Because of Donation

Hello and welcome to the Gifted Life podcast where we have conversations about organ tissue and ideonation and transplantation. You can always find us at thegiftedlife.org. I'm Roy Steele. I'm Joey Boudreau and we I don't see Sarah across from us anymore.

So let's go on here. Who's going? Hello. I'm a guest host.

Nyla Schwab joining you all today. So I'm excited to be here. A lot of our local folks will recognize that name. She's Lopa's family services coordinator.

Welcome. Thank you. Yeah. And for others, she's got about 22 alphabets right behind me.

Just like Sally back in the day. I'm collecting letters. That's it. I'm a part of our Baton Rouge office and she's just such a calming force for us.

And so we're so glad that you can join us on the podcast. Yeah, I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to hear everything you'll do and have to say and then it's fun watching all. Yeah.

Fun watching you. Yeah. All right. Coming up on the podcast today.

Yeah, we'll be talking to an author and curator of a compilation of inspiring stories about donation and transplantation. And I'll be talking about expressive arts. Just a different way of communicating with one another. And sometimes when we can't find the words we can show by dancing and or writing or talking.

We'll get more into that later. Hands on. I love it all that more. The Gifted Life.

Dudward. We're so excited to have Ms. Brenda Cortez back in the studio. Hey, Ms.

Brenda. Hey, how's it going? Yeah, we are so excited. We also have Ms.

Brindy Ellis or back on the Gifted Life podcast. Hey, ma'am. Hi, how's it going? Good.

We are going to catch you up on their backgrounds and talk about what they're working on together with some other great humans to impact donation positively. So so exciting. So Ms. Brindy, I'm going to start with you.

You were on here episode 115 of the Gifted Life. If you want to catch up with that and we were talking about help others with love. How the owl. So give us a little update on where that series is.

So how the owl, his name's Bands for Help Others with Love and obviously he represents kindness and organ donation. And so in that children's book series, we currently have eight books. I don't even know how many there were when we talked a couple of years ago, whenever that was. But he has a couple more in the work.

Just trying to let everybody know still of who how the owl is. I like it. I like it. And I love visiting with you because it was I just want to do something positive.

I want to talk about donation. I came up with this idea and then it just blew up, which was amazing. So I love following that story. And then we got where that you were working on a new project and I thought, wow, so awesome.

So tell us about the idea for your new project, the new book and just what your brain, your heart was saying as you were going to that project. Sure. So I had the opportunity to share my story in a chapter in a book called Man of S in your Dream. And it was an author friend of mine and she was putting this book together and was inviting other people to write a chapter.

And I was sharing my story of how my purpose of donating a kidney had turned into a passion for writing and organ donation awareness. And I thought it was a really cool concept and that it would be a great platform for organ donation stories as well. And so I had the idea then that I wanted to invite other people to share their story. And I wanted a variety of stories, you know, living donation like myself, recipients, and donor families.

And fall wanted to include all ages. And so that's what I did. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of connections through social media, people that are part of the organ donation transplant family. And so I reached out to people to ask if they wanted to share their story in my book.

I love it. And that book is called Because of Organ Donation. Nyla, would you happen to have a copy? Oh, I do.

Yes. Brenda, when I heard about you coming on to the podcast, I immediately went and bought the book and so I've really enjoyed reading some of the stories. And Nyla, when you were going through the book, let's just see, on page, let's see what it is, 103, did you notice any idea? I did.

That's Brittany. That's Brittany. Yes. Brittany, welcome.

I know. And I saw the picture and I didn't even have to look at the name. I knew you should. So, Miss Brittany, I saw on your Facebook and you said, I won't believe my next project that I'm working on, but I'm writing our story to be put in this amazing book called Because of Organ Donation.

So tell us how you and Brenda hooked up and why you said yes. So I actually met Brenda. We actually met Brenda at the Transplant Games back in, what's it, 2018, 2017. And we got to how the album, we have a howl at our house as well that sits on the bed every single night.

And, you know, I really, I loved the project then that she was doing. And, you know, it really, it was a great way for the boys to read books and read about transplant. And actually, we've given a few copies to each class that the boys have been in each year, just to kind of help explain his situation. And so we became friends on Facebook through meeting at the Transplant Games and just sort of, you know, kept in touch, I guess, over the years.

And I've got a DM from Brenda asking me if I wanted to submit a story or our story for her next project. And I, of course, you know, thought that it was a great way. And I love reading and I love books. So it was just right up my alley to, you know, join in on the fun and help spread the good news about organization.

