Hello and welcome to the Get to Life podcast where we have conversations about organ tissue and eye donation. I'm Maurice Dio. I'm Joey Boudreau. I'm Sally Gentry.
And thank you for listening guys. The Get to Life.org. We hope you spread the word today. We're going to talk a little bit about living donation.
Yeah, I know we talked about living donation before, but this is going to be a little different. We'll talk about the challenges and the hurdles that must be overcome so that donation can take place. I want to miss it. And you know what I find interesting is the fact of these folks still have to go through basically the same sort of psychological testing and of course the physical testing before they can be a donor.
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We want you to be part of this movement to help save more lives, organ tissue and eye donation. Lots to get to, huh? Let's do it. All right, guys.
Donate us now on the Get to Life. We have Miss Nicole Gladbelter. How are you? I'm good.
Thank you. How about yourself? Good. This isn't the first time we've met.
That is correct. We met in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City, Utah. Sally, what was happening?
I think it was the Transplant Games, right? Transplant Games. Remember, we sent the Get to Life podcast through there to capture these stories. And boy, did we capture some stories.
And this is one that we brought back. And we said we really need to share this story with more people. So Nicole, we appreciate you joining us here on the Gifted Life. She actually gave the gift of life to someone that she knew, right?
And she has quite the story to tell. So welcome, Nicole. Tell us about your transplant journey. How did you start it back when you were college age, 21, 22, right?
And there was a guy that you knew who was in need. Of course. So first, thank you so much for having me. I love getting the chance to share my story and just make other people aware of how awesome living donation is and how I can still go on and have a normal life.
And it's such a minimal part of my being. It didn't take much for me to do what I did. So I decided to start this process and test it when my minister from the church I attended when I was growing up was sick. I had started the process of questions and research and kind of trying to bug everyone.
My junior year of college and for about two years, my questions and my contacts had gone unanswered, which I later found out my nail donor family kept putting the transplant center off to having me tested since I was so young and still in school. And this wasn't something that I needed to do. But as time went on and as potential donors failed testing and dialysis began, they finally figured, hey, what's the chances that this girl is going to be a match? Let's just have her blood tested.
It's not going to be a match and then she'll leave us alone. I don't think people tell you, no, Nicole, you seem like you're a go-getter. And that is what I told them afterwards. I said, I knew this was something I was going to do.
It was something I wanted to do. And I really felt like I was meant to do it. And I finally, after all my testing and after I met with the doctors and after everyone finally said, OK, this is a go ahead. I told my doctors, I said, I told you so.
I said, this was something I was going to do. And there was no way you could convince me otherwise or try to get other people to convince me otherwise. I wanted to do it. And I was going to do it.
Yeah. So she's college age. She's determined there's somebody that she knows that needs a kidney. And she wants to be this living donor.
And so that's what kind of got our attention she fought for this road. And so what were the biggest things that they were telling you that could be detrimental? Like what were their big reasons? So I was just out of college, 23 years old.
A lot of transition in my life, looking for a job, had just moved, newly engaged, never had a child at the point. So their biggest concern was that I wasn't old enough to understand the implications of becoming a living donor and respecting the potential consequences that could come along with it. And then the biggest medical concern was the fact that I hadn't had children yet. They weren't sure how my body would respond to carrying a pregnancy full term with just the one kidney.
So I kind of had to convince the doctors that me being able to carry a child wasn't a given if I had two kidneys, little in one. But if I was meant to have children in this life, that I would provide a way for me to have children. Yeah. And you know what was kind of neat guys at the transplant games?
We met Nicole. We met Proud Mom. Was it Tammy? That is correct.
Yeah. And she was just proud of this girl. And I said, what's going through your mind when all this was happening? And she said, I just couldn't be any prouder of this child.
Oh, wow. That's great. I was just thinking about the fear of you not being able to have a child, but I saw you running around with a toddler, right? Is that right?
Yes, I know. And almost two year old who I carried to turn with absolutely no complications, the biggest fears were gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. And I had absolutely issues or concerns at all. Did you go back and tell anybody that was kind of giving you pushback about the successes?
I sure as heck did. I don't see my transplant team on rare. I see them rarely now that I am six years out, but I did make sure to call them and let them know that I was expecting and that so far everything was going well. And actually the doctor who performed my surgery and was the major pushback.
