2010 U.S. Transplant Games are July 30 - August 4

Jim (left) , myself (center), and friend and fellow heart transplant recipient, Dale (right)

The 2010 U.S. Transplant Games will be held July 30 - August 4, 2010 in Madison, WI. The Games are open to all U.S. transplant recipients who are at least nine months out from their most recent transplant. For more information on this years games please visit the games' website at http://www.kidney.org/news/tgames2010/index.cfm.

I first attended The Games in 2008 in Pittburgh, PA (please see 2008 U.S. Transplant Games slide show on the left side of my blog page). I competed in men's doubles bowling with my friend and fellow heart transplant recipient, Jim (pictured above before our 2008 doubles competition) and also in men's singles bowling. Jim and I were transplanted three weeks apart at St.Thomas Hospital in Nashville, TN. I was their 298th heart transplant and Jim was their 299th. In 2008, we came up just 13 pins short of a medal in our "rookie" games. We both bowled about 20-30 pins below our normal average in the 2nd game of our 3-game series and it cost us. We're gonna try again this year in both the doubles and singles bowling competitions and are determined that things will turn out much differently. Our goal is simple ...... bowl our best and win Gold Medals - period.

We need your help to pull it off. The estimated cost per athlete to attend The Games is about $1500. We need people to help out with sponsorships and the deadline is June 30th. To read more and to sponsor us for The Games, please visit our secure, fundraising pages below :

Johnny's
Jim's

Also, if you are a fellow transplant recipient and plan on attending the 2010 U.S. Transplant Games, please send me an e-mail at black3green88@gmail.com. I think it would be neat to meet up with some of my readers who are fellow transplant recipients at The Games and say hello.

Lastly, starting the second week of May, I will begin posting fundraising and training / bowling practice updates here on the blog. Also, once I arrive in Madison for The Games, I will post daily competition and other event reports here on the blog. So, sign up for my e-mails in the box on the left side of the page and those updates will come straight to your inbox.