Hello and welcome to the gifted life podcast where we have conversations about organ tissue and eye donation. I'm Lori Steel. I'm Joey Bujo. Oh, Joe, what's going on there?
I got a little horse last night. I was preaching the good word of organ donation from the rooftop. Yes, I'm totally fine. Yeah, this is an exciting time.
Not only are we in the middle of another podcast, but we are live here at Loba's education conference Which is held in New Orleans putting pieces together now about what's happening. Okay, so we're at the Loba education conference We are live. We have a live audience higher buddy. Hey guys, y'all can join us.
Our friends are family But mostly Loba life savers from across the state. We are here continuing our education We are being inspired about what we do and that's making life happen So we have lots to get to today one of the things that we're gonna be doing is trying to get this podcast To reflect what we're doing here in New Orleans. So we have some pretty special guests that you will hear from today I can't wait. We have some really good guests on top.
We got Stacy Landry who put a great education conference together for us So I'm looking forward to this podcast and the rest of our day. Yeah, we're gonna talk to her Jamie Napolitano is here She is a grateful recipient who pays it forward all the time and she's gonna help us honor a hero unless she's here at the conference Helping us out. We'll talk about that miss Sally's here. Absolutely Sally.
She's here again We always get questions about family, you know communication and different things about how can a family don't her family actually communicate with the Recipients happen is there a time frame? So we're gonna have Sally on talking about that. Yeah, there's someone who knows it's our Sally I'll also talk to Richard Norris if you google his name. I mean pretty famous face transplant recipient We have so many questions here.
We're gonna talk to him as well. We'll also have questions from our lovely audience So you guys be ready be prepared. Yeah, right? Okay, so you mentioned Stacy earlier She is Lopez human systems manager and she's kind of a brain trust about what's going on here in New Orleans Lopez education conference We were talking about how inspired we are how wonderful this all was but it must have been a nightmare planning.
So good for you girl Yeah, thanks. It was a lot of work, but I can't take all the credit for it. Miss Lynette Lamarck It was a huge help with with getting that all together But yeah, we're wrapping up they to here at our first ever Lopa education conference at the Hotel Montemeyon and the French Quarter in the great City of New Orleans, which has been amazing Yes, and you know Lori Send our all of our employees to these big national conferences like a aopo and a TV So we thought we would bring that experience to them here in New Orleans And I think it's been a great experience before we've had some really great speakers and some great topics absolutely We had multiple physicians yesterday given really good talks and today and I have not gotten one negative comment about this entire two days It's been fantastic Stacy and I applaud you for putting on such a great conference It has been awesome one of the things that we've been talking about is putting everything that we learned here back into the communities where we work across the state So it's amazing. Thank you very much Stacy Landry.
I guess we gotta let her get back to work Thank you, thank you Stacy Landry and she's Lopa's human systems manager like we said lots going on here on the gifted life We're easy to find please spread the word. We can all do one thing to help spread the message about making life happen It's very easy. We try to make it as easy as possible We do and don't forget you guys can find us on iTunes or whatever your favorite app might be but listen to us spread the word more Come it is time now to honor a hero and to do that We're bringing in a very special guest and she is dear to a lot of us here at Lopa Her name is Jamie Napolitano She's a grateful recipient who pays it forward time and again and helps us honor her hero Cameron Burleson welcome Jamie We appreciate you being here. First of all tell us about your story.
We know you have some precious babies that you were here to watch Then bro And what's awesome is you've met your donors parents and we captured a moment on video that was emotional We know you're emotional now, but tell us what that was like and what that meant to you Yes, when I went to the transplant games in Houston last summer and I've been communicating with my donor Cameron's parents and they agreed to meet me there And so whenever we met, you know, we knew we were family and they were so gracious And you know just explained how knowing that you know Cameron lives on not only through me but through others It was very special for all of us and they enjoyed participating in the games where I was able to do things that I'd never been able to do You know like run track which and when that'll and when yes Yes, Cameron's heart that's right and his dad was at the finish line every time and what was amazing is that both of you and them say y'all All family now, which is amazing. You can actually watch the video on donate life Louisiana's YouTube channels very touching we use it in our presentations We have that to learn from you as well. You're also a child life specialist. So you're helping us here at the conference too For that right.
