Hello and welcome to the gifted life podcast where we have conversations about organ tissue and I don't nation I'm Lori steel. I'm Joey Boudreau. I'm Sally Gentry and friends. Thank you so much.
We enjoy getting together, right? Yeah, most of the time. Right? And what we want to do is for healthy conversations about organ tissue and I don't nation and you help us do that.
We invite guests on here to share their stories today. We're talking to a recording artist and don't ask her but I help train really. Did you? Oh, yeah, no.
I've heard it before and it was amazing and actually it sounded exactly like that. Oh my. Your ears must have been clung for that. She's much much better.
But why? Well, she is a recipient. Oh, that's the why. Yep.
And not only a recipient. She's a two-time double lung recipient. Yeah, she's a fudder. If you think about it being a singer, oh my goodness.
Yeah. Who's that be? And she's back at it. She's on stage.
She's beautiful. She's humble. She talks about donation. She talks about her donor family and she sings better than me.
Oh, that's fine. And so she does. So anyway, we have some of that to share with you today. But an inspiring story.
You want to start your day off and say, how can I make this day better? You can do that by sharing this podcast. That story. We try to make it easy.
Absolutely. You know where to find us. You can subscribe. Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or whatever your favorite podcast that might be.
Yeah, social media, donate life, Louisiana. That's our Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram at donatelifela. And you can call us. What's that number?
Well, it's five, zero, four, five, zero, four, I don't think it's for eight. Try again. Try. We're just going to go straight.
We're just going to leave the singing to the professionals. And yeah, so five, oh, four. I got that part. Six, four, eight, three, four, seven, seven.
Give us a call. Five, oh, four, six, four, eight, three, four, seven, seven. Hey, you can sing your message. We still listen to it, right?
Oh, I say I can't sing. But anyway, it falls in. And if you call in, we want you to sing to us. Yeah, that would be nice.
Yeah. That might bump you up to be actually on the gift of life. Yes, indeed. Yeah.
We have a short list of people that will allow that to happen. But they get to life guys more to come. The get to life bringing in some star power. Joe, you know, not putting you down, but your vocals not as hot as this lady's vocals.
I can acapella with the best of them. I think you're just spurring around song titles and things. All right. So Cherry Tillman Dick joins us now.
How are you, ma'am? We are so great. And so we are going to tell everybody just a little bit about you. So you're a soprano, a composer, a presenter, a classical recording artist, which is incredible.
We've seen you seeing you have mesmerized us. That's your story that really draws us in and how humble you are and just so wonderful. And the reason that you're here on the gift of life is because you were alive today because someone said yes to donation, not once, but twice. Right?
Right? Right. And the organ donation is that so many people are involved in that decision coming to pass. There's an individual who chooses to be the donor and then there's the family, the medical professionals and the social workers and the people who facilitate the donation from the donate life that we had to all over the country.
It's this family of love and connection that we're over life, not blood or genetics or anything like that that creates this opportunity to like again. It's just such a gift to be a part of that. So walk us through your story. So you're a two time double lung transplant recipient.
So when I was 20, I was diagnosed with a condition called the Eopathic Home and Area, Eartereal Hypertension or pH. It's called when there's a sickening in the blood vessels of the lung and my lungs didn't absorb oxygen properly. So my heart was three and a half times too big. I was like the reverse Grinch.
And I was diagnosed with a stage four case there. There was a doctor who really wanted me to stop singing. She thought it was a bad idea, but there were more doctors who thought it was fine for me to say. And that living at Altitude and Phelix were more problematic.
So I moved to Baltimore to be in a medical trial and I enrolled in conservatory there, acting going full overseas at the time. And my condition stabilized and I got some fellowships and I traveled around the world and I started to be cast and all these roles. I'd always dreamed of singing and it was it was a lovely interval in my life. And then you know physical and emotional health are very very intertwined.
