Donate Life Week 2012

Today is the start of Donate Life Week 2012.

This year it's a lot more up close and personal.

Since I've been blogging, each year, at this time, I've written a little bit about organ donation, and how at some time, in the future, I would need a double lung transplant.

Well, that time came, and today marks my 172nd day on the waiting list.

I think about it every day.

From the Hottie Challenge

I know that I'm preaching to the converted here on the blog, as I've had so many messages and comments from everyone who has signed up to the national register, and has discussed it with their family.

So this year, just for something a little bit different, I'm going to issue a challenge....

The challenge is:

At some time during Donate Life Week (Sunday 19th - Sunday 26th February), have a discussion about organ donation with someone whom you've never discussed the issue with before.

It could be a co-worker, the checkout operator, the lady at the post office, your neighbour, one of your kiddies schoolteachers, the lollipop lady, or the person in the queue next to you at the shops.

Feel free to use me, or this blog to bring it up in the conversation. Maybe you could start with... Do you know its Donate Life Week? I have a friend/read a blog by someone who is waiting for a lung transplant....

If you do take on the challenge, I'd love it if you could come back and leave a comment to let me know!

Also feel free to pop this pic in your sidebar for the week and link it to the Donate Life website.

If you'd like to learn more about organ donation, or you would like some resources for your family, so that you can discuss the issue, the Donate Life website is a fantastic resource, jam packed full of everything you could ever need to know.

No matter what happens, your family will always need to give the final consent, so it's vitally important that they know your wishes, and that you sign up to the national register.

Thankyou... from the bottom of my poor overworked, enlarged, moderately pulmonary hypertensive heart and bronchiectasised lungs!

My Posts:
Donate Life Week 2011
Donate Life Week 2010
Donate Life Week 2009
Donate Life Week 2008


Lastnight in Sydney, the premiere screening was held for all of the short films that were created as part of The FilmLife Project.

I wanted to share a couple of the films.....

The first one was made by Jess Sparks. I would love it if you could spare 5 minutes to hear Jess's story.



The second one is by Josephine Lei, and it's actually really quite amusing... and less than 2 minutes!



All the short films are also available online here

The FilmLife Project Bloggers Challenge

What’s your take on or experience with organ donation, and why did you choose to take part in the FilmLife Blogger Challenge?   

For me, the answer to this question is simple.... I need some new strong healthy lungs.

I've been on the waiting list for a double lung transplant since August 31st 2011. I'm not quite sure how much longer I can last without them...


Blogging is a great way to be able to educate and to spread the message about the amazing gift of organ donation, and I'm hoping that lots of my fellow bloggers will also be inspired to answer these three simple questions.

I've been a registered organ donor ever since I was old enough to legally sign up. It wasn't until I was 27 that I was told that I would end up eventually needing a transplant myself.  Now ten years later, it's become a reality.

If you were to donate your organs, which one would you love to donate, and why?(nb. this question is intentionally quirky so feel free to be creative and have some fun with it)

If something happens to me, I'm donating everything.... except my pesky dodgy lungs of course (trust me - nobody wants them)!

I think my heart would be perfect for donation. It's grown big and strong from taking on all the extra workload and having to pump so fast while trying to distribute oxygenated blood around my body.

It's full of love for all my family and friends who have stuck by me along this wild and crazy medical ride.  


It has empathy and passion and creativity.... and seriously, who wouldn't want a bit of that?

Who in your family would you need to talk to about organ donation, to be sure your loved ones knew your wishes?

Absolutely everyone in my family, and all my friends know my wishes. We've discussed it endlessly. I'm also officially registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register via Medicare

I know that my family will ultimately have to make that final decision, so it's vitally important that they all know my wishes.



Would you like to join in the blogging challenge and answer the three questions?

Just blog your answers to the questions and add your details to the linky list. I'll tweet your post with the #filmlifeproject hashtag and it will then be added to the official FilmLife Blogger Challenge Page.






