Chris May stands with his daughter Caitlin in the pickleball courts at Whitehouse Park. The 49-year-old received a double lung transplant in 2009 and has competed in the Transplant Games of America every two years since. This week he’s competing in four events, including pickleball, as part of Team Ohio. MIRROR PHOTO BY KAREN GERHARDINGER

Daniel Repp, a 25-year-old from Maumee, met the family of his donor – Ellie Sands – during the 2012 Transplant Games of America. Because of Ellie’s donation, Daniel received a new liver in 2007. PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIEL REPP

Maumee, Whitehouse Men Compete In Transplant Games Of America BY KAREN

GERHARDINGER MIRROR REPORTER

Daniel Repp was in fourth grade when a virus seriously damaged his kid-ney. After a few years of monitoring, Daniel’s name was added to the transplant waiting list and, in 2007, he received a new kidney from a girl he later learned was 10-year-old Ellie Sand, a young lady with a zest for life.

In the 11 years since, Daniel, now 25, has made the most of his life – graduating from Gibsonburg High School and attending Owens Community College, manag-ing a Taco Bell and honoring donors while competing in the Donate Life Transplant Games of America (TGA) every two years.

Last week, Daniel, his father and brothers were driv-ing through a rainstorm to Salt Lake City for the games, where he will compete in golf, table tennis and darts.

Every year except one, when the games were in Houston, Daniel has compet-ed and brought home gold medals.

Daniel is one of 100 Team Ohio members who are organ transplant or bone marrow recipients, corneal and tissue transplant recipi-ents and living donors. The games highlight the impor-tance of organ, eye and tissue donation, said Kara Steele, of Life Connection of Ohio (LCO), the nonprofit organi-zation that promotes and facilitates organ donation in Northwest and West Central Ohio.

It was February 2009 when Chris May underwent a double lung transplant after sarcoidosis reduced his lung function to 36 percent and kept him on an oxygen tank 24 hours a day.

The 49-year-old father of four has competed in every TGA since 2010. This year, he’s signed up to play mixed

doubles badminton, trivia, pickleball and volleyball.

“Those are nine years I should not have had. Because of the transplant, I’ve been given this time. I’m so indebted to my organ donor,” he said. “I feel so blessed that someone gave their life. My boy (4-year-old Noah) wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have been able to see my daughter Emily (now 20) graduate, and see my 16-year-old twins be in high school.”

While Chris hasn’t met his donor’s family, he knows that it’s someone from the Texas area.

“I don’t know if it’s a male or female. I don’t have a name or a picture, but hopefully someday I’ll get a letter (from the donor fami-ly). It’s the person who saved my life,” he said.

Daniel did meet his donor’s family in 2012 at the TGA in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“It was a very emotional

experience,” Daniel said. I’m glad I had a big supportive group of people who have been through the same thing. And my whole family was there.”

In 2017, LCO coordinat-ed the recovery of organs from 64 donors, providing 178 organ transplants, but the organ shortage continues to grow, with another person added to the national trans-plant waiting list every 10 minutes, Steele said. Nationally, 20 people die every day while waiting for a transplant; in the last 10 years, 2,000 Ohioans died waiting.

According to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2,871 Ohioans are currently on the organ transplant waiting list, including those waiting for kidneys, livers, hearts, pan-creases, lungs and intestines.

Nationally, more than 33,000 lives are saved each year through organ donation and over 1 million are healed through tissue donation. More than 2,000 Ohioans have their sight restored through cornea transplants each year.

One person has the power to save eight lives through organ donation and enhance the lives of 30 people through tissue donation.

Some facts about becom-ing an organ donor: ♥ Medical treatment does not suffer if someone is a regis-tered donor. Every effort will be made to save someone’s life, regardless of their choice to donate. The medical staff dedicated to saving lives at hospitals is a completely sepa-rate team of people from those who coordinate dona-tion. It is only after all lifesav-ing efforts have failed that donation becomes an option. ♥ It is important to say “yes” to donation regardless of age or health conditions, as med-

ical professionals will deter-mine whether someone’s organs and tissues are healthy enough to transplant after death. ♥ All costs associated with donation are billed to the local organ procurement organization – donor fami-lies do not pay or receive money for their loved one’s donation. ♥ All major religions in the U.S. either encourage dona-tion, viewing it as a charita-ble act, or leave the decision up to the individual.

Joining the Ohio Donor Registry is a way to legally authorize the anatomical gift of organs and tissues upon your death. Register at www.lifeconnectionofohio.org or at your local BMV when you obtain or renew your Ohio driver’s license or state ID. It is still important that you share your decision with your family because they will be consulted as part of the donation process.

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August 9, 2018 THE MIRROR Page 7-A

Film Examines Physical Effects Of Toxic Stress On Developing Children BY NANCY GAGNET

MIRROR REPORTER Social workers, registered

nurses, teachers, psycholo-gists, parents and child advo-cates were among many who attended a special screening of the film Resilience, the

Biology of Stress and the Science

of Hope. Sponsored by the Cullen

Center for Children, Adoles-cents and Families, an organ-ization providing therapy services for children experi-encing trauma, the film focuses on how toxic stress effects the body. With the support of grant money, the Cullen Center hosted a free screening of the film on July 19 at the Maumee Indoor Theater.

“We treat babies who may have experienced trauma before they can talk. The mind may forget, but the body remembers,” said Dr. Adrienne Fricker-Elhai, the director of the Cullen Center.

“Toxic stress can release hormones and wreak havoc on the body. It can increase risk of disease, prison, home-lessness and even death,” she said.

