If you’ve ever had a question on organ donation or transplantation, chances are you may find it here in these 10 FAQs on donations and transplantations.
1- When was the first successful organ transplant done?
On December 23, 1954, Dr. Joseph E. Murray performed the first successful solid organ transplant at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, MA. The kidney was given by Ronald Herrick and transplanted into his identical twin, Richard Herrick.
2- When was the first successful heart transplant?
In 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard, in South Africa, …read more

When I decided to write a series on organ donation and organ transplants, I put out a call for people to contact me. I was overwhelmed by the number of responses I received and the stories that many of the people had to tell.
One woman, Susan May, wrote and offered to share her story about her son Nick, and the heart transplant he received when he was a baby.
Here is her story:
Nick was born with a three chambered heart. He had his first surgery at five days old, another at three and a half months, another at one year old …read more

Here is yet another example of we can’t tell what really goes on behind closed doors. I often believe the saying that there’s three sides to every story: Your side, my side, and the truth.
Rather than going through the whole issue again  (A transplant planned, a transplant not done and Judge not…lest you have to decide one day ), if you want to read the latest updates on the politics behind Kaylee and Lillian’s saga of the heart transplant in Ontario, Canada, go to the Globe and Mail article, Doctors break silence on Kaylee’s dilemma . There’s a lot …read more

Yesterday, I wrote about little Kaylee Wallace, a dying 2-month old infant in Ontario, Canada (A transplant planned, a transplant not done ). It’s a heart breaking story of parents who were told that their baby would die and their decision to give the chance of life to another deathly ill infant, Lily O’Connor, whose family is from many miles to the east, in the province of Prince Edward Island.
The Wallaces were told that if Kaylee was taken off the respirator, when she fell asleep, she would die. So, they decided that this was what had to be done. …read more

Times have changed in how patients who are potential donors are considered to be dead and therefore able to be organ donors.
It used to be that you had to be brain dead, with no signs of brain activity, cardiac – heart – death wasn’t in the equation. This has changed an now those who are heart dead can be organ donors but the teams have to move fast for the organs to be viable.
I came across this story this morning of two families, two infants, and two sad stories. In a nutshell, one baby can’t live. She goes into cardiac …read more

Here is a feel good story…
A young Michigan teen, 17 year old Danielle, was given the gift of life today. At a little past 2 AM, the young lady– who had been diagnosed with CHF earlier this Spring received her second heart transplant. Her first was when she was 5 weeks old.
Good luck to this Port Huron teen and her family! Thoughts and prayers are with you.

This is a really interesting study. It has been thought that the heart should be stopped for 5 minutes following a cardiac death in an infant heart before harvesting for organ donation- that has been since 1997. It is now being said that only one minute is needed, as the heart is irreversibly dead after 6o seconds.
Shortening the interval reduces the time that transplantable organs are deprived of oxygen, which likely increases the success of transplants. It may also help to increase the number of available organs for donations. This is important because as many as one in four babies …read more

Heart transplants save the lives of more than 2,100 Americans every year. But many more patients are still waiting for a new heart to become available, and hundreds will die without ever getting a second chance at life.
With that being said researchers are asking the question, “will heart transplants become a thing of the past?” Will technology become the answer? Yes and perhaps were the answers!
The HeartMate II is an example of this technology. It is the size of a D-cell battery, with a tube that pokes through the skin and connects to a battery pack. It aids …read more

Thoratec Corp. has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to use its HeartMate II heart pump to help advanced-stage heart failure patients survive while awaiting heart transplants.
Until now some heart transplant recipients were not able to receive pumps due to size and gender. The hopes for the new pump is it’s ease of implantation
via East Bay Business Times 

“I never thought I would get to see this mother’s day,” Stacey says.
What we don’t go through for our children! On this day, a Pennsylvania mommy celebrates what she thought might not ever come, her first mother’s day. Stacey Doyle delivered her first born son, Owen, last May. The days that followed were a mixed bag of emotions.
What should have been the happiest time in her life became a scary journey. Stacey developed cardiomyopathy after the delivery and went into cardiac arrest. She received 2 VAD, ventricular assist devices, and was put on the …read more