FilmLife Project Website
FilmLife Project on FB
FilmLife Project on Twitter

The FilmLife Project

Have you heard about the FilmLife Project?

As part of DonateLife Week 2012 (19th - 26th February), young filmmakers between the ages of 16 and 35 have the opportunity to make a 5 minute short film using the theme of organ and tissue donation, to raise awareness of organ donation, and specifically the very important issue of discussing your wishes with your family.

If you have a budding filmmaker in the family, its the perfect opportunity to have some fun while discussing an important issue. There are great prizes on offer and award winning filmmaker, and liver transplant recipient Paul Cox is one of the judges.

For those of us who are bloggers (not filmmakers), there's also a FilmLife Blogger Challenge.

I'm really hoping that all my fellow bloggers might join in and take on the challenge.....


From the FilmLife Blogger Challenge Page:

We’re looking for bloggers to help spark conversations about organ donation among young people, by taking part in a challenge we are putting to people in the engaged blogging community!

It’s helping us raise awareness not just about organ donation but also for the film festival in February where young people creatively interpret this fulsome topic and people’s experiences with it – from both sides of the track.

FilmLife Project is a collaborative project in conjunction with Donate Life Week 2012 (19-26 February), that aims to inspire and encourage young people to have conversations that ask and find out their loved ones wishes around organ and tissue donation.

Here’s how we’re asking our fabulous, engaged blogging community to take part.

A. Answer these questions:

 

1. What’s your take on or experience with organ donation, and why did you choose to take part in the FilmLife Blogger Challenge?
2. If you were to donate your organs, which one would you love to donate, and why?(nb. this question is intentionally quirky so feel free to be creative and have some fun with it)
   
3. Who in your family would you need to talk to about organ donation, to be sure your loved ones knew your wishes?

B. Create a mini-film as your FilmLife Project (optional):

 

We’re running a spin-off of the FilmLife Project on our Facebook page, where people capture a day from their life, this January, in 12 seconds. We’re calling it the 12 Seconds FilmLife Project. If you were in the mood, we’d love to see your 12 second video on the blog post too!

C. Link Your Blog

 

Please link your blog to www.filmlife.com.au so that anyone interested in submitting a film or attending the free filmmaking workshop on 21, 22, 28 January in Parramatta can register their interest. The workshop is worth $3,000 per person and there are only a few more places left.

D.  Tweet

 

Tweet your blog out using the hashtag #filmlifeproject - and we’ll retweet via our twitter account, @filmlifeproject.

For more information, here are some factsheets with statistics around organ donation in Australia to help you introduce your blog challenge. 

 

A huge thanks to all the bloggers who have already expressed interest and are taking part – your contributions will raise awareness and spark conversations about organ donation in young people and in doing so, help to save lives.

 

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I'm going to blog the answers to the blogging challenge questions over the weekend. Who else would like to join me?

FilmLife Project Website
FilmLife Project on FB
FilmLife Project on Twitter

PS - I have to thank Cathie for letting me know about it....

My Creative Space

Working on something new just in time for Christmas....

All will be revealed very very soon!

In the meantime, I would love it if you could pop on over to the SORTED! blog and check out my interview all about donation and recycling and re-using - thankyou Lissanne.

The home of my creative space

The Transplant Waiting List

So today is the official day.

31st August 2011 - the day that I join the active waiting list for a double lung transplant.

I was diagnosed with my lung disease nearly 22 years ago now, and around 10 years ago I was told that I would eventually need a lung transplant.

I guess that now is my eventually.

If you've never discussed organ donation with your family, then I hope that this post just might be a catalyst to sit down with your loved ones and have that discussion, and then join the official organ donor register via Medicare.


From the Donate Life website:

Organ & tissue donation facts

• One organ and tissue donor can save the lives of up to ten people and significantly improve the lives of dozens more.

• Australia has a world class reputation for successful transplant outcomes.

•  Australia also has one of the lowest donation rates in the developed world. 

