[My] Life in Wisconsin

Showing posts with label organ_donation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organ_donation. Show all posts

Japanese scientist claims breakthrough with organ grown in sheep - Times Online


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6222361.ece
May 5, 2009
Japanese scientist claims breakthrough with organ grown in sheep


Huddled at the back of her shed, bleating under a magnificent winter coat and tearing cheerfully at a bale of hay, she is possibly the answer to Japan’s chronic national shortage of organ donors: a sheep with a revolutionary secret.

Guided by one of the animal’s lab-coated creators, the visitor’s hand is led to the creature’s underbelly and towards a spot in the middle under eight inches of greasy wool. Lurking there is a spare pancreas.

If the science that put it there can be pushed further forward, Japan may be spared an ethical and practical crisis that has split medical and political opinion.

As the sheep-based chimera organ technology stands at the moment, says the man who is pioneering it, the only viable destination for the pancreas underneath his sheep would be a diabetic chimpanzee.

The organ growing on the sheep was generated from monkey stem cells but the man behind the science, Yutaka Hanazono, believes that the technology could be developed eventually to make sheep into walking organ banks for human livers, hearts, pancreases and skin.

It could happen within a decade, he guesses, perhaps two.

“We have made some very big advances here. There has historically been work on the potential of sheep as producers of human blood, but we are only slowly coming closer to the point where we can harvest sheep for human organs,” Professor Hanazono told The Times.

“We have shown that in vivo (in a living animal) creation of organs is more efficient than making them in vitro (in a test tube) but now we really need to hurry.”

The reason for Professor Hanazono’s sense of urgency — and for the entire organ harvest project being undertaken at the Jichi Medical University — lies many miles away in Tokyo and with a historical peculiarity of the Japanese legal system.

Japan defines death as the point when the heart permanently stops. The concept of brain death — the phase at which organs can most effectively be harvested from donors — does exist, but organs cannot be extracted at that point.

The long-term effect of the legal definition has been striking: organ donation in Japan is virtually nonexistent, forcing many people to travel abroad in search of transplants. In the United States, the rate of organ donors per million people is about 27; in Japan it is under 0.8.

The effect, say pediatricians, has been especially severe for children. The same law that discounts brain death as suitable circumstances for organ donation broadly prevents children under 15 from allowing their organs to be harvested.

To make matters worse, international restrictions on transplant tourism are becoming ever tougher, making Japan’s position even more untenable. To avert disaster, say doctors, Japan either needs the science of synthetic organ generation to advance faster than seems possible, or it needs a complete rethink on the Japanese definition of death.

In response to the impending crisis, and with Professor Hanazono’s sheep still very much at the experimental stage, a series of revisions to the transplant law have been proposed, but the debate has been divisive.

Taro Nakayama, the MP behind the most liberal revision — a change that would allow organs to be harvested from the brain-dead — is a former paediatrician. “Organ tourism is finished and Japan has to change its ways very quickly,” he said.

Gene genies

— In 1997 US scientist Dr Jay Vacanti grew a human ear from cartilage cells on the back of a mouse. He said he believed that it might be possible to grow knee cartilage and even a human liver

— In 2007 two scientists at the University of Nevada created a sheep with 15 per cent human cells as part of research into farming human organs from animals. Human cells were injected into a sheep’s foetus

— Last month Stelios Arcadiou, an Australian artist, unveiled an ear implanted on his arm. He planned to broadcast the sounds it would “hear” on the internet

— Last week Korean scientists said they had cloned beagles that glowed in the dark. Four puppies were created from cells injected with a gene that made them glow red under UV light

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Donate Life America

http://www.donatelife.net/UnderstandingDonation/LearnTheFacts.php
First of all, I am afraid I do not know how to "read" this chart.
Please click and let me know?
http://www.optn.org/latestData/rptStrat.asp

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Laws that oversee donation vary from state to state.
It is important for you to know how to ensure your decision to be a donor is carried out.

Find out how: CLICK BELOW
http://www.donatelife.net/CommitToDonation/states.php?state=state

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Learn the facts
Despite continuing efforts at public education, misconceptions and inaccuracies about donation persist. Learn these facts to help you better understand organ, eye and tissue donation:

Fact: Anyone can be a potential donor regardless of age, race, or medical history.

Fact: All major religions in the United States support organ, eye and tissue donation and see it as the final act of love and generosity toward others.

Fact: If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye and tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased.

Fact: When you are on the waiting list for an organ, what really counts is the severity of your illness, time spent waiting, blood type, and other important medical information, not your financial status or celebrity status.

Fact: An open casket funeral is possible for organ, eye and tissue donors. Through the entire donation process the body is treated with care, respect and dignity.

Fact: There is no cost to the donor or their family for organ or tissue donation.

