The Sheepdog's 500th Post = The BIG Announcement

Today is the day. Back in August, I first mentioned the new "project" I was working on. That was six short months ago. I shared the "project" with friends and family at my five-year heart transplant anniversary party on Saturday. It's now time for me to make the formal announcement here on The Sheepdog. The time for talking is over. The time for doing starts now.

Over the course of the last two years, I've done a lot of praying and seeking of the Lord's direction in my life. I knew He had something in mind for me to do - something important that would make a difference, but I just couldn't figure out what that was. I took a real hard look at getting into politics and even worked on the campaign of a friend, Tennessee State Representative Susan Lynn, in order to learn about how to run a campaign. My plan at that time was to gain as much knowledge and experience as I could from her, and then, maybe give politics a successful go at some point in the future depending on various factors. However, one day back in July of last year, the Lord made it very clear to me that He had a much more important work than politics for me to do, at least for the time being. It's pure and will make a more lasting difference than politics ever could.

So, after much, much prayer, and 6 months of planning, I am excited to announce the creation and launch of the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc. (TODF) It is the first and only non-profit agency in Tennessee founded by and exclusively managed by members of the organ and tissue donation community. In fact, in order to be eligible to serve as a member of TODF's Board, you must be a transplant recipient, donor family member, or living donor. I set TODF up this way to help insure that advancing the cause of organ and tissue donation would always be its number one priority.

TODF has but one goal – ending the needless dying of 19 Americans everyday simply because of a lack of organ donors. We aim to accomplish this by improving public awareness of the importance of organ and tissue donation through increased public education in Tennessee. Our plan is to attend various events in Middle Tennessee communities speaking to the public and distributing information about organ and tissue donation and how to register as a donor. At some point in the future, we want to begin a program where we provide financial assistance to transplant recipients that are unable to afford their anti-rejection medications. Why ? Well, we know that sometimes recipients are unable to take their meds as required because they can’t afford them. I know from experience how expensive they are. Not taking them can lead to rejection and the loss of a transplant and even your life. The ones that survive sometimes have to be re-transplanted draining the pool of donated organs which is already a limited resource. If we can prevent this from happening, there will be more donated organs to go around, additional lives can be saved, and transplant recipients in financial difficulty will be better able to take care of their "gifts of life" and live their "second chances" to the fullest.

When I made the decision to form this new organization, I also knew I couldn’t do it by myself. I needed some folks to assist me who were as dedicated to the cause as I am. I asked the Lord to show me who He wanted to serve alongside me, and He did. I decided to go with a three member Board of Directors. In addition to myself serving as a Board Member and Executive Director, I am joined on the Board by George Blank who is a living kidney donor. George will also serve as Associate Executive Director and Secretary. Our other Board Member will also serve as our Treasurer. Her name is Doris Gray, and she is a donor mom.

Once I had the Board in place, I was missing one more important piece of the "all volunteer" team. I knew we needed someone to coordinate and manage a team of volunteers since volunteers will conduct the vast majority of our activities. Most non-profits use volunteers for that purpose, and we will be no different. However, I felt it was important to have someone on board as a Volunteer Coordinator who had experience in putting together and managing Volunteers. I knew immediately who to offer the position to - a wonderful lady named Misty Armour. Misty is not a transplant recipient, living donor, or donor family member, but she believes in the importance of organ and tissue donation just as much as any of us. She is also a very talented singer / songwriter, and she will do a heck of a job for us.

We are looking forward to this new endeavor. It will give myself and the rest of our team a wonderful opportunity to go into our communities, network, make new friends, make a lasting difference, and accomplish our objective of  "Saving and Improving Lives in Tennessee ... and Beyond." It's gonna be neat to see what is accomplished and to see what the future holds.

I want to take a moment to dedicate the work that TODF will do to the memory of Kent Fuson (my donor), Tommy Gray (Doris' son), and all the other donors and their families across our great country. You have saved and changed the lives of many, including mine. You have paved the way. Now, it's our turn to "pay it forward." We will not let you down.