• 98% of Australians agree that organ and tissue donation has the potential to save and improve lives.

•  40% of Australians do not know the donation wishes of their loved ones. 

• Less than 1 in 5 Australians (only 17%) have had a memorable discussion with their loved ones about their donation wishes.

•  The most important thing that helps a family's decision is their knowing the wishes of their loved one. 

• Australia's family consent rate is low with less than 60% of families giving consent for organ and tissue donation to proceed.

•  Around 1700 people are on Australian organ transplant waiting lists at any one time. 

• On average, people on the transplant list must wait between 6 months and 4 years.

•  In 2010, 309 organ donors gave 931 Australians a new chance in life. 

• The number of organ donations in 2010 was the highest in any year in the past decade.

•  Australia's improvement in the first full year of reforms (increased by 2.5 donors per million people) compares favourably with that achieved following other countries' reforms. UK achieved an increase of 1.5 dpmp in its first full year of reforms; and Spain, descirbed as the world leader in this sector, also achieved an increase of 2.5 dpmp. 

• In 2010, the Australian population had 13.8 donors per million people. This exceeds the 2008 (12.2 dpmp), 2009 (11.3 dpmp) and the 9 year baseline average (10.2 dpmp).

•  Australia's rate of cornea donation puts it in the top five countries for corneal donation rates. 

• In 2008, 1096 people donated their corneas. As a result, 1696 people had their sight restored.

If you would like to learn more, please visit the Donate Life website.... and keep your fingers crossed for me!

Donate Life Week 2011

I'm a couple of days late, but this week is Donate Life Week in Australia.

It's the perfect time to not only join the official Organ Donor register, but to sit down and have a discussion with your family to ensure that they are aware of your wishes.

Just in case you don't know my story, there's a very good reason that I'm so passionate about this issue..... so here's the very short version:

I'm 36 years old and I've had a chronic lung disease since the age of 15. I was then diagnosed with panhypogammablobulinemia about 11 years ago which just added further complications.

At the age of 28, I was told that I would need a lung transplant at some time in the future. That was a huge bombshell and the first time that I really took the time to think about my future (or lack thereof). Well that was eight years ago now, and I've managed to keep plodding on with my own very dodgy barely working lungs, connected to a never-ending supply of oxygen.

I often think about what it would be like to be able to breathe again - to ride a bike, to go for a run, to walk up a hill, to go shopping, to pick up my nephews, even to mop my floors! All those normal things that I can't do.

At this stage, I need to keep my own dodgy lungs for as long as I possibly can. But, I'm hoping that when the time arrives that I can't go on any longer, I'll receive the ultimate gift.


There are over 1700 Australians waiting for an organ transplant at any time, and the wait can be anywhere between 6 months and 4 years.

The Donate Life website is a wonderful resource full of information, including the family discussion page.

Please spare some time this week and have that conversation....

A very important decision

I read Abbe's very sad story about the passing of a work colleagues' husband over the weekend. It immediately made me think about subject of organ donation.

Today Abbe has written another heartfelt post.  During such a sad time, his family have given the ultimate gift and decided to donate his organs.

Please discuss organ donation with your loved ones, and sign up on the national register. You just never know when you or one of your loved ones may need the generousity of that ultimate gift.

Thankyou Abbe for letting me share your story...

Organ Donor Awareness Week 2010

 

This week is Organ Donor Awareness Week in Australia.

 

This is an extremely important issue and I hope everyone can take 15 minutes of their precious time this week to have a discussion with their loved ones regarding this issue. If you would like to be an organ donor, it is extremely important to be placed on the national register. It is even more important that your family and other loved ones are aware of your wishes as they will make the final decision.

 

I don't often preach about anything on this blog, but I have a chronic lung disease and will require a lung transplant at some time in the future. I have friends who have had transplants in the last couple of years (after waiting more than five years), and I have another friend who is currently on the waiting list.

There are some wonderful family resources on the Donate Life website, and some very interesting facts and statistics.