And in 2009, I needed a lung transplant after my father and grandfather died two months apart. And I was very fortunate to receive a match. It was a long process of recovery. But once I did, I started singing again and performing and then I got an infection and it turned into chronic protection.
And in 2012, I needed another lung transplant, which I was immensely fortunate to receive. And things were easy for a while and a lot of years I've had a few other challenges. But but it has been it has been an adventure to be sure. I have to say I was able to watch you and it was amazing.
Unfortunately, when you started singing when I saw you in Boston, I was outside getting a phone call and I walked in to the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. And before I started, I want to let you know that it was amazing. You have the most beautiful voice from the and from the medical side. I can imagine it.
It must have been a challenge with the physicians. And you mentioned you made mention of one of the one of the physicians said don't sing anymore. Then another one said go ahead and sing. That had to be a difficult decision to make because what you do and from the scale that you do it, I can imagine must be terrifying to the physicians.
Could you potentially hurt, you know, make more harm than good. So walk me through the decision making process right there where you decided, OK, I'm going to go ahead and start singing again. Oh, no, when I've done, I think it's really important not to demonize doctors because the doctor who told me I shouldn't sing had every good intention in the world. She was only worried about my well-being and my health.
And she had seen so many young people die from this very rare disease that I had. She just didn't want to see someone else die because they pushed themselves too hard. I did a lot of research on my own to see if there was any medical literature about singing and pulmonary hypertension. And there was it.
And then I talked to a number of other doctors, some just by email and others and person about this concern. And none of them felt like the concern itself was legitimate. They all were concerned about my life not containing too much stress. And that was something that was a legitimate concern.
But we all need something to live for. And I think in the process of disease, we can forget that and those who are caring for us can forget that. And as long as what we're doing isn't actively endangering our lives, you know, that's what it's all about. It's about finding joy and being happy.
And I think that even if you have medical challenges, you shouldn't be denied that ability to find joy. Well, Charity, you mentioned a little bit earlier about physical and mental health and enter and twine. And so I'm wondering about have you had the opportunity to meet both your donor families? Yes, not both of them, not both of them.
All of them. Just one of them. I never met. I sent them a couple of letters I tried to I tried to send letters every six months or years.
Just so they wanted them. They could know what was happening in my life. But the second donor family I was able to connect with. And it's complicated.
Life is complicated. Death is complicated. And my donor family situation was also complicated. But it's been this really beautiful process of kind of coming together and a sort of reconciliation of families that have been divided over what would have otherwise just been a tragic and sad thing.
And so I feel like organ donation and transplantation have the opportunity to bring so many stories together. That's not otherwise to be isolated from one another. Well, and you know, we find too, or we have talked with recipients and of course donor families both. And many times recipients will say, you know, I'm so glad I reached out to the family.
Because you know what I think I'm healing even faster and I'm feeling much better about everything that's happened. Yes. Is that kind of how it came out for you too? Is transplant is this overwhelming experience of sort of every emotion that exists because this opportunity for life is brought to pass by great sorrow on part of another family and loss.
So meeting the family and connecting with them. I feel like it connected me to my donor in an even more emotionally active way. I, you know, I think with the lungs of an immigrant and with each breath, I'm reminded of her life. And because I was able to meet the family, I now know what that life looked like and what that meant.
And I know the people she loved and I'm able to in a way love them to and to be a part of their future. And I hope that they feel like in a small way, Florida, who's my donor, the team feel a part of their life too. How wonderful for you and for you, your own family. Well, it has been such a gift to me.
And I hope I hope it's brought a little a little piece to them. But I know having them as a part of my life is just incredible. I was able to sing with one of my donor's daughters just a couple of weeks ago. That's right.
And public and my goodness being there together was was one of the highlights of my life. And it's been a life with a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but it was one of those people. Right. So you get a transplant, you know, and this is, you know, oh nine and you're starting to feel better at this point.
What a roller coaster that you must have gone through and then get sick again and need another transplant. So what was the trigger or what happened? Was there rejection or what happened there? Yeah.