For more information about the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation, Inc., please visit its website at www.SaveLivesTN.org, its blog at http://savelivestn.blogspot.com/, and look it up on Facebook. The website has a lot of information about us and organ and tissue donation, including ways you can help support us.

So, there it is - the "project." Time to get to work. Be sure to visit The Sheepdog here next Monday. I've got a special Music Monday planned. You're gonna love it.

California Agency #1 in Organ Donation

Sacramento Skyline - Image via Wikipedia

During the first three quarters of 2011, Sierra Donor Services based in Sacramento, CA was the number one ranked organ procurement organization (OPO) in the U.S. Nationally, OPO's averaged recovering 3.13 organs per donor during that time period, while Sierra Donor Services averaged 3.78. Additionally, the organization recovered 243 organs for transplant last year which was up 65% from the previous year.

Sierra Donor Services serves Northern California and Northern Nevada. They are obviously making a difference in their community. My hats off to them. Keep up the good work guys !!

P.S. Monday will be The Sheepdog's 500th post !! It will not be a Music Monday. Instead, The Sheepdog will mark that milestone by making the "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT." It's been 6 months in the making, so don't miss it.

Source : sacbee.com article titled Sacramento Area Donor Agency Leads Nation in Organ Recovery

First Heart Transplant in Central Florida

In early February, Edwin Arce, 49, became the fortunate recipient of the first heart transplant performed in Central Florida. The transplant was performed at Florida Hospital (pictured below) after the hospital's staff spent four years finalizing the necessary paperwork and planning needed for their first such surgery.

Arce spent seven weeks waiting for a heart to become available for him. He had battled heart disease for several years and had been in the hospital since Christmas. According to Arce, prior to his transplant his life consisted of "... walking from the bed to the couch." Unfortunately, his condition sounds eerily familiar.

Image via Wikipedia

Arce's doctors say his transplant went "flawlessly" and that he is doing "well." His heart transplant may have been the first at Florida Hospital, but it won't be the last, and that's great news for other patients in Central Florida in need of heart transplants. Until Florida Hospital opened it's heart transplant program, people in the area needing heart transplants had to travel several hours away from home in order to have one. Oftentimes, the distance made it difficult, if not impossible, for friends and family to visit the patient in the hospital. I can testify to the fact that having your family and friends, your support system, near you during your recovery is vitally important to a successful one. There will be times when you need them to encourage you, laugh with you, and even cry with you. Sometimes you just need them to be there whether they do anything or not. This world's a tough place to survive alone. Take it from me - a transplant's even tougher.

Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to say "Thank You," once again, to every one that was there for me five years ago. You know who you are. I wouldn't have made it without you.

Source : MyFoxOrlando.com story titled Florida Hospital Performs Area's First Heart Transplant

"These Dreams"

For the last several years, the third weekend in February has been an emotional one for me. There's a couple of reasons for it. On one hand, it's a somber weekend, and on the other, it's a weekend of rejoicing and reflection about where I once was, and how blessed I am to be where I am now.

Yesterday evening 11 years ago, my wife and I were sitting on the couch watching the local evening news. I was still a little ticked because Dale Earnhardt had wrecked out of the Daytona 500 on the last lap. He was my guy - one of my heroes, and I hated losing the Daytona 500 as much as he did. It is NASCAR's Super Bowl. Plus, I knew it meant he was starting the season off in a hole in regards to the points championship. I wanted that eighth one badly. In fact, I had turned the race off as soon as it was over I was so perturbed. I didn't think that much about the wreck. It didn't look that bad. Then, as we watched and listened to the sportscaster, he showed a clip of NASCAR President Mike Helton's news conference where he said, "After the accident on turn 4 of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt." I could not believe what I had just heard, and I didn't want to believe it, either. Dale was ... gone ? No way. I'd seen him walk away from much worse than that. I didn't sleep that night hoping to wake up the next morning and it all be a bad dream. But ... it wasn't. My hero was indeed gone.

Image via Wikipedia

For years, I had not been able to understand Elvis Presley's fans' reaction to his death. Now, unfortunately, I did, and even though I wasn't a fan of Whitney Houston, I felt bad for her fans this past week, because I could relate. I had nothing against Whitney. She had a great voice without a doubt. It was just I was a fan of hard rock and metal. I just didn't get into "pop." It is a shame she died so young.