Fact: Signing a donor card and a driver's license with an "organ donor" designation may not satisfy your state's requirements to become a donor. Be certain to take the necessary steps to be a donor and ensure that your family understands your wishes.

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Statistics
Although there have been advances in medical technology and donation, the demand for organ, eye and tissue donation still vastly exceeds the number of donors. For more information, read the summary below or create a detailed data report on the UNOS Web site.


Almost 100,000 men, women and children currently need life-saving organ transplants.

Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list.

An average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.

In 2005, there were 7,593 deceased organ donors and 6,895 living organ donors resulting in 28,108 organ transplants.

In 2005, 44,000 grafts were made available for transplant by eye banks within the United States.

Approximately 1,000,000 tissue transplants are performed annually.

According to research, 98% of all adults have heard about organ donation and 86% have heard of tissue donation.

90% of Americans say they support donation, but only 30% know the essential steps to take to be a donor.

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GLOSSARY

Actionable Donor Designations
Taking the appropriate steps in one's home state to ensure that a personal decision to become a donor is recognized and honored.

Allocation
The process of determining how organs are distributed. Allocation includes the system of policies and guidelines, that ensure organs are distributed in an equitable, ethical and medically sound manner.

Allocation Policies
Rules established by the OPTN to guide and regulate organ allocation and distribution in the United States.

Best Practices
Processes and activities shown in practice to be the most effective.

Blood Type
One of four groups (A, B, AB or O) into which blood is classified. Blood types are based on differences in molecules (proteins and carbohydrates) on the surface of red blood cells.

Candidate
A person registered on the organ transplant waiting list. When an organ is offered on behalf of the candidate, he or she is then referred to as a Potential Transplant Recipient (PTR).

Collaborative
A time-limited effort (usually six to 12 months) of multiple organizations that come together with faculty to learn about and to create improved processes in a specific topic area. The expectation is that the teams share expertise and data with each other, thus "everyone learns, everyone teaches."

Conversion, conversion rate
The percentage of times a death meeting eligible criteria (eligible death) becomes an actual donor.

Criteria (Medical Criteria)
A set of clinical or biologic standards or conditions that must be met.

Crossmatch
A blood test to determine compatibility between donor and recipient. A positive crossmatch indicates incompatibility. If the crossmatch is "negative," then the transplant may proceed. Crossmatching is performed for many organ transplants.

Deceased Donor
An individual from whom at least one solid organ is recovered or the purpose of transplantation after suffering brain death or cardiac death

Deceased Donor Transplant
The transplant of an organ
from a deceased donor.

Diabetes
A disease in which the pancreas does not manufacture an adequate amount of insulin. As a result, the level of sugar in the blood is too high. A leading factor in heart and kidney disease.

Donate Life America
Formerly the Coalition on Donation, Donate Life America is a national not-for-profit alliance of local affiliates and corporate partners that joined forces to inspire all people to Donate Life� through organ, eye and tissue donation. At the core of the organization's education efforts are the ongoing qualitative and quantitative research of public attitudes about organ, eye and tissue donation and the development and dissemination of effective, motivating public service campaigns. Distributed at the national and community level, these multi-media campaigns effectively communicate two core messages: "Transplants give people their life back," and "Here is how you can help."

Founded by the transplant community in 1992, Donate Life America publishes brochures, program kits and other materials; provides technical assistance, training, information and referral services; and coordinates the National Campaign for Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation. It is comprised of national organizational members and local coalitions across the U.S. that coordinate donation related activities at the local level. Volunteer advertising agencies work with the Coalition and its committees to develop targeted mass media campaigns.

Donate LifeSM, Done VidaSM
Since 2000, Donate Life and its Spanish-translation Done Vida have been the primary slogans and service mark logos of the Coalition on Donation, promoting donation as a forthright, life-affirming action. The Coalition encourages the widest possible use of its logos and materials in order to provide a sustained, unified national message about donation. Guidelines and policies are in place to ensure consistency, appropriate use, and the integrity of these national logos and materials.

Donor
Someone from whom at least one organ or tissue is recovered for the purpose of transplantation. A deceased donor is a patient who has been declared dead using either brain death or cardiac death criteria, from whom at least onevascularized solid organ is recovered for the purpose of organ transplantation. A living donor is one who donates an organ or segment of an organ for the intent of transplantation.

Donor Designation Collaborative
Donate Life America program launched in 2006 to increase Actionable Donor Designations in the United States by identifying and spreading best practices in the areas of measurement and analysis; effective partnerships and relationships; and registry development, management and promotion.

End-Stage Organ Disease
A disease that leads to the permanent failure of an organ.

First Person Consent Legislation
Legislation that allows donor designation to be indicated on a driver's license or an official signed donor document, which gives hospitals legal authority to proceed with organ procurement without consent from the family.

