Your Health

You have the power to save lives
Jeri Irvine was in 8th grade when she was diagnosed with a form of kidney disease and told she would need a new kidney.

During her senior year in high school, she spent six hours a day, three times a week in dialysis. At her senior prom, she could dance for only a short time before she had to sit down and rest.

Thanks to a kind and caring family who lost a son in a motorcycle accident, Jeri had a kidney transplant 28 years ago and now lives a normal and productive life.

More than 99,000 people are on the waiting list for some type of organ donation and that number is climbing every day. How can you help give the gift of life?

“Sign up to be an organ donor,” said Jeanette Wigim, Transplant Administrator at the University of Iowa Hospital. “Learn about the laws in your state that govern organ donations. In some states you have to do more than sign the back of your driver’s license.

“Talk to your family and express your wishes before something happens, when you are of sound mind and body. This helps eliminate the stress on your family if you’ve already made the decision.”

Dr. Alan Reed, Professor of Surgery, Chief of the Division of Transplantation, and head of the University of Iowa Organ Transplant Center, agrees. “Transplantation makes sense of a senseless situation. Knowing that a death has helped others gives a great deal of solace to those left behind.”

According to Jeanette, the results of organ transplants are getting better every day. “A gift of organ donation makes an even bigger difference today because organs are matched more specifically and there are more medications in our arsenal to treat rejection episodes.”

In Jeri’s case, receiving dialysis every week sustained her, but gave her very little quality of life. “With the constant health and time constraints of dialysis, I wouldn’t have been able to go on to college, have the career I have now, or travel, which I love to do,” she said. “I have a wonderful husband and child. I can do what everyone else does!

“I’m so appreciative of the family who, under great stress, gave me the opportunity to live this life I have. I hope they understand the wonderful gift they shared.”