He had called me personally and congratulated me on the pregnancy and just kind of wanted to be kept updated and see how everything went. And when my son was just a few months old, I had to take him down to the Temple University and he got to meet my transplant coordinator and do my surgeons. What's his name? I didn't get to meet him.
His name is Matthias and he has a little ball of energy. A cute little thing too. But then I said, hey, can I take a picture and he posed? I like that.
So the transplant was in 2012. So I said, Nicole, what happened in 2015 for you? So in 2015, I actually got married to my college sweetheart and he was the side of me the entire time. I was going through the testing, the surgery, the recovery.
So in 2015 when we were getting married, it only seemed fitting that my high school minister, the man who now has my kidney performed our wedding ceremonies. So he actually had one kidney on either side of me. I'm getting the chills over here talking about this. It seems like you guys have this great relationship, right?
We do, we do, yes. And then transplant games, you were there, but your recipient wasn't able to be there because he's living life. I like that you helped him. Yeah, right?
Yes. And my biggest reason for insisting on being the donor for the individual that I was, he and his wife were not able to have their own children because of his disease. So after years of infertility and testing and just a lot of disappointment, they adopted a daughter from China. She was about nine years old when the time came for him to be put on dialysis and it was kind of really now or never for the transplant.
I insisted that after them fighting so hard to get to this point and be able to have a daughter and now having a daughter for nine years that I just, I couldn't let her grow up without a dad knowing I wouldn't have become who I am without having my father in my life. So this year, she is actually getting ready to start her college application. So they went on a countrywide college tour trying to pick out the best schools for her to start applying to her. So I figured if there was ever an excuse and re-booking games, this is it.
With everything that you've gone through, what sort of advice would you have for anyone out there who is considering being a living donor? I really, I mean, to me, everyone says it was such a big thing I did and such a wonderful sacrifice and to me, it doesn't really feel like a sacrifice. Like, I was out of work and, you know, not up to par for three weeks. But outside of that, I've gained so much more than I could have ever imagined and I only lost a little kidney.
So my family grew with Mr. Paul's family, you know, I'm closer to than ever with his family and just my family with my team Philadelphia that I traveled to the transplant games with. I've made like long friendships there. And just go into the games in and of itself, like, not that you should ever give away an organ just to go on, you know, a vacation every other year.
It's just, I mean, until you're there, it's just heartwarming and to have complete strangers come up to you and thank you for doing something that didn't even directly affect them. It's just… But how rewarding? You don't realize how awesome it is until you're there. And it makes such a big difference to everyone because they've been waiting for the organs.
They've been through the testing and the failure and the rejection and the excitement of getting an organ first of all through. So for them to see that I was just like nonchalant, like here have my kidney, like they appreciate that and respect that because they've been on the waiting side and they know how critical and time sensitive it is. It's just really awesome to realize that yes, I only directly impact it in one person, but it's so appreciated in that community. Well, and I think that certainly then speaks to the fact of, you know, if you can make a difference for one person, then you have really done something absolutely fantastic.
And so you have. Yeah. And I really just hope that, you know, by going there as a living donor and sharing my story and competing among side other living donors and the recipients themselves, it inspires other people to either be, you know, to register to be an organ donor or to, you know, consider signing up to be a living donor. And I think we really kind of sell ourselves short when we're at the transplant games.
You have all of these supporters that are there for the recipients and, you know, the living donors and even the donor family members. But if we really, you know, strike a court, that's a big audience that we can, you know, try to get some more living donors out of because ultimately, you know, there's more people needing kidneys than we can keep up with through the deceased registry. So I think we have a, you know, good market to spread the word and spread the inspiration. Yeah.
Well, you're so shy. We're going to have to work on you so you can help us out. It's not that I'm shy. It's just I have a hard time balancing everything.
You're a great spokesperson. You got our attention. We're so happy that you're here spreading the word. And then you talked about touching Mr.
Paul's life, but we know his wife, his child, his extended family, like you've touched all of these lives. And that's what we say here in the podcast. One person making a difference that one person is useless there. So we hope that this story inspires others for sure to help us make life happen.
That's the goal. Yes. We appreciate you telling us. And we say hello.