High Blood Pressure (hypertension) (HTN)
When the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the blood vessels is higher than normal because the blood vessels have either become less elastic or have gotten smaller. High blood pressure causes the heart to pump harder to move blood through the body. High blood pressure can cause kidney failure and heart disease if not treated.

Hypertension
High blood pressure. Occurs when the force of the blood pushing against the walls of the blood vessels is higher than normal because the blood vessels have either become less elastic or have gotten smaller. Hypertension causes the heart to pump harder to move blood through the body. It can cause kidney failure and heart disease if not treated.

Immunosuppressive
Relating to the weakening or reducing of your immune system's responses to foreign material; immunosuppressive drugs reduce your immune system's ability to reject a transplanted organ.

Kidneys
A pair of organs that remove wastes from the body through the production of urine. All of the blood in the body passes through the kidneys about 20 times every hour. Kidneys can be donated from living and deceased donors and transplanted into patients with kidney failure.

Liver
The largest organ in the body, made up of a spongy mass of wedge-shaped lobes. The liver secretes bile, which aids in digestion, helps process proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, and stores substances like vitamins. It also removes wastes from the blood. A living donor can give part of their liver, after which the liver will regenerate itself in both the donor and recipient.

Living Donation
When a living person gives an organ or a portion of an organ for use in a transplant. A kidney, or portion of a liver, lung, pancreas or intestine may be donated. See also Living Donor, Organ Donation.

Living Donor
A living person who donates an organ for transplantation, such as a kidney or a segment of the lung, liver, pancreas, or intestine. Living donors may be blood relatives, emotionally related individuals, or altruistic strangers. These may also include domino heart or liver transplants. See Domino Transplant.

Lungs
The organs of respiration in which aeration of the blood takes place, consisting of a right and left lung divided into lobes. The right lung has three lobes and the left lung has two lobes.

Match
The compatibility between the donor and the recipient. The more appropriate the match, the greater the chance of a successful transplant.

Match Run
A computerized ranking of transplant candidates based upon donor and candidate medical compatibility and criteria defined in OPTN policies.

Medicare
The program of the Federal government that provides hospital and medical insurance, through social security taxes, to people age 65 and over, those who have permanent kidney failure and certain people with disabilities.

Model for Improvement
An approach to process improvement, developed by Associates in Process Improvement, which helps teams accelerate the adoption of proven and effective changes. See also Plan-Do-Study-Act.

Organ
A part of the body made up of tissues and cells that enable it to perform a particular function. Transplantable organs are the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, pancreas and intestines.

Organ Donation
To give an organ or a part of an organ to be transplanted into another person. Organ donation can occur with a deceased donor, who can give kidneys, pancreas, liver, lungs, heart, intestinal organs, and with a live donor, who can give a kidney, or a portion of the liver, lung, or intestine.

Organ Placement Process
When organs are donated, the host OPO accesses the national transplant computer system through the Internet, or contacts the Organ Center at UNOS. Information about the donor is entered into the system and a donor/recipient match is run for each donated organ. The resulting match list of potential recipients is ranked according to criteria defined in that organ's allocation policy (i.e. blood type, tissue type, size of the organ, medical urgency of the patient as well as time already spent on the waiting list and distance between donor and recipient). Each organ has its own specific criteria.

Using the match list of potential recipients, the host OPO's organ procurement coordinator or the Organ Placement Specialist in the Organ Center contacts the transplant center of the highest ranked patient, based on policy criteria, to be offered the organ. If the organ is turned down, the next potential recipient's transplant center on the match list is contacted until the organ is placed. Once the organ is accepted for a patient, transportation arrangements are made and transplant surgery is scheduled. See also, Wait List, Wait List Registration, Waiting Time.

Organ Placement Specialist
Organ Center personnel responsible for coordinating the organ matching process among OPTN members.

Organ Preservation
Methods used to preserve organs while they are out of the body, between procurement from a donor and transplantation into a recipient.

Organ Procurement
The removal or retrieval of organs from a donor for transplantation.

Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)
In 1987, Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act that mandated the establishment of the OPTN and Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. The purpose of the OPTN is to improve the effectiveness of the nation's organ procurement, donation and transplantation system by increasing the availability of and access to donor organs for patients with end-stage organ failure. The Act stipulated that the Network be a non-profit, private sector entity comprised of all U.S. transplant centers, organ procurement organizations and histocompatibility laboratories. These members along with professional and voluntary healthcare organizations and the representatives of the general public are governed by a Board of Directors which reports to the Division of Transplantation, HRSA and ultimately HHS. UNOS holds the OPTN contract.

Organ Procurement Organization (OPO)
An organization designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and responsible for the procurement of organs for transplantation and the promotion of organ donation. OPOs serve as the vital link between the donor and recipient and are responsible for the identification of donors, and the retrieval, preservation and transportation of organs for transplantation. They are also involved in data folow-up regarding deceased organ donors. As a resource to the community OPOs engage in public education on the critical need for organ donation. See also Donation Service Area (DSA).