So Brenda, has it been that effortless like people just are coming to you saying, yes, let me help you with this project? Well, people keep talking about it. It needs to be a series. So more people definitely want to share their story.

At the time when I was recruiting people, not everybody knew about it. You know, we didn't talk about it. I didn't talk about it, you know, publicly until I had everyone in place. And, you know, it's hard to, there's so many great stories and then just to, you know, pick so many at just one time and feel like I wasn't excluding people.

That was a little bit difficult for me. But once the word was out, people were definitely excited. And, you know, with Brittany and her story with Briggs, I'm truly just an amazing and inspiring story. And I'm so happy that, you know, she was wanting to be a part of the book.

Well, Brittany, you are certainly going to have your work cut out for you because it's such a great book, such an inspiring book. I'm pretty certain you're going to have hundreds and hundreds of stories to pick from on the next book of the series or even the one following. That's going to be a tough challenge for you. I agree.

I agree. Well, if people, if they want to share their story, you know, reach out to me. But we'll just have to see how many books ends up being in the series, right? I love it.

And I love the kind of fire on social media. And more people were sharing it and people who aren't tied to donation were sending us a text. Have you seen this? And I love, love, love when that happens.

So you can hear Brenda's backstory. Hershey was a living donor. That's episode 115 of the gift of life. You can find that at the gift of life.org.

Brittany tells Briggs story in episode 101 and 102 of the gift of life podcast that Brittany, for those who don't know, can you give us a quick backstory about my man be and the miracle that he is? Sure. So my son Briggs was born with a rare liver disease called Billy area, Trisha. It's the number one leading cause of pediatric transplants.

So we knew when he was diagnosed that transplant would be in our future. Around six months old, he received three liver transplants. And so, you know, we've had a lot of things happen and there's way more to our story. And it would take a lot longer than, you know, a quick five minutes to share.

But basically, you know, through the power of organization and through miracles, he did receive a gift of life three times and we are forever thankful for those heroes because since then he has been rocket and rolling and, you know, just getting to do all the little things that, you know, boys get to do and he's actually at summer camp right now. So he is living life. We first of all, don't take anything for granted. And, you know, we try to make sure that we incorporate, you know, his miracle and his heroes in our everyday life as well too.

Yeah. And you do a good job on social media so that more people can see how well he's doing. So you shared his pre-k-8 grad picks and all these new milestones, which is pretty good. And Brenda, I guess that's kind of what you're trying to capture.

I see you included pictures and just dipping into these stories. Also amazing, all different walks of life. Incredible. Yeah, I just wanted to have each person if they wanted to, you know, include pictures because it really just showed how real this all is.

Brenda, this is Nyla. It was really interesting because I bought your book right before I left for a trip. And it was such a conversation starter. I just had it sitting in my lap on the plane and going and coming.

I had everybody on the aisle talking about organ donation. I like that. Yeah. I mean, just following the book alone really created conversation around, you know, what this book is all about.

And, you know, it was interesting. Okay, Brittany, first I went to your story because I knew you were in it. And even though I knew your story, I still was so inspired by all the words you chose and just sharing that. So thank you for being part of this.

And then, yeah, and then Brenda. So I always start a book from the back and work to the front. I don't know why I do that, but I like to see the end. Joyce, thanks.

That's what he's next. Don't tell the reading community to be that. So I went to the last story because I wasn't sure which one I wanted to read next. And it was, and I hope I'm saying her name right.

Shannon, Andrea, do you remember that story? Yeah. Okay. Definitely.

Because of case. And I was curious as I was reading that, did you pick the order of the book on like by certain stories or how did that happen? Because it was so interesting. I feel like that was so empowering that if I really read the last chapter last, I would have shut the book and said, I'm going to do something.

Because it was all about taking action. Well, thank you for asking that. Yeah, we did play some of them strategically. And again, they weren't in any particular order of importance by any means.

But we wanted to end the book with something that really rubbed at your heartstrings. And all the stories do, they definitely do. But Shannon, then Lassa Pervady definitely does that. Well, it's certainly a call to action.

It was the passion of the book. And then her story really wrapped it up by saying take action. And because she explained over and over that it really was healing to be able to say her child's name. And I think that that's what's so powerful about our heroes.

