Hi All
Hi All,
As I have mentioned before, Sammy is a 20 year old girl from Chicago battling pancreatic cancer. Sammy is in Miami recovering from her five organ transplant. Although when she was told that there may be organs available, she was put in a hospital room with a 26 year old girl from Michigan named Julie. Julie was the second person on the list for organs after Sammy. Apparently, they call both people in case the organs aren't right for the first person, then the second person is right there. Sammy was able to use the organs, but felt a sense of guilt leaving Julie behind. She asked for prayers; hoping that Julie would also get her transplant. She never for a second lost sight of the fact though, that on the flip side of all of this meant someone else had lost their life. Pretty heavy stuff for a 20 year old to process. I know when I was 20, the only thing on my brain was friends, boys and parties. Anyway, Julie did receive her organs a few weeks later, but had a tough time recovering from the surgery. After three months of many ups and downs in the ICU, Julie died last week. You can visit her web page at www.caringbridge.com under Julie Werner. You can also read about Sammy's struggles on www.sammyscamp.com
As I have mentioned before, Sammy is a 20 year old girl from Chicago battling pancreatic cancer. Sammy is in Miami recovering from her five organ transplant. Although when she was told that there may be organs available, she was put in a hospital room with a 26 year old girl from Michigan named Julie. Julie was the second person on the list for organs after Sammy. Apparently, they call both people in case the organs aren't right for the first person, then the second person is right there. Sammy was able to use the organs, but felt a sense of guilt leaving Julie behind. She asked for prayers; hoping that Julie would also get her transplant. She never for a second lost sight of the fact though, that on the flip side of all of this meant someone else had lost their life. Pretty heavy stuff for a 20 year old to process. I know when I was 20, the only thing on my brain was friends, boys and parties. Anyway, Julie did receive her organs a few weeks later, but had a tough time recovering from the surgery. After three months of many ups and downs in the ICU, Julie died last week. You can visit her web page at www.caringbridge.com under Julie Werner. You can also read about Sammy's struggles on www.sammyscamp.com
I may have also mentioned that I met two great girls who both had lymphoma and were also having stem cell transplants,
while I was in Texas. Shea, who is 21, had some suspicious spots on her
lungs during her last scans and will be rescanned soon, so please think
positive thoughts
that they have vanished. Katie is the other friend. I was reading her
blog and learned about a girl named Kristen that she befriended before
I arrived at MD Anderson. Kristen was 26 and bravely decided that she
was ready to surrender to her cancer and died shortly after. She has a
great website: www.kickit4kriket. Also, please remember Chris Coulon in
your prayers. Chris is now going through radiation after his stem cell transplant
and not feeling very well. He is such an amazing guy with an energy and
spirit that is visible to everyone he comes in contact with. He has had
a long battle. Too long. He deserves a break.
Too
much cancer. For every story I come across there are hundreds more. I
keep thinking about how young these people all are and that they should
be out living their lives, planning their futures, having fun. Not
dealing with these deep issues of survival, guilt, death, fear, and the
questions of why. And then I think of all the children I saw at the
hospital and how my heart broke knowing that they weren't able to go
outside, or play with their friends, or go to school, or even
go home. It reminds me of a eulogy I heard a few years ago. My
cousin-in-law's sister died at the age of 50 of lung cancer
and she never smoked. During her funeral her husband told us about
their support group they attended. When Katherine wished aloud 'if I
only I could make it to 70', a 30 year old cancer patient
there said if only I could make it to 50. I guess the point is, we all
want more time to make our dreams come true. I know I do.
Love,
Jen
P.S. Please consider registering as an organ & tissue donor in your state if you have not already: Organ Donation Registry
P.S. Please consider registering as an organ & tissue donor in your state if you have not already: Organ Donation Registry
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