Hello and welcome to the gifted life podcast where we have conversations about organ tissue and I donation you can always find us at the gift life. I'm I'm more steel and Joey Boudreau and I'm Sarah Blakemore coming up on today's podcast we'll be talking to someone who's been truly cured of diabetes And we're gonna be talking about panic attacks and what you need to know about them all that more on this episode of the gifted life you guys ready? Yep, let's do it Here on the gift of life, you know, we love our partners and today we have some amazing folks Christine and Kim who are joining us from we are sharing hope South Carolina, so Christine Neil I'm gonna say hi to you first. You're the director of communications.
How are you? Hi? Thank you so much for having us absolutely I am doing well doing well, and then your counterpart miss Kim Perkins. How are you ma'am?
I'm great. How are you guys? Thanks for having me. We are so excited to talk to you guys miss Kim is our recipient She's on the board of directors for South Carolina, and she's an amazing volunteer So we're gonna talk about how these two ladies come together to help us you all of us make life happen So Christine, let's start with you.
Let's talk about we are sharing hope South Carolina. What's the mission? What are you guys doing? So we are South Carolina's only OPO or superhuman organization, so we covered the entire state here in South Carolina responsible for educating and serving more than five million people We have three offices, so we have an office in the upstate the Greenville area as well as Columbia the capital But then our headquarters is here in Charleston where we have a majority of our staff out of but our hope is to continue to serve the entire state of South Carolina to facilitate the gift of donation or deny into donation We have one transplant center partner here with MUSC Who is also in the Charleston area and we partner with more than 80 donor hospitals throughout the state to facilitate the gift of life And so as an organization we have about 105 employees that are mission focused and humbled to serve our donor families and to Continue the legacies of our heroes as well as celebrate the second chances that our recipients here receive very much so like Kim and We have a volunteer program.
We are in high school We want to educate we work very closely with Sony life South Carolina who manages the registry here in South Carolina So we work in partnership with them to educate people through to DMV offices as well as we all know You can register your wishes to become an organ I into you donor whenever you're in the DMV offices So making sure that people have the information there to designate their decision as well as help bears and all kinds of community events here I love it. I love to hear that the similarities to Christine you know, of course you guys have so much going on and And it's a lot of the same things that what we've got here in Louisiana and of course all nationwide and actually globally We've kind of been flipped upside down on our mission over the past few months with with the COVID-19 I was wondering what kind of things that you guys had to do to implement and adapt to all the changes that were thrown our way Yeah, no absolutely. I mean that is a Clear doesn't know what has happened. We have definitely been flipped upside down and Right now, you know, we're in the midst of it a little bit and we're hoping to sort of see ourselves over the curve I think we as a state and as a nation are looking forward to being able to You know, sort of begin the new normal.
I guess we can all say on what that looks like and From a donation standpoint, I think we were in line with our colleagues all over the country and adapting as sort of Became a reality for us and working in Convention with our hospital partners as they were also navigating the COVID-19 pandemic on the front lines we have so much admiration for our hospital partners and You know, our teams our clinical team is working side by side with them our family support counselor So we really had to learn to adapt what that looks like We always want to support our families and be there and provide comfort and hugs and obviously as we learned that this was so easily transferable we had to limit our Presence in the hospitals and so we began to comfort and support our families through phone and zoom Chat and our clinical coordinators making sure that our staff was safe was always a top priority But we did we had staff in the front lines We still do and managing sort of that navigation with hospitals as they were also Realizing the impact of COVID-19 with their patients and and everything so we were in very close communication with our hospital partners With our transplant centers here in the region just to make sure that we were protecting patient safety that we were communicating a full clinical picture for our donors to be able To give that gift of life so that transplant centers had that level of comfort ability with The unknown of COVID-19 so we were managing getting testing Ensuring that that that our staff had PPE That we had all of the resources that we needed to be able to do to continue the gift of life and we've been humbled to be able to continue supporting our families We had 18 organ donor heroes in the month of April That said yes to the gift of life saving more than 50 people and so you think that that's an amazing Testament to the gift of organizing to shoot donation especially through something like this and we know our colleagues all over the country has been remaining patients focused as well and our teams and our OPO staff I think Have spent an amazing job just of staying through submission and being able to offer that for both our families and so to our waiting We