The Gift of Life ~ How Inspiring...

Yes, it is so great that we are all still here to enjoy and Celebrate life this Holiday Season.

By James Gleason

My wife just came back from a transplant nurses meeting (about 80 attending) and shared that my own 15 years (and I note and celebrate those others who responded to Adam with heart transplant years of 15 and 27 years out - YES!!!) is remarkable given what she heard in that presentation. Their topic was "Optimizing Immunosuppressive Management Strategies in the Transplant Patient and in retrospect they are still learning so much about our long history of over dosing/underdosing that it is truly amazing that we have the very positive results we have, and it should be getting better with each passing year as they learn more from observing those of us who are the long term survivors (hearts I'm talking about here, since the kidneys certainly have the longer history of those many years survival). I have observed over these years that transplant doesn't' prevent death, its an extension of the uncertain life span we all must face, transplant or not. So I have decided that the real question we all face is not how long we are going to live, but rather, what are we going to do with the life we have today, and tomorrow and if gifted with yet more, those days too.
So given this wonderful network we share here, what is everyone doing these days with that gift of life? Any special things you can share from this past year, for example, that were really special because you had that year to live because of the gift from a donor family who faced the other side of this uncertain length of life years/days? What are you celebrating this holiday season and how are you going to celebrate it because you can with this transplant ? Yes, Adam, we are (most of us anyway) still here, and thankfully very busy living life. Thanks for asking so we could share in responding to you this way. Happy and healthy holidays everyone (i.e., Russ, Karen, etc.). "Live long and prosper..." as they said on that famous Star Trek show years ago.

Jim Gleason,

Heart Transplant Recipient,

Oct 19th, 1994...

Editorial : I wish, I had written this. "Thanks Jim" !

Don Jones

Heart Transplant Recipient

Aug 17th, 1994