| Blumberg off the Bench |
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Athletes compete for many reasons. Mizzou has a swimmer who spreads a message with his performance in the pool. Eric Sherron works as an exercise specialist at University Hospital. He sees patients in need of organ transplants, but he had no idea he would one day be of them. Eric Sherron is a swimmer and a weekend warrior, but in the summer of 2004 something didn't feel right. "I didn't have any endurance whatsoever. I used to be able to run, ride my bike or swim however long I wanted to, but I just couldn't do any of that anymore," said Sherron. In his first doctor appointment Sherron found out his life was about to change forever. "He said how many family members do you have I asked why? He said you're going to need a transplant and fairly soon. I don't remember a lot after that," said Sherron. His mom Linda was a match and donated her kidney so her son could keep on living. "It's staggering. It's really a remarkable gift just to think that somebody would be willing to give that part of themselves," said Sherron. Sherron competed in the World Transplant Games this summer in Thailand. A chance to see other transplant athletes but also people watching family live on in someone else. "There were a lot of donor families down there to watch the girl who got their son's heart when he was in an accident. There were so many of those moments. It was heart wrenching," said Sherron. At the games he played on the U.S. volleyball team and swam in four different swimming events. "I got a silver medal in the 100 meter back stroke in which I set a world record by almost four seconds, but obviously if I got silver somebody did it faster," said Sherron. In all he earned four silver medals and a bronze, a collection that symbolizes success for himself and his mom. "I try to keep in mind that it is because somebody else was that generous. It motivates me to train harder and to compete as hard as I can," said Sherron. Sherron still doesn't know for sure what caused his kidneys to fail. He urges people to not just sign your organ donor card, but talk to your family about your wishes when it comes to organ donations. More than 90 thousand people nationwide are currently waiting for an organ donation. Edited by: Kathlene Miller Published: Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 8:14 PM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Promoting Organ Donations the Gift of Life
Monday, September 24, 2007
Blumberg off the Bench
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
Greek Orthodox Leader Nears Transplant
Greek Orthodox Leader Nears Transplant
By LISA ORKIN EMMANUEL – 3 days ago
MIAMI (AP) — The leader of Greece's Orthodox Church has been getting physically and mentally ready for a liver transplant by exercising and watching his diet, his surgeon said Wednesday.
Archbishop Christodoulos, 68, has a cancerous tumor on his liver and was previously said to have cancer in his large intestine. But the disease appears to be confined to his liver for now, Dr. Andreas Tzakis said.
He has been in Miami for about a month waiting for the transplant, and Tzakis, director of the University of Miami's organ transplant institute, said the operation should occur "very soon."
The right organ has yet to be found, he said, and Christodoulos' condition is critical. Doctors must find a donor who is dead and has the right blood type and organ size, he said.
Christodoulos is in good spirits and is keeping up with his obligations in Greece, Tzakis said.
"The archbishop is doing fine. Considering everything that he has he is doing excellent. He is working very hard to prepare himself mentally and physically for the transplant," Tzakis said.
Tzakis' team performs about 200 liver transplants a year, and 5 percent of them go to foreigners, the doctor said, adding that Christodoulos was not getting any special treatment.
"It's a procedure that has been done for many years for this type of a cancer," Tzakis said. "We hope that by removing the cancer, we will give him an opportunity to live a normal or normal length of life."
Elected church leader in 1998, Christodoulos has occasionally stirred controversy with politically tinged statements.
In frequent televised sermons, he has criticized gays, aspirations by neighboring Turkey to join the European Union and a government initiative to ease the nationalist tone of history books in state elementary school.
Christodoulos missed Greece's elections Sunday, and the Cabinet was formally presented to the president in a ceremony also presided over by Church of Greece officials led by Metropolitan Prokopios, who stood in for Christodoulos.
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