Directed Organ Donation

Hello, and welcome to the Kids in Life podcast, where we have conversations about organ, tissue, and eye donation. I'm Maurice Dio. I'm Joey Bujreau. And I'm Stanley Chantry.

And we are so glad that you choose to tune in to listen. And we hope that you do more of that. Good job, A-Bless. Coming up on this episode, guys, an incredible story of live, safe, through direct donation.

What is direct donation? We'll tell you more about it. Can't, as in every episode, we'll honor a hero. All that and so much more coming up on this episode and this episode and all the ones that came before, we want you to share it.

It's so easy to do these days. You can absolutely find us anywhere these days. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Google Play, or whatever your favorite podcast app might be. Very good.

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We even have a hotline now. Oh, we do. And look, I love all this upbeat presentation. Makes me feel so young and good.

Oh, thank you guys. So in the meantime, though, you might want to call 504-648-3477. And we might just share your story. Yes, we love it.

It works like a voicemail. So call in, tell us what you want to tell us. This is a learning process. Inspire others to sign up to make life happen.

And you can do that today. It's that simple. Lots to get to on this episode of The Gifted Life. Here we go.

OK, guys. We told you about this incredible story that we are going to share with you today. The reason that we are able to share that with you is because of three special men who have joined us here on The Gifted Life podcast. So we have Caleb, Mike, and Greg joining us today.

Hi, guys. I'm glad that you guys have chosen to join us. And we want to tell folks about the special connection that you guys all now share. So Caleb, you are part of a donor family, right?

Yes, ma'am. That's great. All right, so tell us how that came to be. A beautiful picture of your sister, right, Cassie?

Yes, ma'am. You know, I guess in my family, we all grew up in church and grew up as Christians. We all individually made the choice to follow Christ as our personal Savior. And so in that, I think a lot of times there's the seasons that you make of the Christian that the Holy Spirit leads you to make and being an organ donor is something that we all believe in mainly because we know that when we pass away, we don't need our earthly bodies anymore.

And so it's never been a second thought. And so that was Cassie's mentality when she became an organ donor. And on top of that, she was just almost to a fault. She was just somebody who loved to give.

So that's kind of how it came to be that Cassie became an organ donor. It's just the way we were brought up and what we know Jesus to be in our lives. We know that people would benefit from the organs more than we would at that point. Yeah.

So when we talk about donation, we talk about these gifts of life. And we saw that come to play in your situation. And we talk about donation, but we're talking about direct donation on this episode of the podcast. So basically direct donation, Joe, you want to- Yeah.

So, you know, direct donation, we try to offer families in each situation. If they know someone that is in need, certainly we would like to do everything we can to facilitate that donation to happen because of course, anytime there's someone you know that can benefit that emotion and that tie, it makes it so much greater for the family. I guess one of the basic facts is that somebody would need to be on the list though, right? Right, of course, they can't be on the recipient in unless they're on the national waiting list, on the UNOSA list that we've talked about before.

All right. So, Caleb, I'm going to come back to you. So we're talking about direct donation. We knew that Cassie would want to be an organ donor.

Your family supports that. And then what happened next in her story? Basically, I'm a part-time music minister at Baltimore Baptist Church. So immediately I had a lot of support when Cassie passed away.

And so one of the things, one of my bosses at the church called me and he said, Greg and Mike, who you know very well, they are struggling with hope issues. You know, they just, they don't know what's going to come up all this. And the fact that your sister is a donor, just the testimony of her being a donor may give them some hope. And that's kind of the point where everything kind of turned to the direct donation point.

We had no idea how the process works. So we didn't know about direct donation. And it was just kind of a point where we just called and asked a question and then it kind of started the ball rolling from there. So at that point, you spoke to the local representative and said, hey, I've got people that I know.

Yeah, I call it. Ms. Gina Vickers was our local representative. And I just called her and I said, um, I'm not sure how this works.

But if I know a couple of guys that are on the recipient list, can we request that maybe they at least get first shot at being a match? And she said, absolutely. And that was spurred initially by her making the phone call to me just really to say, hey, this is a story of hope for these two guys. Never imagining what the outcome would be.

Wow. And so those two guys would be Mike and Greg. And I want to talk to you guys now. So Mike, for you to be listed for a kidney, you had to be pretty sick, right?