Yes before I had my transplant I worked with children in the pediatric hospital and a lot of transplant patients or patients That were waiting for the gift of life And so I held children coping in the hospital setting and here I was able to talk a little bit about how children grieve and mourn and To help the staff understand how they can help children and families during this time a learning process And we appreciate you taking the time. I also hear transplant games 2016 is on your calendar. That's right. Yeah more metals to be one Oh, excuse me I like that more metals to be one and so Cameron's family is going to be included You guys have things that are coming up where y'all are together and that's right.
That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right Right.
They've already since we met just a little over a year ago We went down to Austin to join them in a walk for suicide prevention And then they came here for my husband's 50th birthday surprise party Oh, wow, they're coming here this weekend to go to the Saints Cowboys game with us And then again in a few weeks for the donate life America conference. I love it. I love to see that and I love that you continue to pay it forward It's just an amazing gift. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm grateful that I'm able to yeah Well, we appreciate me you miss Jamie Napolitano child life specialist I'm also grateful recipient and she was here helping us to honor Cameron Burleson at this point in the podcast Joey as we do in every podcast I want to pause and we want to say thank you to Cameron Burleson or the gift of life I feel like we need to have something for Sally at Sally time Sally's here She is with Loba. She's our family services division and she helps recipients donor families us understand the donation process the communication process And we ask her about personal problems, too She's just everybody's everything right about Teresa. How you're enjoying this conference miss out very nice very nice Yeah, well, we appreciate you joining us here a little intimidating because we are live in front of our peers But Sally doesn't shy away from a challenge.
We like that. Let's talk about family services and Loba We just heard from Miss Jamie Napolitano. She met her donor family that is commonplace now in Louisiana And for Jamie to explain what that meant for her to meet the family And just the whole process that goes with that because there's a lot of emotions that come to play when people are meeting for the first time They're able to express their thoughts and feelings. They've never been able to do so before And I think too that just physically when I hear from the transplant center staff They'll talk about the recipient spring letters and talk about talking with their donor families and what it's meant for them and actually Physiologically the healing process seems to go a little bit better with individuals who've had this opportunity because it does reduce a little bit of the stress and Wondering that goes on so tell me how's it initiated?
Is it a family is it a letter that you're written to you guys or you know? Or do they send a letter to a transplant center? How's that all initiated? Actually, all that does come into play we do encourage families to write at least one letter if they choose to do so And we do ask transplant recipients to do the same, but you know we have people go What can I say in a letter?
I don't think I really want to do that so we have changed up our policy over the years that if they verbally ask us Would you please check with the donor family and or the recipient or their transplant center staff to see if they would like to have communication? That's what we do because we're trying to make it very easily to access one another That's what both parties want and there's a kind of a misconception out there even in the medical field that people think that there has to be a waiting period They have to wait six months before they contact You know and I know you were one of the pioneers in the nation in kind of stopping that and saying well That's not really our place to dictate someone's grieving time periods and when someone can communicate So can you talk about how that's progressed over the years? I don't know I think you said that pretty well Well and to go along with that we just started listening to what donor families said that they would like to have happened for them And that was we went through a very difficult time Please don't make it more difficult for us because we really would like to have this open-ended or just ability to be open and talk with recipients So, you know it used to be several years back that oh no They had to wait a year or they had to write two letters and sometimes now even within the industry today There are many of the other OPOs that do require this But we decided that once we if we were really going to be an advocate on behalf of the donor family Then we were going to listen to what they chose and what they wanted because well, you know Guess what? It's not about us.