Pancreas
Irregularly shaped gland that lies behind the stomach and secretes pancreatic enzymes into the small intestines to aid in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Islet cells within the pancreas secrete glucagon, which regulates blood sugar levels and insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels. If the pancreas fails, the individual becomes diabetic, and may need to take insulin. The pancreas can be donated and transplanted.

Patient Survival
The length of time a patient survives after receiving a transplant.

Placement
The process of alocating donated organs via the match system.

Potential Donor
A patient who meets the criteria for brain death with no absolute contraindications to organ donation as defined by a standardized list from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision.

Procurement
The surgical procedure of removing an organ from a donor. Also referred to as recovery.

Recipient
A person who receives a transplant.

Recovery (Organ)
The surgical procedure of removing an organ from a donor.

Rejection
A phenomenon that occurs when a recipient's immune system attacks a transplanted organ, tissue, or cell. Immunosuppressive drugs help prevent or treat rejection.

Renal
Having to do with, or referring to, the kidneys.

Retransplantation
Due to rejection or failure of a transplanted organ, some patients receive another transplant.

Retrieval
The surgical procedure of organ recovery. Also referred to as procurement.

Split liver
A split liver transplant occurs when the donor liver is divided into segments and then transplanted. These segments may be transplanted into more than one recipient, or a segment could be transplanted into a child for whom an entire adult liver would be too large.

Status
An indication of the degree of medical urgency for patients awaiting heart or liver transplants. Examples: status 1A, status 1B, or status 2.

Survival Rates
Survival rates indicate the percentage of patients that are alive and the grafts (organs) that are still functioning after a certain amount of time. Survival rates are used in developing OPTN policy.

Tissue
An organization of a great many similar cells that perform a special function. Examples of tissues that can be transplanted are blood, bones, bone marrow, corneas, heart valves, ligaments, saphenous veins, and tendons.

Tissue Typing
A blood test that helps evaluate how closely the tissues of the donor match those of the recipient.

Transplant Center
A hospital that performs transplants, including qualifying patients for transplant, registering patients on the national waiting list, performing transplant surgery and providing care before and after transplant.

Transplant Team
The diverse group of professionals at the transplant center who work to make a transplant successful. Each person on the "transplant team" is an expert in a different area of transplantation. The transplant team includes all or some of the following professionals:


Clinical transplant coordinators have responsibility for the patient's evaluation, treatment, and follow-up care.

Transplant physicians are doctors who manage the patient's medical care, tests, and medications. He or she does not perform surgery. The transplant physician works closely with the transplant coordinator to coordinate the patient's care until transplanted, and in some centers, provides follow-up care to the recipient.

Transplant surgeons perform the transplant surgery and may provide the follow-up care for the recipient. The transplant surgeon has special training to perform transplants.

Financial coordinators have detailed knowledge of financial matters and hospital billing. The financial coordinator works with other members of the transplant team, insurers, and administrative personnel to coordinate and clarify the financial aspects of the patient's care before, during, and after the transplant.

Social workers help patients and their families understand and cope with a variety of issues associated with a patient's illness and/or the various side-effects of the transplant itself. In some cases, the social worker may perform some of the financial coordinator duties as well.

United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
The private, nonprofit membership organization that coordinates the nation's transplant system through HRSA's OPTN contract. As OPTN contractor, UNOS is responsible for meeting all contract requirements. As contractor since the first OPTN contract award in 1986, UNOS has established and continually strives to improve tools, systems and quality processes that support OPTN contract objectives and requirements. These include:

Managing the national organ transplant waiting list

Collecting, managing and reporting of sensitive clinical data in a secure, fail-safe environment

Facilitating an open, inclusive forum for development and continuous refinement of evidence-based policies and standards

Member and policy performance assessment to ensure equitable, safe treatment of candidates and recipients

Increasing donation and making the most of every organ that is donated through professional education, outcomes research, patient services and resources and public and professional education

Continuously improving the care, quality of life and outcomes of organ transplant candidates and recipients

Ventilator
A machine that "breathes" for a patient when the patient is not able to breathe properly.

Wait List
The list of candidates registered to receive organ transplants. When a donor organ becomes available, the matching system generates a new, more specific list of potential recipients based on the criteria defined in that organ's allocation policy (e.g., organ type, geographic local and regional area, genetic compatibility measures, details about the condition of the organ, the candidate's disease severity, time spent waiting, etc.).

Waiting Time
The amount of time a candidate is on the Wait List. Waiting times can be influenced by many factors, including:

blood type (some are rarer than others)

tissue type

height and weight of transplant candidate

size of donated organ

medical urgency

time on the waiting list

the distance between the donor's hospital and the potential donor organ

how many donors there are in the local area over a period of time and

the transplant center's criteria for accepting organ offers

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For "Mo"

For "Mo"
For "Mo" magnify
CARPE BIRTHDAY BABYGIRL!
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Happy Birthday CaseyAnne

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Good Morning All;
21 years ago today, I gave birth for the fourth and final time. Whew...