I have to ask a question. Since I'm not the best social media guru. I know this on the gift of life. So I like to read a book like Pulp Fiction Style, like Middle, Earlier, from Back to Be Completely Confused the Whole Time.

So I can't wait to get it and start that way. So how do I find it? What's the best ways to find the book? A few different ways.

We have the website because of OrtonDoneation.com. And you might have to make sure you put the www in there. I'm not sure why, but still trying to figure that one out. You can reach out to any of the chapter authors because they have books as well that they're selling.

You can also get the book on Amazon. And we did reach number one on Amazon. So we are some sort of Amazon best seller. Thank you.

I know you can barn the noble.com, target.com, Walmart.com, many, many places that you can purchase the book. The ones that are ordered on the website. I do sign those and send them out personally. And then I loved because I've been following the story, I've been following the building of this book and the release.

But you've had Facebook Lives too. Mark Scott, we had them on the podcast. We saw that, Joey Gaze, you know, Miss Brittany. So all of that together, how has that been going in promoting the book, promoting donation?

How do you feel that's going? It's going really well. I started doing the Facebook Lives because of Ordination page just to introduce the chapter authors because there's 25 of us. Technically, there's a couple more because some of the chapters are shared with living donor and recipient.

So I just felt that that would be a great opportunity to bring a few people on at a time and let them share what their chapter is about. And it was so well received that I decided I'm going to continue to do this. And I've just been thinking of people or I see somebody's poster story online on Facebook and just ask them if they wanted to be a guest and share their story. Again, because, gosh, there's just so many amazing stories to share.

And I love, it made me feel part of the book and part of the process and maybe had other ideas for, oh, like the next one that comes up. I know who I can recommend. You know, all these great ideas. I just thought it was a great marketing tool to do that.

And Brittany, I don't know when you sleep. Do you sleep, Brittany? There's so many questions of the year. So many projects.

Brittany is on our LOPA advisory board for Landfry, very active volunteer telling her story, bringing pictures, bringing big rigs as a walking testimonial. And it just seems like, you know, how can I tell my story in a new and creative way to get other people to listen about donations? They just need to listen about donations. Hopefully they'll take action.

But tell us your mindset, Brittany, because you are so busy and we're so grateful for all that you do, not only for LOPA, but for donation in general. Well, I think it's just about, like you said, getting the word out. And when you can see a tangible, you know, little boy getting to do all the things that a typical little boy gets to do, it makes it that much more real. And I've always said it, and I've said it many times to you guys, you know, organization doesn't affect you until it does affect you.

And when it does, it affects every piece of your life. And so for us, you know, it's just that one more way to get to show that there are really just amazing things that get to happen whenever you check that box or you say yes or you make that decision. And, you know, for us, it's showing that there was a little boy who went from a very, very, very sick little boy to now getting to do all the fun things that he's gotten to do. And so I think that makes it more real.

And for me, I love books and I love reading. And so to me, it was just a perfect lineup. And having met Brenda and read the books already, you know, I have lots of ideas and projects that one day I'll make her sit down and listen. And then maybe we can do some more stuff.

So I love that idea and I love the whole concept. So for me, it was a bit brainer. Oh, Brittany, you know, if I can piggyback on that, there's a part of your chapter that I would like to share. Okay.

So it says, breaks his life wasn't the only one saved those days. These heroes saved all of us. They saved both my husband and me from losing our child. And they saved my son from growing up without a brother, his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, literally all of us.

I can't wait to experience more first with him. Even at five years old, every day is a day we don't take for granted and every day is truly a miracle. Not a day goes by when I don't think of our heroes and how I'm so thankful they gave me these moments. That's beautiful.

I love it. And every time Brittany speaks with us out in the community or something national and zoom or anything like that, she always makes sure to honor the heroes to reach out and to say how important each and everyone is. And we appreciate that, Brittany. Makes you tear up still.

And I write it. I was thinking the same thing. I read it how many times and went through and edited. I'm still like, oh my gosh, I've got goosebumps and starting to get tears in my eyes.

It really is true. And I just picked up, I wanted to tell folks too, we talked about social media, but blessing for Briggs, his journey with Billy area, Tricia is a Facebook page that Brittany started so he could follow Briggs' story. And then you see his cute little face pop up and you see the story, or you see the pictures right around Transplant and him now. He's just such a little man.

He's just such a little man. Yeah. And we're coming up one six years this year. So it's just, it's been a long time.

Yeah. Well, I'm so glad you guys met at the Transplant Games. I'm so glad you guys worked together and I'm excited for future projects. It sounds like, right?