Yeah. We have to like most devastating things, you know, at people, I think we're all seeking love and we're all seeking acceptance. Not only of our bodies, but from our communities and our work and in our relationships and everything we do. And this idea that your own body is rejecting you, you know, that you are that you are rejecting what is keeping you alive.
Just completely devastating. And for me, it was a very, very aggressive rejection that that happened. And so I got an infection and I had a sense that something was wrong. And my advice to your patients is if you have a sense that something is wrong, even if your nurse tells you, oh, it's fine.
You know, you did the you got your, you've done tests and it came out. All right, you're okay. Do not rest until you figure out what is actually wrong and do not do not let your your nurse keep you from going to the doctor. Until you figure out what's what's happening because that happened to me.
And I think that one of the challenges in transplant is you feel like a hypochondriac all the time. Because whenever something goes wrong, whenever your spirometry goes down, you want to find out why and you're wondering if you're if you're being paranoid or if it's a real issue. And and what I learned with my second transplant is it is almost always a real issue. And being too vigilant is what you need to be all the time.
And it's okay. Like transplantees are the only people who I think legitimately can be a hypochondriac because anything that goes wrong could be the thing that that gets you over the edge towards rejection. Yeah, we have volunteers here and they say listen to your body everybody. That's what they bring out there.
But I'm I'm curious. So you had to double lung transplants. So you didn't just wake up and are able to perform. Did you have to re-learn how to sing or what was that?
My first term I was in a coma for 34 days during which I was my muscle attribute. When I woke up, I couldn't drink. I couldn't I couldn't even nod when I woke up. My neck muscles weren't strong enough.
And and my my diagram had after beat. So it was two months before I could breathe on my own and then walking and talking and eating and doing everything else came after that. And and it was over a hundred days in the hospital when I finally got home. I think it was about three weeks before I tried to sing.
And when I did, I had this with a voice. It was totally different from the big fat color of Torah voice. But I had been training for the past half decade. And and I started working every day.
But it's you know, we talk about a match and the first time I'm so grateful for the match I received because I wouldn't have lived without it, but it wasn't perfect match. You know, I could feel it when I would take a breath. I never felt like I got a full breath with my first match. My second match, which was a very different experience because I waited for what seemed like forever.
And and then when I got the transplant, it was a very quick recovery. I was awake in two days. I was off the respirator in a week. And and it was a it was a very different path.
But but now when I think it feels much more natural, it feels it feels like me and my ones that feels like people along together, like we really are a match. And the vocal training, I think it was probably a year before I felt like my voice totally my own. But now I think my voice is better than it's ever been. We got fans here in this room.
We were wowed away by you and your voice. Oh, thank you. Thank you. So, Charity, your memoir is called the Encore.
And then you've teamed with Donate Life America for the my Encore challenge. And I'm thinking when you chose that word Encore, it was for a reason. Yeah, I asked me that because there was a lot of thought that went into the name for the book because it had to encompass so much. And at it's core, my story is one of redemption and and of second chances, not not just in music, but in life and in love and in in everything that makes up my life.
And the first working title was Encore Encore. And then my little sister came to say, no, it's B Encore. And I realized that's what that's what we all we all are seeking and what so many of us have had, even if it's not something to do with organ donation. And so I had this idea as I was writing the book.
I'd heard so many incredible stories from different people. And I had this opportunity to write a book. But I knew that a lot of people with these incredible stories wouldn't have that same opportunity. And I really, I'm a sucker for a good story.
And I wanted to hear those stories and I wanted them to be shared. And so I talked to my friends at Donate Life America and they said, can we do this? Because of the truth about organ donation is everyone can and should be involved. And you don't need to have an organ donation story to be an organ donor.
You know, we all can sign up to be organ donors. And so we decided to launch my Encore challenge. And it's not complicated. You register as an organ donor at donate life.net slash my Encore.
