Email dated June 15, 2005  Close window

Dear Family and Friends,

The purpose of this letter is to ask for your help andwe can think of no one better than friends and familyours and Brian's to do this. As you know, Brian hasbeen dealing with the devastating effects of cysticfibrosis for a long time now and his condition hasreached such a point that he's been placed on thewaiting list at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)for a double lung transplant. The average wait for acadaver lung transplant is 2-3 years. Brian has beenon the list for 2 months now.

In the event that Brian's condition should suddenlyworsen before he's moved to the top of the list, thereis another alternative for him which many people arenot aware of. It is called a Living Donor Transplant.
Every person's lungs are made up of 5 lobes, two onone side and three on the other. During thisprocedure, both Brian's diseased lungs are removed. One lobe is then removed from each of two donors andtransplanted into his chest. Over a short period oftime, these lobes will expand to fill Brian's chestcavity and function as a full set of lungs would.Initially, the donors will lose about 15-20% of theirlung capacity, but most is recovered as theirremaining lobes also expand to fill their chestcavity. From what we've been told, most adults don'tuse their lungs to their full capacity as a part ofnormal living. Therefore, this small resultant lossis usually not detected by the donor. If you'd likemore detailed information about this procedure, youcan go to www.livingdonors.org. orwww.transplantliving.org and click on Living Donation.

We are asking each of you to help us get the word outthat living donation is a possibility. We know thisis not a subject that comes up in everydayconversation, but if you do have the opportunity tomention Brian and this transplant option, we ask thatyou would do so. You also have our permission toforward this e-mail to anyone you think may beinterested. We are hoping that there is someone outthere who would like to explore the idea of donating alobe to Brian. A person who is interested in donatingneeds to be the same blood type as Brian which is A(the positive or negative Rh factor doesn't matter),over 5'7" tall, nonsmoker, and between the ages of 18and 60. The process begins with an application whichyou can receive by contacting the MGH TransplantCoordinators, Karen Wiberg or Nina Hall at (617)726-6162. You can also receive one by contacting meat marcie2112@yahoo.com. However, we would preferthat you do it through MGH as you will then remainanonymous to us and will be able to change your mindat any time without guilt or explanation. We believethat this is a decision that should be made without afeeling of pressure or expectation from us. We willbe brought into the loop only after the donors havebeen evaluated and have made the decison to go aheadwith the procedure.

It is important to know that all donor-related medicalexpenses will be paid for by Brian's medical insuranceand MGH. Friends of ours have set up a fund to helppay for non-medical donor costs such as transportationto and from MGH, parking, lost wages, etc. Donationsto this fund can be sent to "Breath for BDawg", c/o FirstNational Bank of Ipswich, 31 Market St.,Ipswich, MA 01938.

Right now Brian is holding his own. He's finishing uphis sophomore year at Ipswich High with good grades,working part-time at Caldwell Rehab as a Dietary Aide,and continuing his paper route. He was able to playfootball through his freshman year and one of hisgoals is to be able to play again his senior year.

Thank you all for taking the time to read this andknow that anything you can do to help spread the wordwill be appreciated more than you can know.

Sincerely,

Marcie and Dave Armstrong