Toxic stress is the result of an adverse childhood experi-ence that results from such things as divorce, emotional or physical abuse, neglect,

violence and more, said Fricker-Elhai. Several profes-sionals in the mental health field have concluded that toxic stress could be the lead-ing cause of everything from heart disease to cancer, sub-stance abuse and depression. And extremely stressful child-hood experiences can alter brain development and have lifelong effects on health and behavior, Fricker-Elhai said.

The 2015 film Resilience,

the Biology of Stress and the

Science of Hope chronicles sev-eral medical experts using innovative science and tested therapies to treat children affected with toxic stress. By asking specific questions and implementing specific mental health services at a younger age, these experts are trying to break the cycle of hopeless-ness and self-destruction that often comes from toxic stress.

“We hope you’ll at least

learn more about it. Perhaps you have already heard of it,” Fricker-Elhai said. “But also I know that the work that we do can get really hard, so I want us to feel hopeful about what is going on in the field.”

In addition to showing the film, a group of local experts participated in a panel discussion. Those on the panel included: parent survivor Lauren Jarzeboski, ProMedica Regional Metro Forensic Program coordina-tor Kris Napier, Mental Health Recovery Services Board director of programs Amy Priest, executive direc-tor of Youth Community Connections and foster par-ent Vinny Riccardi, Lucas County DART advocate Tamme Smith, social worker Julie Vierling and Lucas County Juvenile Court Judge Connie Zemmelman

“A lot of times we’re working in silos. We don’t know what the other person is doing. If we work together, we will make much greater impact and that’s my hope,” said Fricker-Elhai. “Hope-fully, this will inspire us to create more change in our communities.”

For information about the Cullen Center, please call (419) 291-7919 or visit www.promedica.org/cullen-center.com.

Dr. Adrienne Fricker-Elhai (pictured), director of the Cullen Center for children who have experienced trau-ma, introduced the 2015 documentary film Resilience, the Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope last month at the Maumee Indoor Theater. The film offers insight into innovative science and tested therapies to protect children from the effects of toxic stress and abuse. A panel discussion took place following the screening. PHOTO COURTESY OF PROMEDICA

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Page 8-A THE MIRROR August 9, 2018

When Is It Time For Hospice? August 16 Info Session Provides Answers BY KAREN

GERHARDINGER MIRROR REPORTER

When Marilyn Williams died at age 83 due to compli-cations from Alzheimer’s dis-ease last year, she had been under the care of Hospice of Northwest Ohio for five years.

“Often, people call hos-pice too late, or don’t know what services are available,” said her daughter, Rev. Carol Williams-Young. “They come to hospice when some-one they trust has good information and comes to them.”

That’s why Williams-Young decided to ask Hospice of Northwest Ohio representative Judy Lang to speak at Zion United Methodist Church in Whitehouse on Thursday, August 16.

“Many people know what hospice is, but not what serv-ices they offer, or when it’s time for hospice care,” said Williams-Young, who is the pastor at Zion.

Even people who have had a hospice experience are often uninformed about the many ways hospice can help, Lang said. That’s due, in part, to those whose only experi-ence is with a loved one who was only in the program for a few days, or those who have

used hospice as just an inpa-tient center, home care pro-gram or grief service.

“People only understand the part they personally expe-rienced and, of course, there are still many people who have not used hospice at all,” Lang said.

Many people also misun-derstand the length of time they can have access to hos-pice care, which is months, not weeks or days.

“Those who wait until the last few days or weeks of life to seek our help – and then see all the support that is available – regret that they did not access our services sooner,” she said.

Many people feel that choosing hospice care is essentially “giving up,” when in actuality, choosing hos-pice puts the individual in charge of how to spend the final months of life.

“Hospice care isn’t all about dying, it’s about living life to the fullest extent possi-ble given your personal health circumstances,” Lang said.

Hospice care is pain and symptom management expertise, which is a highly specialized form of medicine. People who have been suffer-ing for a long time find relief shortly after entering the hospice program, because of

this expertise, she said. This enables them to focus on more important things, such as family conversations, unfinished business, a favorite hobby or life goal.

While hospice care offers a comprehensive range of care and services, Hospice of Northwest Ohio offers the Sincera palliative care pro-gram for anyone with a seri-

ous illness who needs relief from pain or other symp-toms caused by a disease or side effects from treatment. Patients in this program might still be receiving cura-tive care and expecting a full recovery, Lang said. Or, they may have multiple medical problems that require careful management to live more comfortably. Patients contin-

ue to see their own physi-cians but benefit from improved quality of life because of the extra layer of expertise, insight and sup-port. Sincera also fosters goals-of-care conversations to help patients and families better understand the course of their illness in order to make more informed deci-sions as the disease changes.

When Lang comes to Zion United Methodist Church on August 16, she plans to answer questions such as: When is it time for hospice care? How is hospice care paid for? What if I choose hospice care and change my mind, or I don’t die? Where is the care provid-ed? How do I talk to my loved ones about hospice care?

“It will be both a myth-busting session and an infor-mation-sharing forum,” Lang said. “So many people these days are caregiving, either taking care of a loved one or looking out for a friend or neighbor. They are also seeing the effects of that caregiving in the workplace, where those who are juggling caregiving responsibilities with their jobs and other family commitments are stressed to the max and bare-ly making it through every day. With our aging popula-tion, it is valuable for every-one to better understand the resources available to them through Hospice of Northwest Ohio. “

The free August 16 session begins at 7:00 p.m. at the church, 10826 Maumee St. in Whitehouse. For informa-tion, visit www.zionumcwhite-

house.org or call (419) 977 5820.

Waterville residents Cathy and Sam Taylor, pictured here in 2016 during Sam’s illness, enjoyed many months of quality time together before Sam died in 2017. Cathy credits the support they received from Hospice of Northwest Ohio and Sincera Palliative Care and Symptom Relief for helping them have a good end-of-life experience. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRUCE WORKS