know that they can't really wait that long and and it's an essential surgery So we've been proud of the work that's been going on here in South Carolina and across the country for the COVID-19 It's funny, you know, we've heard and I'm sure you've heard at meetings and conferences You know, you see one OPO you see one OPO You know because of our uniqueness and the way we go about our business But in this, you know pandemic when when a crisis hits, it's funny how we all Are so drawn to the mission the mission becomes everything and to maintain that the life-saving Facilitation of organ donation that we have and that you guys have we had very similar numbers and of course, uh, you know in in April We you know actually in March and April we had been considered one of the hotspots And and there was a whole lot of different things that we had to do from a family support standpoint and a clinical standpoint To continue to save lives and but it's so much so very similar to a lot of the things that you did And it's so funny when I hear you know our colleagues how many different things that were done But but they're all still on the same page and very similarly done Yeah, and I think that's a testament to our community and to the staff the OPO staff across the country has never been in a You know, I've been doing working in OPOs for 10 years and one of the things that Inspired me on day one was the commitment from the teams and the staff on the ability to save lives and honor legacies And it's something that in tough times like this we are all able to pull together and find unique ways It may not look the same it may not feel the same Um, but the end result is the same in saving lives and being able to support our families and so many times in the last You know few weeks and months through covid-19 many of our families have been so grateful For the opportunity for organization to sort of be that glimmer of hope for them and to give them something to hold on to so that the last memory Wasn't as sort of these unique circumstances in the hospital and knowing that there was something bigger than than what we were all experiencing in the time and that they have this gift of donation to really See them through and to give them comfort in their healing journey. So it was definitely a reminder of so many levels in terms of the impact of organization on our donor families and those who are waiting and Our partners and our transplant center partners and our donor hospitals who all were navigating something new But still remain so mission focused and I'm in all of all healthcare heroes from my perspective a lot of my friends perspective There was so much thrown at everyone and it just seems so flawless because the mission We want to save lives at the opo's the organ procurement organizations. It's just amazing to watch Kim. I want to bring you in to the conversation.
I know you're a recipient Ideal with volunteers here in Louisiana. So talk to us about Having a transplant being immunocompromised during a pandemic and then still working to make life happen to get the word out What does that look like from where you sit? Um, it is make one sense. Uh, I don't believe that this happened during um, February March and moving into April with the national like month.
It's just given us an opportunity to Um, stay in stronger, uh, you know, the inner recipient and a business owner a small business owner and a mom with a kid out of school Um, and a husband that um, essential worker, um, it kind of coming forward on all front from we just had to find new ways to uh, protect ourselves and still Get those life saving messages out there to the families and donors and the recipients that needed to get out there Um, I went to my last social gathering on March set up Um, we've been in the house and then as a family, um, and we went a little strict, uh, with, you know, no outside food, um, and no outside visitors inside the house And have been here at home since the school systems have been a blessing. Um, they made that call early on here in our state and you know, uh, uh, So very thankful for that as a recipient. Um, even though as a mom and a worker, uh, we struggled a bit to keep, you know, schoolwork going, but The transplant side is, um, just been an opportunity to share with others what we do, um, year around, um, a little bit more strategically during COVID-19 season, but, um, this by no means is the flu, um, for us, but it is given as an opportunity to kind of reevaluate how we tackle being, you know, compromised and being a diabetic, um, a former diabetic at that and, um, as most of it, we have high pressure, so being a vulnerable individual in a pandemic has been quite interesting. Um, but it's given an opportunity to do what we always do in the transplant getting the, um, just kind of pull up our big straps and figure out a new strategy and, um, you know, be strong and be a survivor and, uh, you know, just kind of roll up the punches at the same time.
Um, we are Regent, but we're also very flexible, um, and you have to be, and so that's just kind of given us just another opportunity to share on other communities. Well, Kim, you, you sound like, uh, you've got a lot of vigor and, and you certainly live the mission. I was wondering, since I don't get to hear you speak, uh, you know, when you volunteer, I'd like to know a little bit more about the, the, uh, your diabetes and if you can just for a moment. Now, the chief clinical officer here at Lopen, and of course I work with allocation quite a bit, and I feel so sorry for the, for the diabetic patients that only need a pancreas because oftentimes, uh, what, what we think early on when we're doing the diagnostics, uh, from the, the pancreas side is not often what we see when we get into recover.