It's really about what they want to do And you talked about you know, you kind of touched on it earlier with it You know with the transplant center staff with the nurses and things how you know that really means a lot to them when they can help facilitate you know these conversations and things I can tell you you know from a little standpoint It's one of the most invigorating things re-energizing things that we do is when we do we are a part of that face-to-face Meeting right I mean for the first time that's my most memorable times and I can't explain how much it really means to us As a staff well, and you know I have to tell you that one of the most rewarding parts of my job Is not only to be able to reach out and help families that that may need a little bit more from us But to be able to help them actually have that Accessive information to talk with the recipients that feels so good when they say guess what I finally have this conversation You're not going to believe this they thought about you know the colors They like the food they like now whether all that comes into play or not It doesn't matter because that's how they perceive it and it's a very positive thing and I feel good too when I get finished Yeah, that's amazing to be a part of we don't remind everyone that if you visit lopa.org There's a family services tab and I think over the last couple of months I had to call Sally and I said we have this donor family They want to write that letter they don't know where to start so we kind of have that online for them Yes, how to letter and then you can help them from there also we want to talk about how social media plays apart We had to call in Sally as well because folks were getting different pieces of information from social media It's the side of the times oh absolutely And I think too that when people have more ready access by us opening up the door if you will for communication There's not such a need to rush out and go on to the internet to see if they can find a recipient and or vice versa Because we have had a couple instances where people have gone to the internet or Facebook or wherever and said oh I just know this happens to be my you know recipient of my son or daughter whatever their loved one And then when we check with the transplants and we said wait just a few moments please let us check with the transplant center And it wasn't it might have been two donors in one day So we do caution that but you know people are going to find people regardless So we try to make it just as easy of a process as we possibly can't so errors won't be made But that's no guarantee either and it's out of you have some families who haven't written in years Sometimes over ten years and they said oh it's the opportunity has since passed and so when they open that door We say well are you interested then we have to turn this out? He's that's no possible one of the best things I can tell you is we had a donor mom that her daughter was 20 years ago her daughter's lung recipient wrote for the very first time and Sandra would come to all the local events the picnics and was always involved in that particular way and when she got this letter It was just absolutely amazing the transformation and the way she just talked and you could hear it in her voice And then she let me know later on that they actually met the whole all the families got together and met because she was from a northern state So there was kind of you know a little bit of journey involved for her But people can write whenever they choose to write that's I guess the bottom line when you're ready then we're ready to help you Then we're ready we like that this is Sally gentry of a locus family services department and she'll be joining us here on the podcast We appreciate you taking that on you, but we think it's important that people learn what we offer right at loca There's a variety of things. It's actually in your department right right so we like it alright loca.org if you want more information Sally Thank you very much. Thank you.
She's great guys All right, we have reached our community segment here on the gifted life and we have another special guest like we said We are here in New Orleans at the LOPA education conference And we are trying to bring bits and pieces of what we learned here to you through this podcast So please share but joining us now on the gifted life is Richard Norris Richard received the most extensive transplant ever attempted A face transplant the surgery happened back in 2012. It's a really fascinating story I read it a couple weeks ago when I heard that he was gonna be joining us 36 hour surgery 36 hours and you know I didn't really think about it You know the risk that's there, you know until I really read your story There's like about a 50% chance of survival just through the surgery itself. That had to be a very Choice to make right there. I can't imagine so So Richard we want to thank you for volunteering to be here with us today to share your story with us its pleasure Oh, thank you.
Yeah, how we been nice to you so far Richard? Oh wonderful. Okay. Wonderful.
I really enjoyed watching with the audio I Thank you, sir. Thanks for taking the time to be here any googling of your name It's gonna tell your tale so that dates back almost 20 years There was a gunshot which I have no memory just to kind of fill everybody in but it left you disfigured And you know for you guys to kind of picture this and of course you had pictures You know saw some of the before pictures and he had no cheekbones. He had no lips no tongue No jaw structure at all It pretty much the remaining part of his face the only part that was still intact where his eyes So a big part of what I read was that it was obviously gave you some social anxiety or such difficulties You know just going out in public. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
I read kind of that you in your own words. You were kind of a hermit actually I was People really don't understand that when someone is best eaten in the face. You tend to get a lot of space. You hear a lot of comments So it's really depressing and it's really heartbreaking So I went to or I only go out at nighttime and I only got the places where I know who was working there or the people that was there And there's always been a long time time.