I know certainly well and I, my mom was, I was more excited to do the podcast than me. She was sitting there. Make sure you say this. Make sure you say that.
You don't mind. Could I just give a shout out to my mom? Please do. Behind every living donor, there's a support system.
Right. And that was one of the biggest things going through this process. They wanted to make sure I had a support system in place for the recovery to help me understand that I knew what I was doing and just kind of make sure I was making the decisions for the right reason. And while everyone in my family, my fiance now husband included was supportive, I truly have no bigger supporter than my mom.
She has gone to every single doctor's appointment, every single blood test, every single, every single thing you could think of. My mom has been right there beside me, including going to the transplant games with me. She jokes that I just take her along to carry off my stuff. I'm not going to try.
Well, but there's truly not a, another person I would rather have at the games with me. She's gone through the entire experience and has been my biggest fighter trying to convince the doctors that this was going to happen and they were wasting their time trying to convince me otherwise. I just want my mom to know that I appreciate all of her support and that she is very much appreciated when it comes to this aspect of my life. But we recognize that bond.
That was easy to see. And then she was just beaming with pride for you, which is what we love to see. So we love it. Thank y'all so much for sharing your story.
Of course. Thanks for having me. All right, guys. Here on the get to life, another incredible story unfolding that we want to tell you about Ted Sheldon joins us now.
Hey, Ted. Hey, we are focusing on living donation at one person, making a difference, that one person stepping up to the plate. And that's kind of your story, right? So that transplant happened in February of 2016.
And there was a friend in need and that's kind of what prompted you to take action. So tell us about that. I had met John back in 2002 at a conference down in Alabama at church conference. He had just lost his mother.
And we became friends to that and realized that he lived about 30 miles from where I grew up. And so we would come to visit him every time we come up visit with my mom. And through that, as Tom progressed, he became sick and had kidney failure. And started the dialysis process.
I mentioned to him that if you need help on anything, don't let us know. And about a year later, he said, hey, this was 2015. He goes, were you serious about wanting to donate a kidney? And it's absolutely if it will help you.
You know, be better father. Be around your kids. And absolutely. He goes, do you want to think about it?
I'm like, no, I need to make a happen or not happen. And so I started testing through Ohio State Labor Day weekend 2015. Initially during the testing phase, there was a setback, right? Right off the bat, we were, he was type O and I was, I believe, type A of some variation.
And so we were obviously not going to be paired together. So it wouldn't be a direct link for him. But I signed on for the exchange knowing that somehow or another, you know, if I could qualify for the testing, then at least, you know, he could have a, somehow, maybe he could get one. I didn't know, I didn't know near as much as I don't know.
But yeah. The exchange that he's talking about is kidney paired exchange or kidney paired donation, which we've talked about in a previous episode. And what happens in these situations, which is what you found yourself in, when you have someone who wants to be a living donor and the recipient don't match, there's a way now for transplant centers to be able to communicate with other transplant centers and actually match up with a different potential recipient. And then that person's donor matches up with a different recipient.
And it all ends up in a closed circle where everyone exchanges, you know, or, or donates a kidney and receives. So it's a very neat thing that's going on. And it's really taken off and created more donations or allowed for more donations to take place. So, so what, what really kept you going then?
I mean, it sounds like you had a lot of adversity to deal with there. What kept you going or kept you trying to make this right? Um, I just, it was he said, I knew that everything that came up as an obstacle got it moved out of the way. And then, you know, not that God told me to go do this or anything like that, but that God was enabling this to happen for some reason, for his glory, for, you know, how it was going to happen just never made sense.
Like, I know more about kidney transplants now than I did walking in. I kind of want to come and find, you know, good old Goober, you know, and happy to do it. But I've learned more about it. And it's, it's, you know, again, his son was maybe seven days older than my son.
His youngest son was a month younger than my daughter. I mean, you know, he was pretty close in age to me. So it's, you know, but yourself and one of your friends, you know, you know, I'm sitting here healthy as I'll get out and go play basketball and flip off my kids and live live. Yeah.
He gets home from work and he's that. You know, he goes, you know, we got to touch with him and he literally gets up and preaches and he's that, you know, and that's, that's painful to watch your friends go through it. It's painful to think that there's so many people going through it. You're trying to do something about it.
