 mg per day].  The other meds have remained the same with the addition of alopurinol for gout. 

To date, Michael has had two severe gout attacks that have resulted in hospitalization.  Each gout visit has meant a direct joint injection of cortizone.  The gout is common with the tranplant meds.  Next biopsey is in 6 weeks.

NEW Online Organ & Tissue Donation Registration in Ontario

Ontario's Trillium Gift of Life network launched their new online Organ & Tissue Donation Registration in Ontario.  Hopefully, this will be a more effortless & accessible approach to organ & tissue donation in Ontario!  One donor can save up to eight lives and enhance up to seventy-five more.  Watch the inspiring video below on how organ donation saves lives...

Here is a link to a great article written on the new registry by
Chris Powell:  http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/trillium-gift-of-life-promotes-new-online-organ-donor-registry-29078.  The article quotes Versha Prakash, vice-president of operations for the Trillium Gift of Life Network, that currently only 19% of Ontarians are registered organ donors.  The goal is to double that to 370,000 registered donors.

Chinese Teen Sells Kidney for iPad2

A Chinese teenager has reportedly sold one of his kidneys for 20,000 yuan ($3171) so he could buy an iPad 2.

The high school student from Anhui Province, Xiao Zhang, confessed to his mother that he was motivated to sell the kidney after seeing an internet ad offering cash to people who were prepared to become organ donors, according to the Global Times.  His mother had discovered the iPad 2 and forced him to reveal how he was able to afford the gadget.  "I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn't have the money," the boy told Shenzhen TV. He also bought an iPhone and a laptop with the proceeds from the sale, his mother said.

Xiao Zhang, the iPad 2 and his scar.

Chenzhou 198 Hospital in Hunan Province, where the boy reportedly had his surgery, does not have qualifications for kidney transplantation. It has denied any connection with the organ removal however has admitted contracting out its urology department to a private businessman.

The buying and selling of organs is a growing issue in China and the government has so far failed to stamp out the practice. There have been many reports of "transplant tourists" who come from rich countries to buy much-needed organs from poor desperate people.  The blackmarket trade is driven by the fact that there are many times more people waiting for organs than there are legitimate donors.

Zheng's mother told Shenzhen TV that she took her son to report the matter to police but the agents who had organised the organ trade were uncontactable. Police are reportedly trying to track down the buyers.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/ipad/chinese-teen-sells-kidney-for-ipad-20110603-1fjsr.html#ixzz1OAhYHsJ8