It's a very kind thing It was like that thought that 15 years. I mean that's incredible. We appreciate you sharing just reading through your story It says your mom found a reconstructive facial surgeon by searching the internet So how did you even know hey face transplant that could help that could be me well actually we didn't know I started off at Dr. Hospital in North Carolina and you know reconstructive sexual surgery takes a real talented sergeant and I started off there and they got to a point where they really couldn't get that started so I went to the University of Virginia Medical Center and I had a doctor there and It was what we called nip tuck sergeant just losing a little tissue at a time and It's actually causing no advantage and it was helping because of the scar tissue and we got on the internet She started looking for surgeons that specialized and not such actual trying to Reconstruct the surgery and found Dr.
L. Arter Rager said at the time that John Hopkins feels like that John Hopkins thing He was actually called me an ethnic and on the Saturday when all the officers were calling him and his mentor was there We talked to a while and he made a promise to another that he would do everything possible and they look normal again at that time It had never been any type of sexual transplant then and then later on he heard about the voice and trance and he started researching it And then he implemented that he wanted to a face transplant and I had no idea at the time I really had no idea that he was Resurting and doing these things with a transplant surgery up until 2011 It was rough not since it was hard around well Let me ask you said he said he would make you normal to you having been hermit for 15 years. What did normal mean to you? No, that's the name the same thing it does to everybody Yeah, they'll be able to to go out on the street and not have people staring or make a red condense You know, I used to wear kind of like a black skin mask that helped put pressure on the face for bloodline and I actually had people thought that I was Rather than the store.
Yeah, and I actually had been told that about a place to store because they thought Intercoming not to come to your face except the medical reasons and also Recognize all else because I used to be an explorer for a medical sheriff's department and he inspected the sheriff and they sort of that never happened again It's actually a lot of our people in the community cannot help someone so tell me once, you know So you met dr. Rodriguez and you guys talked about it and you know you referenced the the initial face transplant that happened in France That was actually a partial. Yeah So there was a huge leap forward, you know from medical standpoint from just the lips, you know a partial transplant to To realizing that you know, he may be able to transplant an entire face What type of timeframe took place from the time you guys initially started talking and when things really came into We started as a transplant to not teaching in Now 2011 and then I went home I stuck with my family Little rough her hips about it to him that didn't matter That to me It made more sense and also never whole up to me not just personally to myself You know during that time we were in the conflict in the Middle East and we were having soldiers to come back And I started to sink kind of injury soldier was an RED last in the ground up or snuck or fire And the Department of Defense and I lost a research was trying to find ways to help the soldiers And that was the biggest part of my decision to take the risk that I did because I knew on my outcome Outtime my goodness that was good and I went to it It's helped us and any soldiers now sending different levels that we you know the stationers my other world and different things doctors can do now That means that is out of the past away during that operation The doctors doctor I'm going to stand up what went wrong while wrong what they can do this again and again And also I made sure before they put me in a seizure to let Cynthia Schaezer which is not a very dear friend now and also not project manager to make sure that No orders were done. They didn't think it was to go around So tell me you and you talk a little bit about you know the risk that was there and at the time You know it was felt it's probably about a 50-50 chance Were there any moments toward that end toward the end there that you had second thoughts and said what was just not worth it?
No, I was given the way I said I was given an opportunity a lifetime To build up others to get others that little talk about that can create an entire ocean You know sending people out every day police officers. They got every day risk our last they helped others and that's how I saw it Wow, that's incredible now. We do have to talk about Josh your donor We love to honor our donors to remember them to celebrate their life. He was 21 It was a car crash and he also helped five others through the gift of donation But you recently met his family and you basically received his whole face, right?