The doctor said, "It's a girl!" ~But there are many things he left UNsaid...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn't tell me that "It's a girl" would be prone to a hatred of pockets.

He didn't tell me that she would be a lil pistol!

He didn't tell me she would be a mathematics whiz.

He didn't tell me that once she began talking she would never quit.

He didn't tell me that she would be the one child I had that actually DID stay little 'til her Carters wore out.

He didn't tell me that I would have to put her clothing on backwards until she was four; so she couldn't take it all off and run around in her birthday suit all day, no matter the weather.

He didn't tell me that I had to tell an 18~month old NOT to dial 911 while I snuck outside to get the mail.

He didn't tell me that at 3 she would kick my boss' son in the shinbone every time she saw him.

He didn't tell me that at 11 years of age, she would take the ACT, and bring home a 19 on it.

He didn't tell me that along with this obvious intelligence that I should have told her NEVER to Pledge the stairs.

He didn't tell me that when my mama died alone that my 11 year old would take my hand, and through my tears gently remind me that "Grandma didn't die alone, Mama; God was with her"

He didn't tell me how to make her own tears go away when all she wanted was to see her dad.

He didn't tell me how to comfort her when the phone never rang to return her calls to that same man.

He didn't tell me that she would always be taking her time about everything. (And that her nickname would always be "Mo"; short for molasses).

He didn't tell me that her passion for music would result in my 12 year old being able to pick up ANY instrument and almost magically make it sound like Heaven.

He didn't tell me how gentle such a baby child could be.

He didn't tell me how fierce she could be in all of the passions of her own heart and soul.

He didn't tell me that she would probably wipe my own tears as often as I wiped hers.

He didn't tell me that she would be such a blessed blend of all of her sisters, of all of her forefathers, and even of her friends.

He didn't tell me anything about a defective pancreas...

Nope, he didn't tell me anything like that.

Damn doctors anyway...

All my love to you, Mo; not only today, but always.

Foreverlonger,

XOXO
Mama D.

http://www.organdonor.gov/

Waiting list candidates 98,040 as of 01/25/2008
Transplants January - October 2007 23,706 as of 01/18/2008
Donors January - October 2007 12,031 as of 01/18/2008
Be a donor.
 
Saturday January 26, 2008 - 08:43am (CST)

Packers, Prayers and Pupsicles

Packers, Prayers, and Pupsicles...
Packers, Prayers, and Pupsicles... magnify

Added Sunday; 4:10PM...
Casey is still asleep, for now. I will wake her in about an hour for the game. Her "Greg" just got here, worried too. I gotta love a man who cares so deeply about my baby girl.

I have also read through your notes to me. Funny how many have cited high/low blood sugar. (Goes right back to her damnable pancreas).

If you do nothing else today, just do this...

PLEASE SIGN THE BACK OF YOUR LICENSE TO DONATE YOUR ORGANS upon your death.

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/organ-donation.htm

You might even want to copy that link down and send it to everyone you know.

If you do not have your card or driver license filled out, signed and witnessed, there are forms here that you can print out and fill out on your own.

Organ donation saves lives, but 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that don't take place because of the shortage of donated organs. More than 92,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and 4,000 more are added to the waiting list each month. As they wait, medical bills pile-up and their health deteriorates.

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Good Morning...
... From The Frozen Tundra of Flintville!
(And that is more than close enough to Lambeau Field, wouldn't you agree)?
Well, at least in these temps it is for me...

Awoke this morning to a balmy THIRTEEN Degrees BELOW ZERO! And no, I don't think I want to know what that windchill would be. Although I have just taken the whining dog out to her kennel.
"Big damn deal" you say?
I wore only my jammies! hehehe
But what a way to get my blood circulating! (Do NOT try this at home)!

Miss Milly, for whatever confused and sorely misguided reason, believes that if she sees sunshine that she needs to be outside. NO MATTER what the temps are either! After listening to her crying and whining for the last two hours, I finally said the heck with it. We went through this yesterday too. Air that takes your breath away the second you go outside only seems to make Mama~Milly very happy!
(Anybody know any good dog psychologists)? Maybe she has doggie alzheimers, or maybe she just doesn't like me anymore...

Finally, TODAY IS THE DAY!!!

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Pack helmet......Pack helmet......Pack helmet

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The stadium has been shoveled out...

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I don't know who the artist is, but this is awesome picture!
Borrowed from CLICK HERE
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But the temps are reminiscent of the Ice Bowl too. Close, but they won't be quite as cold.