I saw a blog post over the weekend where the author wrote that it was time to let Dale go. She also said that "time heals all wounds." In my opinion, nothing could be farther from the truth. Time may heal some wounds, but not all of them. Just ask a parent who has lost a child at a young age, or someone who lost a spouse after decades of marriage. Time may heal wounds to a certain extent, to a point where they are manageable and one can live with them, but it doesn't heal all of them completely.

I have found that sometimes the best way to heal is to try to focus on the good memories. For instance with Dale's death, I've thought about those 7 Winston Cup Championships, the 1998 Daytona 500 victory, and the races he won when I was there in the stands with my dad. I've focused on the things I learned as a boy from watching him and reading about him, such as the importance of family, hard work, setting goals and working hard to achieve them, and most importantly, never giving up. Plus, I'll never forget that big grin and those sunglasses (picture at upper right). Those are the things you hang on to. I think that's what Dale would want.

The third weekend is February is also a time of remembering the beginning of the end of my battle with heart disease. Five years ago this weekend, I wasn't doing well at all physically. My lungs and abdomen were filling with fluid again. My legs were stiffening as the fluid congregated in them, too, making it uncomfortable to walk. Monday, the 19th, came along, and I felt worse. On Tuesday, the 20th, my wife had to spend the day going to see clients. I felt horrible, was short of breath, and scared to be left alone. So, I went and rode around with her all day. That evening, we had a dinner function to go to. I was feeling even worse, but I made it to, and through dinner, but I was ready to head home at 8 P.M. I knew I had to call the doctor the next morning, and I was expecting they would put me in the hospital to begin some IV diareutics.

It was dark, cold, and rainy as my wife drove us home. At 8:30, about two miles from the house, my cell phone rang. I looked at it but didn't recognize the number. I started not to answer it, because I just wanted to go home, try to get through a warm shower, and then go to bed. I was exhausted.

Even though I didn't want to, I felt compelled to answer the phone. When I did, it was Angie, a nurse from St. Thomas Hospital. She asked me where I was and what I was doing. I said I'm headed home. She said, "No, you're not. Get down here to the hospital. A heart has become available for you." Even thought we were surprised it had happened so quickly (I had been listed for exactly one week), my wife turned the car around, and we headed to St. Thomas.

Once we got there, They put me in a wheel chair and rolled me back to ICU where they began prepping me for surgery. They finished up, I told my wife that I loved her and would see her later, and they wheeled me back to the operating room where they did some more tests before beginning the transplant. That was just before midnight on February 20, 2007. Shortly after midnight, on February 21st, they began the heart transplant surgery, and as they say - the rest is history. The Lord has brought me from being the guy who in October 2006 was told he had a year to live, if he was lucky, to being the guy that will be 5 years post-transplant tomorrow. He is good. I praise Him for giving me more time. In 2007, my "game clock" was winding down fast, and I had no timeouts available. Now, I wrapping up overtime #5 and about to start #6. I love overtime !!

Myself, my wife, friends, and family will celebrate my 5 year anniversary next weekend. I will reveal to them at that time what the surprise "project" is that I've been working on since August. I will share it with you, my blog readers, next Monday, February 27th. Today, we will begin the one week countdown to the announcement with the last Music Monday of this month.

The song and video I've chosen for today's wrap-up of "Heart Month" is "These Dreams" from Heart's self-titled album, Heart, released in 1985. Interestingly, "These Dreams" was the first #1 song of Heart's career in 1986 and the album it was recorded on is the band's only #1 album ever. I hope you enjoy the video. I have embedded it below in this blog post, or you can watch it by clicking here.

I chose today's song because it just seemed appropriate. Just as Dale Earnhardt was driven by his dream and goal of being a champion race car driver, I'm driven by the dream of making a difference. My dream is that the "project" I'm launching next week will be successful and, most importantly, be a difference maker. I am confident that it will be because a lot of hard work, planning, and prayer has gone into it. Plus, the Lord has blessed me by surrounding me with a good team to work with. I'm really looking forward to getting the talking out of the way and getting on with it. We will do that here next Monday. All the mystery will make since at that time. So, please don't miss it.

