COLBY FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER
OUR MISSION IN ACTION: ORGAN AND TISSUE DONOR EDUCATION: THE COLBY CASSANI ENDOWED LECTURESHIP SERIES
Not one but TWO Colby Cassani Endowed Lectureship Series happened recently! The Colby Foundation was excited to offer our endowment at two new schools and we were re-energized by everyone’s enthusiasm. We will let a representative from each of the schools tell you a bit about what happened at their events
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Martha Scheidler, Director of Foundations at Lincoln Memorial University writes: October 21, 2010 was Lincoln Memorial University’s Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Day. We were so pleased to have John and Starla Cassani with us to celebrate our first Colby Cassani Endowed Lectureship. The day began with a campus-wide Fall Convocation. Starla spoke to an audience of over 500 students, faculty and staff. LMU welcomed guests from Tennessee Donor Services (TDS) and the community. Green ribbons and “Donate Life” wristbands were given out for people to wear and TDS was available all day to answer questions and promote organ donation. Guests were greeted by LMU’s mascot Abe and TDS mascot Donorsaurs. The afternoon lectures featured Dr. Neal Cross, professor at LMU and Tennessee Donor Services representatives Edward Echenrod and Vic Illagan. All events on October 21st were streamed live to LMU extended sites and the afternoon lectures were recorded for students to view at a later time. So many people were touched by Colby’s story and the good work of the Colby Foundation. Many thanks to the Foundation for all their support and help in planning our special day!
Dr. Linda Dale, Associate Professor writes: On November 5th, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (PNWU) and the Colby Foundation hosted the first Organ and Tissue Donation symposium held on the PNWU campus in Yakima, Washington. The room was packed with 147 students, 25 guests, and an unknown number of faculty and staff.
During the introductions, John and Starla Cassani presented the Dean of the PNWU College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Robyn Phillips-Madson, with an endowment check to begin what will be a tradition at the osteopathic school; teaching health care providers about organ and tissue transplantation. Mrs. Cassani then started the symposium off with the poignant story of Colby. She was followed by Dr. Okechukwa Ojogho, the Program Director of the Adult/Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program at Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane, Washington, who spoke on the medical/scientific aspects of organ and tissue transplantation.
Speakers from Life Center Northwest gave the audience a view of the policies and procedures around the process of organ procurement. Rounding out the morning, a bilateral corneal transplant recipient, David Stoddard, told about what his life was like before he received his new corneas and what it means to him now that he can see. At the end of the day, three people filled out paper forms to become organ and/or tissue donors. Many in the audience will register online, but an unknown number of people will be touched by the future physicians who learned about organ and tissue donation and the legacy of Colby Cassani.
DIRECTORS’ NOTES
Annual Fundraising Campaign to benefit the Colby Cassani Endowed Lectureship Series - December 1, 2010 to January 30, 2011 - 100% of your contributions go to educating individuals about organ and tissue donation similar to the programs listed above!! Click here to contribute now online.
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STORY OF HOPE - MEET BECKHAM, JAKE'S HEART RECIPIENT
The Colby Foundation is pleased to continue Jake’s Story (from the Spring/Summer 2010 Newsletter) by introducing you to his heart recipient, Beckham …
When Beckham was born his family thought he was a healthy, beautiful, 8 lb 11oz bundle of joy. However, that ideal picture was shattered when he was diagnosed with Mitral and Tricuspid Valve Stenosis. He was quickly transferred to another hospital that could more readily assist newborns with such a grim diagnosis.
Immediately, the hospital performed a procedure to ease the pressure in his left atrium, but during the process they found further issues with Beckham’s heart. At 5 days old, Beckham was again transferred to another hospital, this time by life flight due to the fact that he needed a higher level of care. It was clear upon arrival that Beckham was in trouble and in need of some type of an interventional procedure to improve the function of his failing heart. Surgery to repair his malformed valve was deemed too risky given all of the presenting circumstances, and Beckham’s team of doctors informed us that the only option to save his life was a heart transplant. So, at the tender age of 6 days of life, Beckham was listed on the National Donor List for a heart transplant.
Ten days later, Jake’s family (previously featured) made the selfless decision to donate their precious son’s heart. The preparation and surgery lasted about 6 hours, and the surgery and the early post-transplant period went flawlessly. “Our once “blue” baby came back to us for the first time “pink,” and perfect,” said his mom, Kim. “Beckham’s recovery was miraculous. He was their first transplant baby that was able to nurse post-transplant, and to come home completely tubeless. He was released from the hospital when he was not even 6 weeks old, just 3 weeks post-transplant.
”Beckham is now three years old and has had some setbacks both large and small. Some of them include a stroke in 2008, caused from a blood clot and bleed in his brain (cause of the clot and bleed is unknown), and three different and serious blood disorders (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA), Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia), resulting in the diagnosis of Evan’s Syndrome (a very rare, serious, and reoccurring blood disorder). Through all of Beckham’s illnesses and hospitalizations, he has remained happy and determined, letting nothing bring him down. He is full of energy, thriving, and getting into trouble just like a normal 3 year old would. We agree that much of this is because of his determined, delightful, and active personality, but we know down deep inside, it is mainly because of Jake’s angel heart that beats and lives inside him, reminding us all of the precious gift that we’ve been given."
Click this link if you missed Jake's story or would like to read further stories of hope
A REMINDER ABOUT GOOD SEARCH: ANOTHER WAY TO CONTRIBUTE. SEARCHING THE NET SUPPORTS THE COLBY FOUNDATION...IT REALLY DOES!
We know that not everyone can send in a contribution but here is another way to contribute! To those of you who have already begun using GoodSearch as your search engine...we THANK YOU for your support! For those who have not yet made the switch, we hope you will consider it because the Colby Foundation earns a penny every time you use GoodSearch to search the internet.
How does that work? GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations to the Colby Foundation add up!
To learn more, just use the GoodSearch icon (top right of this page) or go to www.goodsearch.com and please spread the word. We appreciate it!