Coldest recorded home games since 1959~ At Lambeau Field


  • -13 Dec 31, 1967 Dallas Cowboys

  • 0 Dec 26, 1993 Los Angeles Raiders

  • +2 Dec 22, 1990 Detroit Lions

  • +3 Jan 12, 1997 Carolina Panthers

  • +6 Nov 28, 1976 Chicago Bears

  • +8 Dec 20, 1992 Los Angeles Rams

  • +10 Dec 3, 1972 Detroit Lions

  • +10 Dec 4, 1977 Detroit Lions

  • +10 Dec 12, 1982 Detroit Lions

  • +10 Dec 15, 1991 Detroit Lions

Source: Green Bay Packers CLICK HERE
.

hehehe
I am thinking that the Detroit Lions, who finished 3rd in the North, are more than happy that they won't be adding still another game against us above.

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Cnv1231
~
Our Favre,
Who art in Lambeau,
Hallowed be thine arm.
The bowl will come,
It will be won.
In Phoenix as it was in New Orleans.
And give us this Sunday,
Our weekly win.
And give us many touchdown passes.
But do not let others pass against us.
Lead us not into frustration,
But deliver us to the valley of the sun.
For thine is the MVP, the best of the NFC,
and the glory of the Cheeseheads,
now and forever.

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"Make no mistake, for die-hard Packers fans, mixing religion and the team is easy. There's even a so-called Packers Prayer making the rounds on the Internet, a take on The Lord's Prayer elevating Packers star quarterback Brett Favre to Godlike status.
Fr. Baraniak has received plenty of versions of the prayer by e-mail and deleted them all. But he refuses to call it sacrilegious.
"I have a good sense of humor. It is meant to be funny. Do people see Brett Favre as a god in this community? I certainly hope not. I know Brett well enough that he would be embarrassed by that and probably roll his eyes," the priest said.

Yes, even our priests are Packers Fans!
****(Above and below text taken from here-- CLICK).

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- It's championship Sunday in Titletown. And churches know many people attending services to pray and hear the word of God also would be obsessing about the Green Bay Packers.
So the Rev. Jim Baraniak knew exactly how he would open his morning Mass at Old St. Joseph's Catholic Church in nearby De Pere.
"I will begin by saying, 'We begin our pregame festivities in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"' the priest said. "That usually gets a little bit of reaction."
And the Roman Catholic church year makes playing to the Packers loyalty easy for the priest, too. He is required by church custom to wear green and gold vestments for Sunday's Mass.
"Perfect Packers colors," he said."

Time for me to get my backside moving, and get my own colors on!
The "other" game will be on soon... (Is ANYBODY at all rooting for New England)?
Not me.

GOD BLESS The GREEN BAY PACKERS!!!
(And ALL of my family and friends too)!

Have a wunnaful Sunnyday!

XOXO
Anne

 
 
Originally posted on my 360, Sunday January 20, 2008 - 11:17am (CST)

The "F" Word...

The "F" Word
125 magnify
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G-g-g-g-Good M-m-m-m-Morning!

That "F" word applies as "freezing"...

As I look outdoors, I see such beautiful sunlight relecting off my fields of white; making everything seem so very beautiful.
Unfortunately, looks are deceiving, and that statement is the Alpha and the Omega in Flintville today.

I awoke to 3 below zero...
(And we must be having a veritable heat wave as it is now 5 above)!!!
Ooooh, lucky us! And still another "F" word too...

Casey is still asleep, and after having had such a terrible day yesterday I will not be waking her.
We still have not heard back on her lipase counts, but know if they come back elevated (or doubled, as was the case yesterday with her amylase count), she will be admitted to the hospital.

Yesterday morning started out with more than panic after Roberta said she would be here by 7... And not getting here until after 7:30. I knew the roads were pretty slick from the lake effect snow we had gotten. And I also know she does not have a cell phone. (A long half an hour for me).
But all was well for those moments. She dropped off Gabriel, (and some meatloaf she had made), and was off to her job. Slowly but surely.

A little while later to have Casey come down. A bit of a headache, and didn't want any breakfast.

I was doing my dishes when all of a sudden she was once more in terrible pain.
WTF????????
A quick call to her doctor, and he wanted to see her immediately. Along with orders to take some of her dilaudid (sp) as soon as possible.

Start the car to warm it up.

Re~dress, and pack up my funny little cute man.

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Peek~a~Boo Gabie~Baby!

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And we were off...

...Within minutes of getting to the clinic, she was all hooked up to the IV, (the first attempt not so good in her right "too oft abused" veins). And to quickly have received some phenergan (sp) for her nausea too.

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And looking a far cry better than earlier when she was at home
curled up on the bathroom floor
almost blue from barely breathing
and in absolute agony...

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Gabriel, (being much like his Mama when the needles come out), decided that while Auntie Casey was getting her IV was a very good time to fall asleep (pass out ?), in my arms.