And then you come back to social media and across your platforms, you post a story of your own second chance, your own Encore. And it can be in music or in love in another kind of relationship and work or school or transplant or health. And you tell your story of a second chance. And then you challenge five times to join you and to do the same thing.
And the stories we are hearing are not only like affirming, but like like changing. They are so beautiful and they have given me so much hope in in the journey. And I think 15 cities in the last five weeks, which has been a lot. It's been a lot.
And sometimes I get to any city and I'm like, oh, heaven help me. I'm so tired and I go on to my social media feed and I press the hashtag. And I read some of these stories that people have shared and I just end up in a pool of grateful tears because of the goodness that surrounds us and something that can be so easy to forget that. But I think it's one of the happiest corners of social media and the internet today.
So it's a wonderful thing. I hope people join us in it. Well, we joined that here in Louisiana and Donate Life Louisiana is our Facebook page for those of you listening. But we have a hearsevient named Mr.
Charles and he sings in his church choir. He sings it to our events, especially when the Donate flag is being raised. And so we said, hey, we have something new here. And it was like you guys were kindred spirits, right?
You both love music, love song and you want to use it to inspire others. So he was all in it to win it and he was challenging everybody. And it worked just like you explained just like you wanted it to. So that was a great idea.
Oh, happy to hear that. It's, you know, people are amazing. I think and I know that sounds like a ridiculous throwaway thing to say, but more than anything, Transparent has taught that to me, you know, with with my, with my donor, I brave the lungs of an immigrant and her children were adopted by people who have a totally different political affiliation than myself and like totally different beliefs and a totally different religious structure than her other daughter and then me. And we all seem so different.
But I feel like all of us can unite around those things which are good and ordination is such a wonderful, a wonderful opportunity for bringing humanity together. And I feel so so so blessed to be a part of it. I just love your positive, so uplifting attitude. You are a pleasure to talk with.
Oh, you guys are delighted. Like it's not like you guys are a milk and I will. Well, Joey, but the rest of us. So tell us what you're doing now, what's coming up if people want to find you.
You know, what's what's on the agenda for Miss Charity? Well, like the doing like America, my uncle challenge is really exciting. And I'm I'm very much into that. I'm actually in San Diego right now talking to a huge conference about it.
And so I just did that last night. And then I'll be in Colorado and Utah and Las Vegas, San Francisco and the city in the next couple of weeks. And exciting life. Yeah.
And so I'm moving around a lot. And then then when I'm done, I have a new creative project. I'm working on a musical actually. Oh, Joey, you listening?
Yeah. She asked if I was listening because I'm the top talent around here in music. Oh, yeah. I'll do it.
That's so much musical talent. Oh, my God. It was crazy. It was like every street corner was this fantastic band or ensemble that I'd never heard of.
But they they sounded like they were ready for for their big moment. It was incredible. And to be honest, I'm going to be working on a little on a little musical thing when this is all. And he's better in a group setting to.
Yeah. He's better than a group setting. He's not with journey and those type of things. Oh, yeah.
Fabulous. You guys are you guys are one of the best music cities in the world. So we'll have to get you back down here. All right.
So if you had to sum up donation in one word, what do you think that would be? It's it's tied. If you two, we'll give it to you. So so the first connection.
And the view universal connection that we all have to each other. And the second is. It's this deep love that people have for those they've lost and for those they've never met. And it is I am just overwhelmed by the love that I have been shown by people I have never met and they never meet.
And they have they gave me everything. They gave me everything. And I'm so deeply grateful for that. And so deeply grateful.
Beautiful. And if people want to follow you and your story, where would you send them? If people want to follow me and my story, they should probably follow me on social media. I'm at charity TV on Twitter and on Instagram.
Or you can follow me on my Facebook page, which is my whole name, which is so long. Charity Sunshine Tillam and Dick. And I'd love to see you there. And you can follow me both places because on Instagram, I post more pictures and on Facebook, I post more thoughts.