Yeah. We just talked to Nicole who gave a kidney to someone that she knew as well. I love these stories. They inspire me.
One of the things that people ask us. One of the things that people ask us about is like, how did your job react? How did your spouse react? Do you, can you feel a sin on how that impact you?
My wife's reaction was hilarious because my wife, we get along great. We've been married about 12 years and she's, she's just an absolute sweetheart. And she's like, let's go along with, I'll go along with this and everything we find. And I'm sure in her mind, I'm sure Ted will fail the test.
There'll be something wrong with me. He won't be eligible to give and it'll be just, I supported him and everything's cool. And then we're sitting there and then we're sitting there on orientation and, you know, the, the advocate was my love dearly with this, you know, talk away with me and, and, you know, social worker come through went through all the different conversations and blood work and stuff. And look over at her and she had this really strange look on her face.
You know, I'm only getting, you know, needled and run through the rigor and I'm looking at her and she looked like she'd been through, you know, just World War III. I'm like, what's wrong? I didn't think you'd make it this far. I was so into that effect and I'm like, oh, we just, I'm like, oh, this got real, didn't it?
She's like, yeah. Oh my goodness. And she cried and I was like, are we still good? And she's like, we're here now.
So we, you know, got to keep going. And then, I mean, she wasn't against it. She just kind of, you know, sometimes I come up with no ideas and she figures, well, he'll pursue it until he falls on the space and that'll be the end of that little, you know, thing that. But I didn't shut it down.
So work was a little different. It's my immediate boss knew about it, but most of his bosses didn't know. And it was just strange. It's like everything was one way before the surgery.
I took about a month off and my ladies at the HR office, they were great. They helped me use short-term disability. They helped me use vacation and sick time. They actually left me with a week vacation that I could use later in the year, which I thought was really great of them.
I work in a small store. A lot of people don't realize FM with FLEMA only affects a certain size store, certain size business within a certain radius. And though my company as a whole has the number of employees you need, my store didn't. And I was at close enough to another store that actually got us there.
So I literally was on my own. So and there was, there seemed to be a little blowback when I got back from work as far as different, how different bosses traded me and things like that. So it's, it's been different over the last two years and it was for the first 16 years with them. So it's, it's a little interesting right now.
So you saw this obviously as a, as a, you know, another hurdle, you know, with your job. So you've already had hurdle after hurdle and then now you've got, you know, some job issues that you've got to take care of. So you didn't just stop there. Didn't you go to your congressman to try to impact some legislation there?
Yeah, I did. Interesting. I'm in a local association, home builder's association and we were talking about, we had a meeting set up right after I got back from the surgery. And we get about one meeting a year with Congressman Plaza and he was in, talked about insurance and what's going to happen with homeowners insurance.
And I think he's, I think a lot of the states on the coast are going through some insurance ways. So we got a chance to talk with him and while we're walking out, one of my friends, you know, pointed out just come back from surgery and he was, he stopped and talked to me for a second. There's only about 10 of us in the room. And I said, hey, by the way, if you would like to really help out, I said, there's a bill that's been written, it's still in committee and all that.
But if you could sign your name to it, it wouldn't help to build it. More attraction, I think the town, there's only 20, 20 co-sponsors to it. I don't know if you could put your name on it. It doesn't cost anything, it doesn't cost everything, it doesn't cost employers anything.
It's guarantees that somebody like me that if I leave to do something like this, then it guarantees that they have a job when they get back. And I gave me his executive secretary's business card and I had to call about every month and I didn't mind him to do it. Persistent. Apparently, no cost bills and Congress are, I don't know, that's worse.
They don't have enough juice, right? Yeah, there's no hack money tied to it or something like that. So Ted, you're doing really well now, you had said? Oh, yes, yes.
I would do it in a heart. And there's a lot of us that I'm going to support group on Facebook and most of us would do it again in a heartbeat if we'd had another kidney to give. So do you have any advice for our listeners that might be very helpful? I would advise that if you have a level and it's going through kidney disease to look at the options, to look at getting tested, you may not be in the exact match for your level.