After he began to snore, I settled him down in the corner of the room; to nap on all of the jackets we had thrown there.

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Happy that I had brought his blanket in too!
And that he had brought his orb.

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Casey has been asleep for the most part since we got back home in the afternoon. Up for a few hours on and off last night, and wishing that sleep would come. (Thank God it finally has)...

I promise to keep you all updated as soon as I know more. But maybe to ask for a few more prayers should you think of it?

Each pancreatitis attack she has destroys a little bit more of her pancreas...
Pray that this ends for her before a transplant is needed.

In the meantime, please also check out my blogs about Organ Donation.

Please feel free to copy all of those links and to send them to all of your family and friends.

The very best Christmas gift ANYONE could EVER receive would be the gift of life.

>CLICK HERE< for those two earlier blogs. Please.

For right now though I am so cold and I just want to find something warm to drink.
(No, not Caseys very special eggnog)! hehehe

Have a great Thursday. Keep those prayers and thoughts coming in!

And please also DO make sure you let your family and friends and doctors KNOW your wishes regarding organ donation should an untimely worst happen to you.
I thank you for that.

Love to all!

XOXO
Anne

Originally posted on 360 Thursday December 6, 2007 - 11:04am

3 Hours and Counting

Good Morning...

In light of yesterdays massacre at VA Tech, my heart, thoughts and prayers go out to all the people that have children at college now; whether they are at VT or not.

I had tried to send a note out last night... (and again this morning) to my friends and family... But for some reason, my mail will not insert recipients... wtf? But oh well...

But here it is... kinda...

As many of you already know, Caseys surgery is today at Froedtert... They will be placing a mnometer into her pancreas to see if the pressure is as it should be. If it is too high, they will be doing a bit of cutting there. Hopefully, THIS time will be a charm and all of her problems will FINALLY be over... But the surgeon HAS told us that this all will probably set off a nasty pancreatitis attack too

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I know you all have things that need a bit of prayer too, and I will include you as I always do, but mostly my thoughts will go back to her.

I also do want you to know why I have decided to close my blog for now...

CaseyAnne's two eldest sisters have hurt her terribly, (and never mind what they have done to me), but Casey would prefer that they not be informed of this all, yet. Nor anything that you might read in my blog. Namely, Zoe and Jenne- Although at the time of this revision, Jennifer is working very hard to rectify what she can.

A little compassion and help does go a long way in even helping her deal with it all.

Casey clearly has more important things to worry about right now than harassment by her two almost 30 year old sisters!

So, the heck with all of that, CaseyAnne's health absolutely must come first right now; and I will worry about all the rest of their crap later.

Hope all is well in your little corners of the world! And I thank you again for being so decent to me, and to Casey too.

(Their own blog links are in my yesterdays blog if you missed it). She wrote a blog last night about it too!

XOXO
Anne

PS: This also bears repeating...

I hope that you all have your drivers licenses or your organ donations cards filled out.
This falls under "You can't take it with you", and in the process you, as only one person could 'save' countless others.

The following is taken from this website:

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/organ-donation.htm

You might even want to copy that link down and send it to everyone you know...

If you do not have your card or driver license filled out, signed and witnessed, there are forms here that you can print out and fill out on your own.

Organ donation saves lives, but 19 people die each day waiting for transplants that don't take place because of the shortage of donated organs. More than 92,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and 4,000 more are added to the waiting list each month.

As they wait, medical bills pile-up and their health deteriorates. Time is lost from school or work. Simple tasks such as climbing stairs or playing with children become exhausting. And as these organ transplant candidates lug around oxygen tanks or spend hours each week in dialysis, there is no guarantee that the call will ever come that could give them a new lease on life.

To be eligible for organ donation, a potential donor's brain function must have ceased permanently but their heart and lungs must continue to function (with the help of ventilators). Approximately 12,000 people who die each year meet that criteria, but less than half actually become organ donors. The primary stumbling block is family members who refuse to give consent.

Many family members mistakenly reject organ donation due to:

  • Misconceptions regarding their religion's attitude towards organ donation. (In fact, many religions actually encourage organ donation or consider it to be a matter of personal choice.)
  • Fear that organ donation will prohibit an open-casket funeral. (In fact, organs and tissues are removed in procedures similar to surgery. All incisions are closed afterwards and the body is treated with utmost respect.)

The good news is that you can make your preferences clear. By registering as a willing organ donor and discussing your decision with those you love, you can make sure your wishes are carried out. At the same time, you could encourage family members to become organ donors too.

  • Sign an organ donor card (or the organ donation consent form on the back of your driver's license) and carry it in your wallet. Then, tell your family and make sure they understand your wishes. Familial consent may be required before organs or tissues can be donated. (Donated organs and tissue are shared at the national level, but laws that govern organ donation vary from state to state. Some states have organ donor registries that make a person's wishes to be a donor legally binding without witnesses or family consent. Review the organ donation registration procedures for your state.)
  • Print out or order classroom material designed to encourage organ donation among new drivers and send it to driver's education teachers at your local high schools.