 

If you would like to sign up online as an Organ Donor, you can do so right here at the Medicare website.

Just a Minute.....in February

Well, February is nearly over already. Time flies when you're a busy bee! Just enough time for Just a Minute. Head over to visit Jen to play along.

Reading:

The Nanny Diaries - I'm almost finished but now I can't find the book. It's probably packed in a box somewhere.

Eating:

I'm about to have some brekky so I'm thinking about vegemite toast. I'm having a BBQ for tea tonight....yum.

Making:

Absolutely nothing at the moment. I'm about to go back to my old house to pick up my sewing supplies after breakfast. I can't guarantee that I'll actually use them in the next couple of weeks, but at least I'll be able to look at the pretty fabrics and dream.

Watching:

Series 2 of Dexter, and Brothers and Sisters, which are both on at the same time, and now I don't have Foxtel IQ anymore so I can't watch one and tape one..... huge dilemma!

I must also add that I'm extremely happy that Channel 10 came to their senses and moved The Bold and the Beautiful back to it's original timeslot. Of course, I'm addicted to The Biggest Loser again this year too.

Reminding:

Everyone that today is the last day of Organ Donor Awareness Week in Australia.
If you don't already know why I'm so passionate about this issue, then you can read my story here.
Just remember, that even if you register as a donor, your family has to make the final decision. You need to ensure that all of your family members are aware of your wishes.
You can visit the Medicare website to find all of the information that you need, and there are links to lots of other organisation as well. You can register online here.

A great big thankyou and some practicing

First of all, I would like to say a great big thankyou to everyone who left me a message regarding my Friday night post......

The fantastic thing is that most generous crafty peeps are already registered as organ donors and those who weren't have now signed up online. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart (and lungs). I've been laughing to myself all weekend imaging what my oxygen bottle would look like with a knitted or crocheted cover.....hilarious!

I've been practicing my knitting over the last week....I used some of the yarn that Cath sent me and I practiced changing colour, leaving the ends loose, knitting the ends in, and using 2 colours at once. It was fun to see what happened without worrying about wrecking something. I even remembered how to cast off and I didn't have to refer to the internet for help.....yippee!

I'm off to the post office now to post three little parcels.....I can't reveal anything yet. Have a happy Monday.

Too much information?

I've had ideas for this post swirling around in my head for quite a long time now....always thinking about whether or not I should post about it........is it too much personal information, or is it just sharing information and raising awareness of a very important issue?

Although I value my privacy very highly (hence why there are no names and faces on my blog), I also feel a responsibility to highlight an issue that is deep within my heart (literally)!

This has become more of an issue for me this year as I have been out and about meeting lots of new crafty people via blogging and Brown Owls. If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you've probably noticed that I've never really mentioned much about working. When I meet new people, I'm often asked the question, "What do you do?".......most people expect to hear that I work for such and such company or that I'm a stay at home mum, or something else similar which is considered normal.

.

The reality is that I had to retire from my job in July last year (retirement sounds very weird when I'm still young). I have a chronic lung disease and I am going to require a lung transplant. I'm not on the waiting list yet, I'm just under regular review. I loved my job and I kept working for as long as I possibly could by reducing hours over the last few years that I was there but it came to a point where I had to choose between work and my health, and my health won.

So if you meet me and I'm huffing and puffing and a bit breathless, and if I can't get up the stairs, or the hill, or the slight incline, then that's the reason why! If you see someone wandering around a suburban craft market with an oxygen bottle then say 'HI' because it's probably me....just don't stare at me (which is what usually happens) because that's really really annoying.

The real reason for this post is to highlight the need for everyone to discuss organ donation with their families and sign up for the national register once you have made the decision to donate.

I have always had a link to the Organ Donor Register via the Medicare Australia website on my sidebar in the hope that some of my crafty pals would clickety click over there.

Think it over, discuss over dinner with your family, register, be well, and have a lovely weekend.....