So tell us I actually met the family and May of 2014 You know gala that's in our house to honor patients and families and that year We were actually honored Joshua for his kindness and get the life that he gave to me And it's actually six other people that he helped me Okay, and I met the family at that at the gala and then we're staying touching I've been to their home several times and had there wasn't just a very very wonderful family and now myself and Rebecca Consister we do with my ordination and we talked about our story and we're Needing her and we're trying to get a foundation together or we can help families who are Who has a lovely in a hospital receiving the organ transplant? I've noticed I'm going around so doctors get to know patients now a lot of patients are in the rain better cells And our family can store the data because it takes a special thing and take the hospital set up to do any type of organ transplant And sometimes it's a hundred two three hundred miles away where they have to travel and we'd like to start a foundation To help the families take courage and so they can deal with a lot of those difficult time And we all know that when someone's in the hospital when a hustle and there wasn't a hillock desk So they do a lot better and they're not as much as we ask and it helps to get their nine enough their problems So there's actually video online if you Google Richard Norris's name and you can see him meeting with the donor family Which is pretty incredible They wanted to touch your face, which you're okay with and let's talk about that Can you feel your face tell us how all this works physically? Well, surprisingly we've had outcomes that we didn't think would happen. I've played with dealing in the face Probably eight to ten months after the transplant we've got a neurological nerve-eating testing and my test results off the chart We took the least half days and our kids had regenerated I once had any feeling in my guns or my teeth that it's nothing too hard to call It's you know, just like people with sensitive teeth I had that thing and the nerve in the sort of people never hooked up there and they're regenerated on their own That's how nice things are going to that you can smell That was something else we didn't expect I lost my sister's nail and then I thought I cried at the back story fast I had one of the nurses that I had and the first thing I could smell was freshly cut dry as a little I tried to cause the spurt in the hospital where I was getting ready to graduate a new class of doctors So so just to clarify for everyone, you know We talk in our previous podcast about Organ tissue and eye donation and in the type of donation, of course face transplant.
It never really came up It is still very new. It's called a different type. It's called a VCA graph of Composite allograph and Between with organ tissue donation is you know, how the way I kind of think about it in my mind and it is no like the list is different It's you know, I'm still learning myself, you know, how exactly someone gets You know is a candidate for a VCA graph most of the VCA graphs that are done and you mentioned a lot of soldiers in war They you know, they come back years ago, you know when someone You know was injured by an IED or whatever They didn't make it, you know, they didn't make it back from from war and now, you know with the medical technology That's there they make it now. Unfortunately, they usually have a missing limb, you know, missing arms, you know, or leg or something And more, you know more times than that Those are the VCA graphs that I've seen and read about but it's certainly it's a big difference from what even us in the Organ donation feel, you know, we don't yet have the Authorization process in place for VCA since it's so we don't have any transplant centers here that do it, you know It's it's really you know isolated a couple places on the east coast and then of course I think I know So thanks transplant she has university in Ireland John Hopkins I was a parent so that first one New York University National Center where Dr.
Rodriguez is chairman now and he just did together thanks transplant talk around there The Neoclinic and UCLA the Sartanese only hospitals that's after has to do a transplant. It's growing obviously I mean this just from you know what three years ago now to today you name what five or six, you know transplants It's very large transplant centers now that are gonna be starting know to do face transplants Yeah, well, you know, it's not what the thanks transplant was not on we've learned that it's like the doors to sending different things You know, you know, you're really so hard about hand transplants You know, I have all that infrastructure transplant it even had a third of my time transplant So it's like the door for hands like it's not on transplants like I'm done around Transplant this office in the cell area The stomach for a cancer patients. So it's just like sending a door for me I have to ask you know in in you know with tissue transplants. They don't there's no blood flow or anything.
They don't really Need any any rejection medicine. Do you have a regimen that you have to take every day? Yeah, I suppose they take a what we call a low-dose regimen They stand during the research with Dr. Rodriguez and Dr.
Garth state of the darkling in the North New Ireland who is she's a transplant there They don't a lot of research and realize that I'm transplanting down there that they can help reduce the needs or a lot of Unisotropic medication and I had people ask what about patients getting a kidney or a long ago liver Well, we have to think about the various evidence needs in the extra red line They can transplant or red line to get the down there and need it to help reduce it and the goal is initially has it or we do not need these I mean, that's impressive because they are really dangerous when you lower than me and system I mean self-decancer For you to learn this illness and say yeah You will first on all of that and we appreciate you sharing and sharing your message Can we ask you about eating drinking driving those kinds of things sure? Oh, it's all new Like physical therapy you're having a little physical therapy. It's a big therapy You know, I do a lot of testing a lot of swallow testing What a x-ray is also next one not swallowing anything into the lungs. I can I can taste sign okay?