Well, you know, Brenda and Brittany both said something about one idea of Spurs and the other idea. So it sounds like you'll have a lot of ideas ahead for us. Take us on the journey guys. Take us on the journey.

Well, definitely. We'll just book y'all a day here on the Gifted Life every couple of months. Here you are. Bruce Brittany Gortes, thank you so much for joining us.

And now, let's sir. Thanks for your time today. We really appreciate you guys sharing. Thank you for having me again.

All right guys. The book is called Because of Organ Donation. We hope that you check it out. Here on the Gifted Life podcast, it's time for a moment for mental health.

Yes, it is. And since we don't have our usual Sarah Blakemore to talk to us and we've got Nyla Schwab. Nyla, how about you first tell us a little bit about yourself? Okay.

All right. Well, I've been with LOBIT. It was like a very long time. I've held different positions in LOPA and now I'm in family services, which I really love.

I kind of get to work with the families after donation or after the family suggests or even if they've said no, if they need our support were there. I'm a school later in life. I'm a non-traditional student. I was older.

Yeah. Why is there? Yeah. So I just recently just obtained my PLPC, which is a provisional licensed professional counselor.

And I'm working toward my licensing and it's been an adventure for sure. She's a good human and happy to have her as a friend. So we are glad you're at the mic today. What are we covering?

What is this arts expression? What are we doing? Okay. So I'm excited to talk about this.

When I heard that we have an author coming on that thought, well, what would that work with? And expressive arts is what I came up with. It's great. It can be so hard.

And sometimes it can just be a roller coaster of emotions. So when you have that, sometimes families can't find the words. And so when you use expressive arts, which can be a lot of different things, it kind of sounds intimidating, but it's not. It can be cutting paper with scissors and gluing it on paper.

It can also be journaling, poetry, Joey, you might like this dancing. I suppose you like it though, Nyla. And then there's storytelling, which I love. There's life writing, which can be that you do a life line.

I don't know, really just to share with others what you maybe can't find the words for. So I'm assuming, of course, everyone grieves differently. We've seen it. We've worked with families for so long and understanding that aspect.

So I'm assuming this adds a little bit of value to their grief journey or gives them a different alternative or avenue to grieve. Is that kind of part of it? It does. It does.

And I'll tell you this. I went through a lot of grief in my own life. And so I sat down with a child and they wanted to know more about the family members that had lost. And so all I did was take a canvas and I said, y'all cut hearts.

We colored them. We started gluing them in my parents that went through and they painted it. And so the kids got involved. And it really gave our whole family a piece to talk about.

And so when you go back and you look at this, it was a disaster. I mean, I know I know what I mean. I know I know my wall, but for my family, it was a great way for us to kind of talk and come together. So I think we can be really intimidated when we talk about expressive arms.

But the biggest part about it is just trying something new. I mean, you have your right side of the brain, left side of the brain. And with grief, we can get so stuck. And even if it's just in your journey of something in life that has you stuck or you can't find the words for it, just do something different and use a different side of your brain.

Yeah. So I lost my mom when I was younger, 17. So my favorite memories are music. We always say music is the best medicine.

So we turn that up loud and we jam. So I find myself doing that with my kids. If we have something hard to go through, or if it's like a birthday or anniversary, something hard that's coming up. So my abby who's now 14 will turn on some Conway Twitter or something.

And it'll help us remember those good times. And we'll have a conversation where I'm not like all teary eyed crying. But here's some good memories to share. So I didn't even know that I was.

It sounds like what you're talking about. Yeah, but in nature, you're doing expressive arts. Yeah. And you're right.

So to have something like that, jogs it out a little bit. It's easier. It's a great audience. You can do it.

It doesn't take much. Just in common to an artist. I'm going to say I've got the dance thing down. Even though I'm not good at it, I think it's like nobody's watching at all times when there's hundreds of people watching.

It's comfortable that way. But I guess that's not real. I don't have the expressive arts as you put it. My canvas would be awful looking.

I'm kidding with that. But I do like these type of things like dancing again, both of those. Like nobody's watching. And the car is listening.

That's an idea. Yeah. And again, you mentioned grief and I've been through my share of grief. But even through just going through the difficult everyday type things.

I like this past weekend. I had a wedding. Her uncle got married and brought a luau to Louisiana. I brought Hawaiians and Hula dancers.