So I am curious. Sunshine, your middle name. Sunshine is my given. So, Charity Sunshine is my given.
I have all the sisters. I have all the sisters that are just as crazy. I have a little sister who's Liberty Bell. My gave brother who's had his birthday as Zenith wisdom.
My older sister's Kimber Rainbow. It's a home along. They're getting really elegant at the end. Christina Grace and Gloria N.
Willow, which I think are the most beautiful name. But then I then got his name at a kid's name. And so that's why his is a little more out there. Well, your parents are extremely creative.
That's wonderful. Oh my God, you have to be them. Like my father is wonderful. He's passed.
He makes me look like a wolf flower. Oh, no. You would love her. Oh, well, we have enjoyed you.
We will continue to follow your career and all the great things that you're doing to save more lives. And we just thank you for your community as an inspiration to me. So keep doing you. It's working real well.
As we do in every episode of the gift of light podcast, we'd like to honor a hero. The ace hero is Jason William. And we learn about Jason from his family. My son was 30 years old when he was in a very bad car accident.
We live seven hours away. We were called by the doctor at 1 a.m. And told that he was in very bad shape. We drove to Louisiana.
And after getting there at 8 30 that same morning, we were told he was brain dead. And there was nothing they could do since he was unmarried and he had no children. It was our decision on what to do. Jason had marked on his license that he wanted to be a donor.
He had also told us that that was something he wanted to do. His dad and I also plan on being donors. Jason was loved very much and will be missed forever. And you can learn more about Jason on our heroes page at lopa.org.
Now let's pause to say thank you to Jason for the gift of life. In our question and answer segment today, I've heard that tissue donation enhanced up to 50 lives. What does that mean? That question coming into info at lopa.org.
Joe, well, first there are quite a bit of transplants from, of course, one donor. And most of those are bone transplants or, you know, where they can make screws or do a whole lot of different pace and different things that can help enhance from surgery. But then at the same time, we talk about enhance. There are actually tissues that are life saving.
And one of those being hard for hard valves and when we recover the hard for hard valves, hard valve replacements in some situations will save that person's life. And similarly, I watched a police officer came give a talk at one of our conferences last year and he had over 90 percent of his body burned in an accident. He was responding to a call and got an accident and was burned from it. And he said himself that tissue transplant saved my life because it was so he had no protection from the environment, no protection from infections.
And without the skin transplants, he wouldn't. There's no way he could have survived it. So we do say enhance oftentimes, but in a lot of situations and a lot of patients, it is life saving just as organ is. Yeah.
And we have some cornea transplant recipients. And they say, I saved my life because I am independent again and I can do things that I want to do and that I think I need to do. Great question. Thanks, Joe.
Info at lope.org. If you have a question or give us a call, sound you know that number. I do know that number. It's five, zero, four, six, four, eight, three, four, seven, seven.
We have reached the end of yet another gifted life podcast episode. I enjoyed Miss Cherry. Oh, wow. I mean, that's all I can say.
To be honest, her story, the first time I heard her, you guys, if you ever get a chance to see her, if she comes around, she said I went to 15 cities in five weeks. Yeah. She'll be at a city near you soon. Check her out.
Wow. She's so grateful and she's just so uplifting with her positive comments and just the way she would respond. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm great.
Just singing with her donors family member. Oh, it's so amazing. So Charity Tillamondick is what you're going to be looking for. And we talked about the My On-4 challenge.
Donate life.net slash my on for that's donate life.net slash my on for and you too can share your story or inspiring story, which is what we're hoping you get from this. And then we want you to go out today and do something that you don't normally do to help us make life happen like joining the My On-4 challenge. You can do it today. This is a production of the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency or Loba.
The gifted life is hosted by Lori Steele, Joey Buudro and Sally Gentry. Our producers are Kirsten Hines and Shalom Caraway. We are recorded, engineered and mixed in our Metery, Louisiana studio by Troy Perez.