Oftentimes it's, you know, what you see was what you get with the liver and with the heart and with kidneys, but the pancreas is a little different. So have you had, when you were put on the waiting list, did you have any challenges or, or any dry runs that, uh, that you had to take or anything like that? Yeah. So the pancreas is a very angry organ.
Um, it gets very easily, it gets damaged very easily, um, and it loves the cloth very fast. Um, doesn't like to be messed with. Um, and it's sometimes it's not happening in our own body. Um, diabetes and inflammation and pancreatitis.
Um, so, for a diabetic that is not in kidney failure with their native kidney, the pancreas on the transplant, um, is an option that nephrologists usually kind of tread lightly with. Um, in my situation, I had a transplant surgeon that was very, very, um, has event to do a pancreas only transplant surgery on a nephrologist that really was excited to do it because I had healthy native kidneys. Um, my first complication from diabetes was gastriaphyso. So my insulin delivery was not timing out with when my food emptied out of my stomach, which was sometimes hours or days later.
Um, so that's what qualified me for transplant, um, seven years ago. I was listed and um, told to take a quick vacation, um, during that vacation about 10 days after listening, um, I received my first phone call and it was decided that it was a, it was a great opportunity, um, to fly home from vacation and go for that situation, um, of transplantation once I was admitted into the hospital, um, about 24 hours past and it was then, um, the pancreas is one of the last organs to be procured because the vascular system, of course, is safe for the vital organs of heart, liver, kidney. Um, and so the pancreas was one of the last ones. It was kind of found, um, that the pancreas in that particular donor was not viable due to chest compressions or the image deer and an accident or, um, you know, any, any forces of nature that happened here in that, uh, situation.
So, um, I went home, um, and, um, went home still at the type one diabetic, um, quite depressed, um, but understanding that it was good practice and, um, still in, um, salt and prayers for the family that did lose their loved one and made the decision to donate. Um, and, uh, joyful at the fact that lots of those other organs were probably transplanted. Um, about 30, 30 to 35 days later, I received a call in the middle of the night. Um, went back to the hospital fully expecting maybe another dry run because there is a deer's ring that usually comes, um, transplant, um, got there and, um, if there never was a mention of, you know, they're not being a surgery, even though in the back of the mind, um, I had decided that that could be a hospital.
Um, and it, it was a go from the beginning. Um, at that point, I received the pancreas, um, and was discharged by a day later, um, to the, uh, transplant house in, um, Atlanta, right on the outskirts of the veterinary hospital where I received my training plan. Um, it, once I came home, uh, took several months to recover, um, and began riding my donor family. Um, several months later, almost a year later, I received a call from the chaplain that the letters had kind of gotten displaced during a move.
Um, and that, that situation had been ironed out, but that the donor family had expressed, um, a desire to release their information to the recipient family. Um, it was at that time that our letters were expedited and we were put in touch with each other. At that time that I learned that my donor was a, um, 16 year old, um, out of the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, who had made the decision to be an organ donor when he went to get his life in the DMV. Um, he signed up, he was, um, probably one of the only ones in his family that did so, um, he went home and had a discussion with his mom and said this is something that's very important to me.
Um, and I want to do this and this is what I did today and I just wanted you to know. Um, so when he, uh, was involved in a drowning act for the internet above Rampool, um, on the last day of school, he, uh, he was signed up to be an organ donor in his mother followed through with his wishes. Um, and she will state to this day that, um, she did not understand the process and it was a hard process for her at the time, but when she received my letter, she realized that it was the opportunity for him to do something more with his life, almost as if he had prepared his whole entire life to, to be that mission itself. Um, and that that was part of his way of taking care of her, even after he was gone to provide her with an outlet and brand shift that, um, was saying her and understand, um, that she had suffered tremendous loss in her life.
And so, um, every year on the anniversary of his passing, we do something flight of interest, um, because he was pretty adventurous. Um, and in the past, uh, we usually end up water rafting or something, something crazy that, um, two moms probably shouldn't be doing, but we do it anyway. Um, and, um, we have a great time. Wow.