So are there are there things that you have to avoid like certain things that you know, I have to stay away from whether it's drinking certain things eating certain things Well, no, not really you know It's always like with an education You know, if you're on any type of medication right for it. It's something you're always not going to take because it decreases against on an education Other than that, no, not really like I'm free to eat well like There's lots to choose from right You know all those are too late and you know you just have to have the other type of slices So tell us how life has changed for you following the transplant so you were once a hermit You know, I went from being over close to you know dancing 20 niggas in a year you have fans following your story Yeah, I got to the point where I actually had a close night's I was getting thousands of You know in June, I'm sorry July of 2014 and currently I've done a story about me it's called a place in the crowd and Actually how I met with you on say Sheila's she was falling in crisis I'm talking about it on Twitter at the time and somehow I had my face that takes out this project That's not yet sent a link for like a message me correctly and I got I got over 2000 300 messages and all of a thousand of those more laws actually sit down and put the time to you know all of them back and thank them And that took a couple of weeks We would know we would know You know a couple not so but I always had one message up now and I think I never could find it I went back in a family was not so good and I you know, know me back And I think so and then we started talking about ordinations and how she could become a woman and you know What the process is and explain her we just we continue talking and we met and tell them how to work together today And where is she from which she is right here from cutting to Louisiana, Louisiana, Louisiana, Louisiana Louisiana girl good choice good choice We like that Richard we want to ask you to stick around if you don't mind We're gonna live question and answers from the audience here on the podcast and we'd love to have you around in the Sally Gentry as well Is that okay sure yeah fascinating story? All right, we're come here All right, here we go. How's the audience enjoying the show so far?
Fascinating stuff we're bringing stuff from our education conference here in New Orleans to you we're taking questions from the audience We have mr. Richard Norris who received a face transplant here on our panel We have Sally Gentry of Lopez family services division here as well. So Joey those questions are coming in let's tackle them Okay, so here's the first one all right Is lettuce Stevens is gonna ask our first question. This is Lana from the community education department We had a question emailed in and that question was could a celebrity or politician help you get listed or help you get moved up the list?
Well, that's that's a very good question and interesting because I have happened to see a commercial Recently about of you know kind of promoting one of the local politicians Right kind of making it sound like someone got moved up on the list But that was actually more of an insurance thing Issue there the fact of the matter is it doesn't matter how much money or how little money or how famous you are None of that matters The list is completely anonymous list when we pull it up from from our placement side when we're When we're trying to match up the best homes for those gifts And it doesn't say on the side of that if this person's an MD or this person is a politician or anything like that So that was a long answer, but the bottom line is no is the answer. That's right. That's good Okay, we have another question from our audience. My name is Lauren buckles and my questions for Richard Can you describe the rehab process and what it was like to learn how to use a face that you weren't born with?
Sure, you know the rehab is very extensive you know working with physical therapists, occupational therapists And you have to you have to learn everything again and not a lifetime I have to learn how to walk talk to me three times, you know once when I was born after the accident and then again after the transplant I worked with excellent state service who was consistent every single day after I could not have surgery and I was recovering after that and Sorry eating the architectural therapist helped eating part You know I still have some some days go to some things that not quite as bad as we thought that would be you know It's really important that it's just like a story to very very right now His third thing is what happened in the game Sunday So it's very extensive that it's very well thought out and it's very well planned out that the entire pain of doctors in the program. All right next up Hey, Miss Tony Thank you so much for being here inspiration My question is do you have people that are in a similar situation as you were that reached out to you? As kind of like a mentor before going through a similar procedure similar surgery actually To me is you know a lot of people say it's the honor to make so go in but the name of less things in the season and you know When I worked with the patients on John Hopkins who was on the list there She had to transplant was also worked with the one at New York University who is there waiting on theirs and it's less than one to negative clinic And I encourage them to reach out and speak to me or reach out speak to the test Recipient because it's a lot to it. You know a lot of people think well I'll just go in and have this done.
It's a lot more to the net. It's a strict regiment You know story switch on the medication that what time you take them half our part What the dishes are the physical therapy is having to nice little things Something to do a thousand times a day snow or brown or a pester. You know, I'm still trying to get the other skills that say every day I have to work on trying to smile trying to find the doctor. So yes, it's really a blessing when you reach out and top-tuning in a lot of times of doctors will reach out to me and talk to me or We can't I had the tea or the hospital contact me.