Yes, I was in stage for kidney disease and my DFR head drop down that I found out after the transplant, my underfrologist was standing over me and he had told me that he had dropped down to the most critical point. And it was time for me to do the stardylosis or that was it. I was trying to hold off from dialysis for as long as possible. I was pre dialysis and for the great, well, he had been on dialysis for three years, but I was free.

He told me that I was really sick and I had to start dialysis, but at the same very day, I had went to get the blood work that's how he found that out. And then that same day is when I got the call saying that you may be able to receive a kidney, but we're matching you up now and we'll give you a call back to let you know soon. So pack a bag just in case. And hours after that, you know, I got a call from Caleb also, let me not to get my hopes up to have.

But one of us were probably in the receiving a kidney, either Brother Greg or myself. I heard that message. They called me back again saying that you are a match, but I was so afraid. I wanted Brother Greg.

I was like, well, Brother Greg has a match. You know, let him get the kidney because he had been on dialysis for three years and I already know what that's like. You know, that's why I was trying to hold off from it for as long as possible. I got the onetime got that he showed up and he worked it out that I received the kidney.

I was a match. I got to the hospital that night on my way there. You know, I was back and forth with Brother Herb and he's the musical director in the Royal Church. And he was just calming me down because my anxiety was high.

When they called I was trying to get there as fast as possible. And when I got there, you know, I was pretty calm, but that's when I ran into for the Greg and his wife, Beth. And I was like, what are you guys doing? And he said, well, we were a match.

I'm like, you're a match too. I'm like, oh my God, I was like, is this really true God? Is this really going to happen this way? And it turned out to be above and beyond my request.

And I always told people that God can do above our request, you know, and he did exactly that. He just I told people he showed up and showed out in a mighty way that Greg was a match and myself was a match. Cassie turned out to be a match for both of us. Fantastic.

So often this is something we try to facilitate frequently each month. You know, we'll have a number of families that say, Hey, look, I know this person or, you know, I have a family member. And oftentimes it's family members in general, our requests are from one of their, you know, their family might have a brother or an aunt or a parent that is waiting on a kidney or a liver. And so often they're not a match.

So disappointing from our standpoint, you know, because you have to match with, you know, so many different aspects with not just your blood type, but you know, size has to be, you know, at least close enough or they have what's called antigen matching, where it's a lot more specific, where it's easier to reject. It's a lot more difficult from a kidney standpoint than say a liver to match because there are more hurdles to go through. So being that you guys weren't even kin, you know, you weren't even relatives. We're my brothers.

Family now. I came up with the same DNA. That's true. It's true.

But like Kayla points out, you guys aren't even the same ethnicity. You just never know. That's the most outstanding part of this far as a direct donation from our standpoint. So Greg, I'd like to go to you if you don't mind, you know, so tell me about that when you first got that call and what it was like when you realized, you know, that that that Cassie was a match.

That Monday, I was still working full time and I was struggling to work. And then three nights a week, you'll dialysis for, I was at 25 hours at a time. And my doctor had actually talked to me about stopping work because I just wasn't recovering like I used to. And but I wanted to keep working and I had run out of good days.

I used to have good days and bad days, but it got to basically where I was at the end of my strength. And I spent that Monday morning on my patio praying and I sent my wife a text and she kept it. And I told her, I said, look, I've been praying all morning. And I've just told God that I'm at the end of my strength.

I just can't keep doing this. So whatever he's going to do, whether it's to heal me or provide a kidney or or just take me home, whatever he's going to do just to go ahead and do it. And I said, I'm going to just listen to leave and go to dialysis. But I just can't keep doing this.

And I literally told her I was just like, I told God, I was at the end of my strength. I just couldn't keep doing it anymore. We got the call Beth actually got the first call on the next morning as it had worked out. Beth is one of the people on the committee for the social deal.

She's a very social talkative person anyway. We were decided to take the first meal out to Caleb and his family. Of course, this is before we knew what was going on. And so we were literally on our way out there when we got the first call that said, you may be a match.

Wow. And I looked at Beth and I said, what do I say to these people? You know, and I go back, you know, when I say these people, I mean, I knew Caleb when he was a teenager, I worked, we both lived in Pineville. And I worked with the youth when he was a teenager.

And so he'd been over my house many times and my oldest son, his first girlfriend was Cassie. They were only in the six million. Wow. I knew Cassie also.