That's such an amazing story. And you know, throughout this entire conversation, I've keep hearing themes of resilience, both in the OPO world and with you as a recipient and even with your donor's mother, just, you all are not just surviving, you're thriving. So can you give, um, our listeners some tips on how to do just that, how to not just survive, but to thrive? I think resilience and thriving, um, come from a positive attitude.
Um, you know, there's so much negativity, um, and you can only meet negativity successfully with, with light and positivity. And, um, you know, just the hope that, um, something good will come of everything. Um, I remember a statistic was given to me by one of the translate burdens on how often a pancreas clots off, um, after it's transplanted. And, you know, I only heard, you know, the statistic was like 92%, um, you know, it doesn't and 8% it does.
And I only heard the 92%. I mean, who wouldn't? But apparently, some people only hear the 8%. And that was what was shocking to me.
It wasn't that they actually caught off it was that some people only hear the 8% of the negative and not the 92% of the positive. So, um, you know, we get an opportunity in life to, um, take the good from every situation. Um, even if there's sadness and even if there is a tragedy and, and, and meet it and share it with other people. Um, she lost her son, not, not donors, not their lost her son.
Um, and, and she will never recover from that. And he will never be forgotten. But the ability for she and I to celebrate how many opportunities he'd given her since then to be a friend and be a hard worker and be a mother to her other children and remarry. And just all the opportunity that she and I had to develop a friendship and nobody else in this life, um, gets to do is a positive thing.
I mean, how many people get to say, you know, my son saved her life and made her life better. And she's gotten to see her son do things that she never thought she would be able to see. So, um, you know, that's a gift that most people don't get to celebrate together. So the resiliency of that, um, you got to share it.
You can't keep something like that to yourself. Okay, Cam, the next time we can go to the transplant games of America, I'm going to need a hug. Okay. If this is coming.
I'm a big hugger. So I'm a bit in the distance right now. So I'm just going to work with you. Um, all of the other, all of my other transplant friends from the gang, um, know me as a hugger.
So when we, we actually land our feet in the convention center, they kind of, they kind of plan them because they know I'm coming in for a hug. So you'll have to hear that. Christine, I do want to talk about the transplant games. Normally we would all be gearing up to attend the transplant games and Olympic style show, uh, a way to promote organ tissue, item, nation and honor, um, heroes like, like Johnny Kim.
So, uh, Christine, let's talk about, um, you guys participating in that. Um, we do have to put that off for at least another year, uh, due to the coronavirus. And I know you're sad about that as well. I'm sad too, y'all.
Um, it's just a great program where everyone across the world can come together to celebrate life to honor heroes. Yeah. No, I am. I'm so bad.
And, um, I know that it was a very difficult decision for those who had to make that, that call. And, um, I do think it's the right one, but I think all of us are going to, like Kim said, said, you know, be hugging each other a little extra time. We're all together because I think that the transplant games is just one of those events that symbolizes what organizing tissue donation means across the country and across the world. And, um, the ability for our recipients to be able to compete in the Olympic style games and, um, and even, you know, cards and, uh, darts and, you know, fun things for a crafty spectrum is just a way to, um, celebrate the second chance that they've been given.
Um, and that also honors their donor hero. Um, not everybody has the opportunity to know their donor families. And I remember one of the very first transplant games I ever attended. I walked away thinking the community that exists at something like that is so awe inspiring and something that touches people, I think, to the core.
Um, you know, the ability to think, you may not be my donor family, but you're a donor family. So you're my donor family. And same with the recipient, you may not be my recipient, but you're a recipient. So you're my recipient.
And I think that that overarching method is something that we all strive to bring back to our home, our home space and our home teams and just really sort of create that feeling in our volunteer programs and in our ambassadors because it's so strong and really seeks to the core of why we all do what we do here in the OPOs is to be able to present opportunities like that. So I know everybody is missing what the transplant games provide this year. I think that we can continue to tell those stories and share pictures of metals that everybody has won and good times that have been had because we will have them again. I think that he is about his resiliency.
We will be back and we will be stronger than ever. And when we are all together, I think we'll have a little bit extra to celebrate, and to honor. So, yeah, Jim, tell me really quickly what you what you compete in at the transplant games. So I went to Cleveland in 2016 and felt like City in 2018, both times I competed in the virtual triathlon, which is a combination of swimming, cycling and running.