But you may be a match for somebody else that maybe I'm going to exchange. My recipient is a, you know, got to know her before the surgery. I didn't meet her until two days later, but she's a hospice nurse and she had a little boy that's about a year or two older than my son. And again, you put yourself in somebody else's shoes and she loves her patients, she loves what she's doing.
And you know, you can't help it. Just love that this person actually has some more energy. I mean, you're talking about the, you know, let you guys talk with earlier. She had to overcome doctors, tell her, know.
Right. And I would push through man. I like that. I would, you know, look at different hospitals.
You know, sometimes the, you know, there are certain hospitals that want the recipient to be in tip top physical shape and some hospitals are like, Hey, we can make this work. Um, just, you know, what have you. So it made me work to be a little bit healthier so that when I got there, you know, I wasn't risking everybody else's health. You know, so I was exercising more.
I was trying to get healthier. I'd lost some weight. Um, you know, just, you know, try if one hospital says no or one center says no, you know, look at what they said and maybe look at a different center. You know, look at different options.
It's just, I think the one thing that pushed me the hardest was that, yeah, I think the statistic I last heard was 17 people die a day on the waiting list. Right. I see similarities in you and Nicole's story. You're both vocal, both educated yourselves.
I both did what you guys were, you know, trained to do medically. And then you just wanted to help say lives and do good things. And so we appreciate you guys. Hopefully your stories will inspire others here on the gift of life.
We talk about going out and do something you don't normally do to help make life happen when man said you did it. So we appreciate the update and we hope to continue to follow your story. But thank you so much for joining us here on the gift of life. Thank you guys.
In every episode of the gift of life, we honor a hero that hero today is Barry Brown. And we hear from Barry's family. His wings were ready, but our hearts were not. Barry was a devoted son, loving brother and truest friend.
He never met a stranger and always had a nice word for all. His laugh was unforgettable. His great generosity was known to many and his enormous love for life was infectious. One of his favorite times was sitting in his swing, watching the hummingbirds and going fishing with his lifelong buddies.
Barry will never be forgotten. His last act on earth was one of kindness, giving his eyes and tissue to the benefit of others in need. He left the same way he lived, always thinking of someone other than himself. And at this time we pause and say thank you to Barry for the gift of life.
On the gift of life we love when you send in questions we'd like to learn together. This question came in guys. Is living donation something we're talking about today? Is living donation protected under FMLA?
Yeah, and of course the FMLA is Family Medical Leave Act and that protects us if we get injured or ill that we can't let go from a job just because of medical purposes. As of August 29th to be exact, living donors jobs are protected. But not only that, but one of the bigger implications is in addition to that, it prohibits life, disability and long-term care insurance companies from denying our limiting coverage and for charging higher premiums for living organ donors. So that's a huge change.
And that's new. Yeah. Maybe you want to read more about that? The TST.org, that's the American Society of Transplantation.
So my AST.org under the news section and you can find more about the FMLA Act as it ties to living donation. If you'd like to know more information about this or anything that we've been talking about today or in other episodes, you can always reach us at email at info at giftedlife.org. Or don't forget, you can give us a call. What's that number?
Oh, I've been waiting for this. 504648347. We'd really like to hear from you and hopefully you'll give us a call. And that'll do it for episode 93 folks.
Oh, we're all in, right? We think Nicole Glad, Felter and Ted Sheldon for shining a spotlight on living donation, sharing their stories of persistence, constantly being told, no, no, no from so many angles and then pushing through. And you know what, Joey, really what came to my mind was, you know, it's easy just to say, well, okay, I'm easily trying. I wanted to help somebody put all these roadblocks from my way.
Yeah, but they went on to actually go through with it, caring, compassionate, looking out for their fellow human being. I mean, that's pretty remarkable. Very special. Inspires me, guys.
Talk about go out and do something that you don't normally do to help make life happen. Yeah, right? Yeah, hopefully this inspires you to take action. If you're not a registered organ tissue and I donor, you can do that now.
Register me.org, guys. As always, thanks for tuning in to the Gifted Life and we hope to see you for the next one. This is a production of the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency or LOPA. The Gifted Life is hosted by Lori Steele, Joey Buudro, and Sally Gendry, our executive producer is Kirsten Hines, producer is Shalom Caraway.
And we are recorded, engineered and mixed in our Covington, Louisiana studio by Troy Perez.