Have a grand day! I will post as I know how everything went for Casey...

XOXO
Anne

"OW! My Pancreas!"

 

Good Morning Everyone...

I shall try to write a complete blog today... the last one interrupted by "THAT Phone Call" from CaseyAnne...

She has been hospitalized ever since...

Once more, it is her pancreas... "Chronic" pancreatitis now; but still idiopathic in its origins. They had claimed that after her cholesystectomy, (gallbladder surgery/removal), that the problems with her pancreas would cease and desist. (The only problem comes in when her pancreas doesn't see it that way)!

Once again, she has been put through the wringer for all of her testing... And everything always comes back "normal".

I am finding it almost sad that most people always pray for a 'negative' test result. And that here we have been praying for JUST ONE POSITIVE.

...Just one little test to come back as a definitive diagnosis for her; and to then be able to treat the REAL problem, (and not only her damnable pain)...

Just to give you a certain perspective on what Casey goes through when this happens... One nurse came in, (and having had patients that had both), they had related that the pain of pancreatitis is worse than that of a heart attack...

Casey has had lots of "company" too. (And that is always a good thing)! Crystal, Miss Eleanor, my friend Lynn and her daughter, my godchild Christi, her dad, another Christy from UWGB.

Once again, Jenny Mella has been the most excellent friend, having been there for everything for Casey. (And once again, I must write a few words to thank Jenny)!!!

Thank you Jenny from the bottom of my heart!

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Miss Jenny even had a bit of fun with one of the sensors left behind after they had put the heart monitor on Casey....

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Sensor Jenny!!!

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Roughly 95% of Caseys nurses have been HUGE b*tches...
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Case in point...

Casey has already been through 9 surgeries... She pays attention when the doctors talk... AND she is HIGHLY intelligent. (So I don't think anyone should be coming in to argue with her about what kinds of 'tape' she is freakin' allergic to)! The fact that it took almost 45 minutes to respond to Caseys "call button" ~ Then to finally go out in the hall to see a whole bunch of nurses standing there having some kind of hilarious pow~wow in the hallway... (Hmmm???)?

Ok... so I had to light a bit of a fire under Caseys nurse... Kinda sorta anyway. (Haven't seen THAT gal around since).

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(I think she was afraid that Master Gabriel would beat her up with his flyswatter)...

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Yesterday, Caseys IV 'alarm' was going off (beeping), for half an hour. She had pushed her call button... 25 minutes later, a nurse finally came in. All the while Casey was infiltrating that IV as her vein had collapsed, even bleeding right through the tagaderm tape. (Had we had the gauze and stuff in the room, we could have handled removing that ourselves). When the nurse finally got there, she said, "OH!" , removed it, and then told us that someone else had to come and redo it. ???

Jenny has taken to keeping a list of the "kind, compassionate" ~vs~ the "time clock" nurses. And yes, these are only 2, (of too many), bad experiences up there for her...

Here is a picture of Miss Popeyes' arm...

(There are MORE pictures on Caseys blog)... CLICK HERE for her blog...

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Yes, it looks MUCH worse than what the photo shows you here...
...(And it took some doing, but Dereks Grandmothers ring DID come off that finger)...
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Casey with her dad...
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CaseyAnne will now have to either go back down to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee; or to The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Since one cannot live without a pancreas, we were told last year already that the potential exists for a transplant should her pancreas keep destroying and digesting itself...

Knowing that, would everyone PLEASE go to the following link and print up your Uniform Donor Card.

Fill it out, sign it (in front of 2 witnesses- they must sign it also); and MAKE SURE your family and loved ones know your wishes. I made copies of my Living Will and gave a copy to each of my children.

...PLEASE CARRY YOUR DONOR CARD WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES...
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(Where~ever you are going to) when your own life has ended, I can assure you that you will NOT need your body, your skin, or any other organs that you now have.

...The lives you can possibly save just might one of your own loved ones... Perhaps that of a kind and wonderful friend, or maybe even a stranger who has never seen a sunrise... It might even be Casey at some point!

Here is the US Uniform Donor Card link. CLICK HERE .

Now if you live in any of these countries, please follow this link at the bottom of the list.

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Croatia
  • Columbia
  • Cypress
  • Denmark
  • Dutch
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Kuwait
  • Latvija
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Mexico
  • Norway
  • Phillipines
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Switzerland
  • Singapore
  • Spain
CLICK HERE for your countrys link...

.

I hope all is well with everybody... I have missed you, one and all!

I hope you are ALL having a great weekend!

It is beautiful here, at almost 70 degrees yesterday, & a repeat performance for today!

XOXO
Anna~Anna

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