So and his mom and so guys really are there and we got out there with the food and I didn't know what to say to him. I mean, normally you would talk about, you know, sorry for your loss and just hug. And I didn't know what to say. And Caleb just said, Hey, mom's in there.

What you go talk to? And the first thing Jan said, I wish he was here is she got up and hugged me and I didn't know what to say to her. She just said, we so hope that you can get one Cassie's kidneys. We know that's what she would want.

And I lost her after that. I just cried. And it was so bittersweet because I had not seen Cassie in probably 15 years. And I didn't even know that she had lived up here because I had last known when she was in Pineville.

So it was a bittersweet moment for everyone, not not as much as the family. But since that time, we've literally become family and we just we text and we keep in touch and we have dinner together and we just we just celebrate. We had a celebration a few weeks ago where we had Caleb's family, Mike's family, my family, a bunch of friends from church about 75 people overall. And we met at a restaurant and a local TV station, you know, covered part of it.

And we just gave tribute to God and what he had done. And we introduced Cassie's girls, her two little girls through the crowd and and Caleb shared some Mike and I. And we just we just had a celebration of of really Cassie's life and God's good grace and faithfulness to us. So I heard how wonderful it was through my co-worker, Nyla, who came up for it, especially there and she was really touched by what went on and how you all just are just a wonderful family.

Now it's your collective family. Even our prestigious doctor, Zabara, he came who did our transition to and he got and he spoke about ordind donations and and stuff of that nature. And it was just great. I keep telling everybody was all God.

Everything has been orchestrated from how I got to Broadmoor Church. I came back to Broadmoor Church. All of us meeting. He it was like a puzzle and he was putting the pieces together, you know, his planning, his orchestration and I believed with everything within me that, you know, it was all God how I was planned out because it's no other way for Cassie to be a universal donor, both of us recipients.

We're, you know, the kidneys you worked out for both of us that way. I truly believe that it was all God and God worked it out. And like I said, he just showed up and he worked everything out an amazing way. And I'm just so grateful to the family and God and to everybody who I had poured in this happening.

Well, this is incredible. And we heard about it from our local co-workers and it was just you have to listen to this story. So we are so grateful that you guys came around. Hey, we'll start with you.

I guess we heard your thoughts on donation before, but now that you've seen it, you've lived it. Tell us your thoughts on donation and what you would tell the next person. You know, to be honest, because it was never a second thought, I never directly dealt with anybody. Well, one of my best friends that I grew up with was on the recipient list for, and he ended up getting a kidney in pancreas.

But I remember he had juvenile diabetes and we grew up together for years through high school. So I remember just those days where this guy who was like family to me, having these days where he would just struggle. And this was before he was ever on a recipient's list. And then when he told me that he was going to have to have a transplant to continue with any kind of quality of life, you know, it broke my heart.

And I didn't really know what to say to him, you know, and then when he got the kidney and pancreas and just the way it affected him and everything, it kind of put it in the back of my mind and never imagined going through this with our family and kind of seeing just exactly what it meant. But I've always, you know, when you're at the DMV and they ask you the question, you know, do you want to be an organ donor? I was just said, yes, I didn't think much about it. You know, but now I realize as flipping as it is to just say, yes, that's not a decision that anyone should take lightly.

I think it's something that that everybody should should consider because I can tell you that without these guys and what God's done in this situation, the circumstances of my sister's loss would probably drive us off to the madhouse. I mean, we've just hurt and confusion that we've experienced and her loss has been overwhelmed by God through a piece every time I see these guys and see the smile on their face and organ donation to me is a must. Well, and not only did Cassie help both of you, Cassie helped save three other people's lives too. She's a hero.

What a legacy to leave. And Mike and Greg, it looks like you guys are feeling great. We feel the the spunk when you guys talk, but we're hoping that you're okay. And then donation for you means what now?

Donation for me means not having to take your organs to heaven because heaven knows that we need them. That's one of the slogans that are on the bumper sticker. And I want more of I got back of my phone and I want other people who have it on there on mobiles. I also let them know that heaven knows that we need them, especially in the Afro American community.

I'm going to be doing my hardest work letting them know about organ donations because a majority of African Americans don't know about organ donation or they are they have a freight approach to that. And I'm going to be getting the word out a lot in that community also. And Greg, if you could tell us your thoughts on donation, I've been on dialysis for three years. And for three years, I've watched people seem like every month.