They combined their times and you met all in each individual competition and then also in the competition of the whole. So we have a strong close-knit group of athletes that do that particular competition that's staying in communication in the downtime of the two years. And then also the competition of track and field, I try to compete in as much as I can on that track and field day. So that's just my way of staying active.
I know that every two years I'm going to have the ability to travel and compete athletically and stuff. And so that keeps me on my toes physically and you know, keeps me with a goal of mine for my own personal health. But more so just like Christine said, to go and sense that community, you will have a donor mom putting a medal around your neck. It may not be your donor mom, but her tears are falling right along with yours on that medal stand because it's an opportunity for that mom to stay to another mom.
You know, this is me acknowledging that you are doing with my child's health what should be done and not believing why. And it also gives an opportunity to meet people that are in the same medical situations as us and to meet families. You know, I met a couple when you're at the transplant gang during the donor remembrance ceremony and they were standing in front of the poster with their son's hydromatic. And when I looked at the date of his donation, it was 20 years ago.
And I turned around and I said, thank you for your donation. And she said, are you recipient? Yeah. And you know, they had never met their son's recipients and so it was an opportunity for them to hear thank you from a recipient that they may have never heard in another situation.
And this family uses the transplant gang as a reunion of sort to celebrate the lack of their son. You had a couple that was no longer married, but they shared love for a son that they lost and they come together, you know, once every two years and spend a week together of their vacation time honoring their son. So it's just an opportunity for people to focus a week on lives extraordinary gifts and our extraordinary talent that's recipients to do something with those gifts. I love it.
It's definitely something to experience. If you haven't been, you can check out transplantgamesofamerica.org, the new date for transplant games July 16th through the 21st of 2021. So we hope to meet you guys there. You guys want more on South Carolina's program sharing hope SC.org.
And I do want to leave everybody with a quote from Miss Kim. Can I just love this? We were preparing for the interview donation doesn't just buy someone time. It gives you a lifetime of family, friends, travel relationships and adventure.
We enjoy the visit, ladies. On the gifted life podcast, we take a moment for mental health. Yeah, today's topic is one that's very scary. And actually many of my friends have had to deal with it.
It's panic attacks. What do you have to say about panic attacks that Sarah Blakemore? You know, it is a very scary topic, but I've had a couple friends and family members who during this pandemic have had pretty serious panic attacks. I kind of wanted to just give some information to everybody so that we can all understand, grow, learn, and maybe hopefully someone can go and get help if they need it.
Yeah. So what is a panic attack? You know, it's not just a rush of anxiety. A panic attack is sudden onset of extreme fear and anxiety that causes both a physical reaction and a psychological reaction.
What's important to know is that the level of fear that you experience is unrealistic and it's out of proportion for what the circumstances of the trigger of that panic attack are. So what are some of those symptoms? If you talk to people who have panic attacks or who've ever had just one, a lot of times they say it feels like you're having a heart attack. So that's like those physiological symptoms is that shortness of breath, pain on your chest.
It feels like a lot of times people say it feels like you've got a large rock on your chest. So it's constricting that respiratory drive. Some of those psychological symptoms is a lot of negative self talk, a lot of feelings of disconnection from oneself. So you can kind of feel kind of disconnected from your physical body and you feel like you're losing control.
So it's pretty scary. If you've ever had a panic attack, you can testify how frightening it is and it can even last for some people for 20 minutes. So what causes panic attacks? Well, we're not really sure still.
There are some theories out there about some chemical imbalances in your brain or some genetic dispositions. So that's another thing that can kind of bring some fear into this is that we're not totally positive what causes panic attacks still. But what should you do if you have a panic attack or if you have several, you should immediately speak to your doctor, both mental health and medical doctor. What they'll likely say to you is that you can get on some medications, so some psychopharmacology treatment.
And you can also do some therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy, which will help you cope with the symptoms of anxiety and fear. Oftentimes, I can tell you from personal experience, back in my day in the ER, we took care of quite a bit of patients who were suffering from a panic attack. And I can tell you firsthand that we couldn't tell the difference. It was that extreme chest pain, sharpness of breath.
They were sweating profusely. And again, like you said, there was no real trigger. So we treated them as heart attack patients until it was proven otherwise. And back in the day, of course, I was in the ER quite some time back, but there was a little bit of a stigma, especially with guys having panic attacks.