I need to get on that in my lens. Right? And so for the very first song that we were able to dance, I danced to the last song. My thing is that helps me to just escape, relax and just enjoy things while you're going through a tough journey.

And it doesn't have to be even a tough journey. Like what you said, Joey, it just feels good. And you think all day long, you're always making decisions. So really to have expressive arts in your toolbox to do something different with your side of the brain can just help you think differently.

Yeah. It can be anything. Yeah. Anything at all.

Okay. So as we just had an author come on and she talked about storytelling and that's a connection that we make with other people. And it's something that we do all over the world. All over the world, we're doing expressive arts.

We just don't name it. Even back in West African folklore, the healers, when they would see a very sick patient, what they would ask was what was the last time you sang, when was the last time you danced, and when was the last time that you shared a story? That's awesome. Yeah.

And you hear that storytelling and expressive arts, how it really helps the healing process. And they've shown that through research. And I find that what's so exciting is we do really great things medically. I mean, we transplant organs, we get sight back, we give life.

But there's still that part of us that psychologically that expressive arts can help heal. And that's something that doctors can't do for us. It's something that we have to do. And so when we really use a different part of our brain, it gives us that opportunity to start the healing process.

Oh, I like it. All right. Let's get to work on that one. I'm dancing already.

All right. I'm on the Get to Life Simply email us info at thegetslife.org. In our question and answer segment, today's question is a great question from Bruce on our hotline. Hi, my name is Bruce.

I'm registered with you folks. And I was just wondering, how do I leave notification and something like if I were to get out and call the car accident, how would they know to contact you? Is there something that I need to be carrying in my wallet or something that I need to have on my driver's license or what? I would appreciate it.

What a great question. And generally speaking, so CMS centers for Medicare and Medicaid services who kind of oversees the hospital system mandates that all hospitals have to contact their OPOs, their organ procurement organizations such as LOPA, on everyone that meets certain criteria, certain triggers and cardiac death. So they will then be contacting us so that we can research whether that person is or is not on the registry. Yeah.

A lot of our folks go to the OMV. That's where most people will sign up. So here in Louisiana, you get a little red heart that signifies that you want to help save and enhance lives to organ tissue and eye donation. So that's one step.

You can also print a certificate. Put it with your important paperwork. You can do that from the registry. And also here in Louisiana, you can manage your registration, print a card at donatelifela.org.

So there are multiple ways to do that. And we are happy to walk you through if you need that help. But overall, around the community, when we're talking to our families, we ask that you share your wishes with those who know you best, those that will be there with you in the hospital setting, those that will be asking questions to let them know that you do want to save and enhance lives to organ tissue and eye donation. Have that conversation.

Yeah, Laurie, I agree with that because I always tell families, make sure to tell everybody. You can really be an advocate for organ and tissue donation and eye donation. And I think the most important thing is share why you're signing up to be a donor. Really, really helpful.

So love the question. And if you have a question, we hope that you'll give us a call. The number is 5046483477. In every episode of the gift of life, we honor a hero, today's hero, Kara Rogers.

We learn about Kara from her family. Kara is a wonderful soul and was taken from us way too early. We will forever love and honor you, sweetheart. You are my heart.

Kara is a true blessing to our family. She was the most giving, loving young lady. With the many blessings she was able to pass on to those in need, she will live on helping others. We love and miss you, baby, until we meet again.

And now we pause and say thank you to Kara Rogers for the gift of life. And that will do it for episode 164 of the Gifted Life. Thanks for listening, guys. And remember, you can register as an organ, eye and tissue donor anytime at registerme.org.

And thanks again to Brenda Cartes for coming on. Once again, the HowlDile was a great series. Yeah. It looks like she's ready for another project.

And of course, Brittany Alleser, who's been also a previous guest that we've had, who's been done so much with Lopan and everything that she's done for donation in general, paying it forward with Briggs. And we definitely encourage you guys to check out the books. You can find it anywhere. You can find it on www.becauseoforgan donation.com.

You can find it on Amazon. You can find it on Walmart.com, Target.com. Any of your favorite places that you'll find books. Barnes and Nobles too.

Barnes and Nobles. You found it? No, Amazon. Yeah.

It's a good one. All right, guys. The best place to find us, the Gifted Life is on our website, thegiftedlife.org. You can listen there and find links to listen on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, our heart radio, or wherever you listen to podcast.

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We hope that you go out and do something you would normally do to help us make life happen, or one big team. Until next time.