The paramedics would show up and have to pick someone up and take them out to a hospital because they were having problems or difficulties. And there've been several times that people who've been at dialysis with me for months and months weren't there anymore. And I would ask what happened to them and was told that they passed away. So that happened several times over the three years that that I was in.

Had one person that died there at the clinic while they were sitting in a chair just passed away. And and I guess what the message I want to help get out like Mike, you know, you want to you want everybody to know and like I would have said is, why do you need them once you're gone? It's a gift that you can give that you have no use for anymore. To me, it's a no brainer and I really don't understand why more people wouldn't agree to do that.

And I think the more people that are made aware and hear care story of how you can have to say when someone's life extend their life that more people will have. That's what we both talked about planning on doing is helping any way we can speak anywhere we get a chance and doing what we can. Well, guys, we always say it takes one person to make a difference. And you guys are times three.

Is that right? Sally Sally? Sally? Sally?

Yeah. There you go. But anyway, so think of the lives that can be saved because you guys are on the on the same team all working to honor Cassie's legacy, her memory. So we appreciate you guys.

Thank you so much. Every episode of the Get to Life podcast, we'd like to honor a hero. In today's episode, we'll be honoring Cassie Edward. And we learn about Cassie from her family.

We learned that she was a selfless giver. She always helped others in need even if they meant doing without a few luxuries for herself. She gave her time and support for her country as a member of the Louisiana Army National Guard. She faithfully gave her finances to her church and she always gave a word of encouragement to her friends and family.

Cassie was an amazing mom and taught her two beautiful daughters daily of God's love for them. She even had the opportunity to help guide both of them to accept Jesus Christ as their own personal savior. Knowing the importance of sharing God's love, Cassie became an organ donor. In her death, she was able to give.

She gave her heart to a young woman in her twenties. She gave her liver to a young teenage woman. She gave her lungs to a young man in his teens. She blessed two dear family friends, Mike and Greg, with her kidneys.

Cassie's infectious smile, encouraging words and faithfulness to share God's love will forever be missed. But her spirit of giving will forever be remembered. And now we pause to say thank you to Cassie for the gift of life. And our question and answer segment we love when you send in those questions.

This one came to us at info at lopa.org. That's the way you can communicate with us too. The question is I'm an organ and tissue donor. Am I also able to donate my blood after I die?

Unfortunately, the answer is no because you either die of one or two ways, brain death or cardiac death. And with brain death, you're so unstable generally that it would be impossible for one to donate blood. And in cardiac death, your blood stops circulating. So immediately once circulation ceases, your blood starts clotting in which way you would not be able to donate that way either.

So unfortunately, the answer is no. But having said that, certainly I encourage you guys to give the gift of life through blood donation by one of your local blood donor services and go ahead and donate before you die. That's right. I did that just a couple months ago.

Yeah, that's awesome. Got a rehab, right? All right. So info at lopa.org.

That's how you can communicate with us. We also have that hotline house out. Yes, we do. At five, zero, four, six, four, eight, three, four, seven, seven, communicate with us today.

Another episode of the gifted life guys and it was power packed. Amazing. We learned about the recognition through a living example, a wonderful living example. And with the recognition, that's the one time where we can actually quote, unquote, jump the list.

If the family knows someone exactly, you know, like, like what we heard here, that's the one opportunity where, you know, of course, because they know that person is so much more meaningful to them, we make every attempt to see that through. And how awesome to see the three of them sitting there, having this conversation, knowing one another all this time and the connections. Yes. Oh my goodness.

Fantastic. Yeah. So thanks to Caleb, Mike and Greg for being so open for sharing their story, not only with us, but on local media and their area, which is how, you know, we got to see that as well. And then joining us on the podcast, great speakers, like they say, their family.

Yeah, absolutely. They are connected through DNA. And I love that. And we're going to continue to follow up with them as they continue on their donation journey.

And you, I'm talking to you, you right there. You too can go out and make a difference today. We want it to happen today. Go out and do something you don't normally do to help us make life happen.

This is a production of the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, or LOPA, The Gift of Life is hosted by Lori Steele, Noibudro, and Sally Gendry. Our producers are Kirsten Heins and Shalom Caraway. We are recorded, engineered, and mixed in our Metery Louisiana Studio by Troy Perez.