These dreams go on when I close my eyes,

Every second of the night,

I live another life .....

P.S. I must take a moment to thank my friend Alice for the idea for "Heart Month." Thanks a bunch, Alice !!

A Small World

Ed Mooney, 52, had been suffering from cirrhosis of the liver for five years and was quickly running out of time. Both his brother and sister had been tested but denied as possible living liver donors for him. Then, he got the call that all transplant candidates hope and pray for, and in the process learned that it is indeed a small, small world.

Mooney's new liver came from Dan Glover, 24, who lost his life in a tragic automobile accident. These two men had a special connection - Mooney had been Glover's little league baseball coach just years earlier. Mooney cherishes the gift Glover gave him and promises to now live on for two people - "... for me and for Danny," he said. I hope you'll take a moment to watch the video of the story. It's embedded below. You can also watch it and read the full text of the story by clicking here.



Source : abcnews.go.com article titled Tragedy, and Luck, Leads to Miracle Organ Transplant for Coach

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Shocked and Awed

Image via Wikipedia

I'll have to admit that when I first read this story, I found it extremely hard to believe, since it was about politicians doing the right thing. In fact, I had to read it multiple times to make sure I read it correctly. However, it is true, and I'm "shocked."

Recently, Republicans and Democrats, including the Governor and members of the Hawaii State House of Representatives and State Senate, put aside their partisan differences and voted in favor of a bill that put the welfare of the people of Hawaii first, because, to paraphrase Hawaii Governor Abercrombie, it was what the people wanted. WOW !! What a novel idea - public servants doing the right thing because it's what the people want. It leaves me in "awe" of Hawaii's citizenry. You can watch the full TV news report of the story below, or you can both read the text of the story and watch the video by clicking here.


I know some politicians in both Nashville, TN and Washington D.C. that could learn a few things from these guys. I wonder if the people of Hawaii would be willing to share them ?

Source : story on www.HawaiiNewsNow.com titled Governor Abercrombie Signs Organ Transplant Funding Bill Into Law

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"Who Will You Run To" when you're ..... "Alone" ?

Today is week 2 of my "Heart Month" Music Mondays and 5-Year Heart Transplant Anniversary Celebration. Plus, since it's the 2nd Monday of the month, it's time for a "double shot" of Heart. The two videos featured today are singles from the band's 1987 album titled Bad Animals. One of them was a #1 hit, and the other is my all-time favorite song from the band.

The first video, and my favorite of Heart's, is of the single "Who Will You Run To ?" I liked the song from the very first time I heard it. It's just a good, fast tempo rock song. Plus, Ann Wilson's vocals create a bit of a work of art with this song. She puts a lot of emotion into it allowing you to feel the anger of a woman scorned. However, if you are a Heart fan, you know that much of Heart's music is driven by emotion. The Wilson Sisters have been successfully making music that way their entire career. The video is embedded below in this blog post or you can watch it by clicking here. I think the "bad animal" graphics contained therein are a nice touch, too.



The second video today is of Heart's single "Alone." "Alone" was the second #1 single of the band's career. It reached #1 in July 1987 and remained there for three weeks. "Alone" is typical of most '80s ballads. It starts off with a slow, fairly quiet intro, and then turns into a power ballad when the guitars and drums join in for the chorus. It was likely the biggest hit of Heart's career. In fact, the band has not had a #1 song since "Alone."

I've embedded the video below in this blog post, or you can watch it by clicking here. Enjoy. We've got one more week of "Heart Month" Music Mondays, and then the BIG announcement will follow on Monday the 27th.



Just like last Monday's "Stranded" post, these songs got me to thinking about what I'm celebrating this month and where I've come from in the last five years. It also got me to thinking about the 112,000+ Americans who are currently feeling "Alone" and needing someone or somewhere to run to. I count my blessings everyday and don't take them for granted. I hope and pray that one day each of those 112,000+ get the same "second chance" I got. 

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