How do we deal with all this money attention? It's gonna happen I was the best you can but You know, you really need to protect the section and is a nor saying it's a type of the diner Well, I'm hoping since you're marrying a Louisiana girl year old partner with Lopa and we'll see more of you as you go in your process Can we get a confirmation on that as we move forward? Maybe It's a definitely anything I can do to help lots or any other sector to turn around or any states Regional midnight life or the national nightlife. It's honestly to go out and date that and I've really had honor to go out and speak at Nightlife's condition.
I saw you there fascinating and then I got to go out stick with the Nevada dinner network I guess last year It's a pleasure to be able to share enough story and I know that these people that go out such a few guys In the same with the site and it was always where you lost But can you donate this? Not instantly it helps that person be more confident. I know it's our job and This is the fact that we never can get yeah, Sally. I see you over there and you're taking this all in I know you have something to say about this fascinating story I am what I'm really fascinated about is when did you first get the opportunity to talk to your donors family?
You know, I feel speaking. You know it was letters exchanged. Okay, and the way we exchanged letters is you always go through and So nice in the middle. Yeah, so to make sure that everything was done like it said the city is sort of a project manager She also read the entire protocols and got the test of the hospital and the government.
She was willing to read the letters Oh, okay, and then I think they sent her a letter first and then I sent a letter and some discussion about what I'd like to name and Of course chance of really getting to name was at the shotgun and got a twenty-four king That we'll go to the neck of our real special moment So not only do I get to make with the wonderful family that also got the name was the other It was a real honor and it's honor to have a good to say and or speak to them. That's wonderful because You know, I understand legacy right now to steal his legacy as well as For the lives and he was he was ignoring just enlisted He was getting ready to take off the basic training before he was Yeah, I was No, you have an extended family everywhere Thanks, I'm being told we have time for one more question. So might as well hand that over to Stacy Landry far ways Thanks again for coming. I was wondering if your sense of taste has changed any since before your accident Like do you have any food use the lot not like that now you love or vice versa?
Well, I'm learning to love page and things Actually your sense of taste and your sister snails connected So when I were getting the sense of snail or again a lot of my sister types back and or I had to talk transplant as everything So I'll return right into the tone I'm slightly getting down to say since I know it's getting better and better. So yeah, it was some changes and it still is Wow Richard. Thank you so much And I think we should make him again for Mary and we see him That was our question answer segment right now we're getting to our final comments here on the gifted life I think we did it. Yeah, we made it through live podcast barely Everyone here we are live in New Orleans at Lopez educational conference It's lifesavers from across the state who are continuing their education being inspired about what we do that's making life happen And we try to take bits of that and put it through to you in this podcast And I think we did a pretty good job of showing you what happens here I think we did first of all I want to thank Stacy and Andrew for putting this all together It's been an extraordinary couple days and for allowing our podcasts to be you know So we can take this kind of show on the road for our staff to see I'd also like to thank Jamie from the Palatano for honoring her hero Cameron that was a wonderful story and you know you can go on donate life Louisiana's YouTube again But watch that incredible video because you get to see Cameron's parents embrace her.
It's emotional It's incredible. We share it in classrooms across the state And you can you can truly tell that they are a family, right? You know, and of course I want to thank Sally Gentry for coming on. You know, it's a tough little task here and she's live Like she's in his live audience and I'm good Oh, and she's humble and learn today and I plan on being back again And last but not least certainly want to thank you Richard for telling your story It is such an amazing fascinating story And I mean we certainly want to share that with our staff but more most important with the podcast with everyone that listens in Thank you very much.
Well, thank you and also Anyone would like to help me or back out with a foundation. We have a good Sunday site set up It's called the Joshua ever son It's such honor to be here and help them help our program You get my contact information to life, but you're not glad to Okay, we're gonna put that information on our website as well to share with as many folks as possible And we hope that you continue to partner with us so that we can learn we can be inspired and we can do more to make life happen Thank you, Richard Thank you, and that's all right And thanks to all of you guys We hope that you spread the word about the gifted life podcast that you become a part of the gifted life podcast We try to make it as easy and as entertaining as possible while teaching that lesson go out and talk about donation And thank you for listening here on the gifted life