And maybe people would think, oh man, I can't see, they felt awkward, even some of my friends relaying it. But it's a real, like you said, it's true physiological issues along with the emotional and other issues that come with it. That's scary. And I said it from the top, it's scary to watch.
And I can't imagine from internally how scary it must be when it's taking place. Right. A lot of people describe it as, they feel like they're dying even. And it's really scary.
So if anything, just some quick little coping, just know that you're going to be okay. Know that there are people who are surrounding you that love you and that want the best for you. And that this is something that you can cope with. You can reach out to the experts and reach out to those medical professionals and those mental health professionals.
And it's something that just know that it will get better in time. If you seek out those medical professionals, those mental health professionals, it can get better. I like that. And your voice is soothing.
Yes. I like it. Maybe you have a topic you want Sarah to cover here on the Get to Life podcast. We'd love to hear from you.
You can communicate with us through info at thegiftedlife.org. In every episode of the Gifted Life, we honor a hero. Today's hero is Keegan from South Carolina. And we learn about Keegan from his family.
Keegan always wanted to leave a big legacy. If I had to describe him in three words, I would say he was energetic, loved, and had the most beautiful smile. He had so many gifts. Keegan never met a stranger.
He was kind to everyone and never judgmental and incredible. Big brother loved his family and was a huge Clemson fan. As his mom, I always knew Keegan would change the world, but now I want everyone to know how special he truly was. He loved being the center of attention and was a hero to so many.
His honor walk was the most beautiful tribute to him with singing and cheering exactly as Keegan would have wanted it. He always wanted to be an organ donor. His funeral was his last celebration with 1,300 people. Keegan's legacy is his friends and the numerous people who received a second chance because of his gift.
Not only did we honor his wishes to be a donor hero, but because of Keegan, our entire family registered as donors as well. It is a true honor and so special to me to live each day telling his story. We miss him and know our lives will never be the same, but we have such a good community and I'm so thankful to be his mom. And now we pause and say thank you to Keegan for the gift of life.
In our question and answer segment today, I used to live in South Carolina but have moved to another state. Do I need to register in the new state and cancel my registration in South Carolina? Sarah, you want to take this one? Sure.
And that's a great question and actually a lot of people ask is that. So coming from a family advocate, I go on site and I gather initial information on all our potential donors. So I can tell you this, do not cancel any registry if you wish to stay on the registry. You can register in your home state anywhere you go.
You can also register nationally at registerme.org. We will find your registry letter. We can call every OPO in this country and ask them to search for the registry as well as they can call LOPA and ask for our registry status as well. So just know that if you're registered, we will find it and we will know that and we will give that information to your family when it's appropriate.
Oh, great question. And if you guys out there have a question, we want to hear from you. Email your questions to info at thegiftedlife.org. You can also give us a call 5046483477.
We may even play your message on the podcast. And that'll do it for episode 138 of the Gifted Life. Yes. Thanks to our friends in South Carolina.
We are sharing hope South Carolina. Christine, Neil, the director of communications and Kim Perkins for sharing their stories. And I've got one word to say about that. Resiliency.
It was amazing. I know I could listen to them all day, guys. Hopefully we inspired you. If you're not a registered organ tissue eye donor that maybe you want to take that step, you can do that right now.
It takes less than a minute. Registerme.org. And to listen to more of our podcasts, you can visit us at our website, thegiftedlife.org. You can listen there or anywhere you listen to your podcasts, whether it's Apple, Google, Spotify or iHeartRadio.
If you listen on Apple Podcast, go ahead and leave us a five star rating and subscribe so that others can find us. And if you're on social media, go ahead and like our Facebook page, the Gifted Life podcast and follow us on both Twitter and Instagram at Gifted Life pod. And thank you, you, you, you, all of you for listening and tuning in to the Gifted Life podcast. We certainly appreciate it.
We hope that you share this information. Our goal is to make life happen. We have one more ask. When you go out, we hope that you do something you would normally do to help us make life happen.
Have a great day. This is a production of Loba, or the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency. The Gifted Life is hosted by Lori Steele, Joey Boudreau and Sarah Blakemore, our executive producer is Kirsten Heins, producer Ishelan Caraway. Intern is Rebecca Rannam and we are recorded, engineered and mixed in our Covington, Louisiana studio by Troy Perez.