This is a great article!

[Guest guest]

This article appeared in our local newspaper to-day. I went and

participated in the Living Green Ribbon , which is the symbol for organ

and tissue donation this morning.

I met Mr. Sheppard and wanted to share his story with you.

Dorothy (caregiver for Canuk Bill)

From no hope to new hope for lung recipient

Initially rejected, senior's active lifestyle convinced doctors to

reconsider transplant.

Merv Sheppard had a single lung transplant four years ago, at age 67.

Today, at 71, he's back in action.

WATERLOO (Apr 26, 2006)

At age 71, Merv Sheppard has returned to cross-country skiing and

hiking and plans to take up cycling again this spring.

The lifelong athlete is determined to regain the active lifestyle he

thought was over when he was diagnosed with end-stage respiratory

failure in 1999.

The Waterloo man had a rare, auto-immune disorder, called idiopathic

pulmonary fibrosis, and two-and-half-years to live. At age 65, he was

too old to qualify for a lung transplant, he was told.

But a chance 2001 meeting at an airport between his Hamilton

respirologist, Dr. Gerry , and Dr. Lianne Singer, a transplant

specialist at Toronto General Hospital, changed all that.

The pair were on the same flight to a conference of the American

College of Chest Physicians. described Sheppard's case to Singer.

After hearing that until his illness, Sheppard was a runner,

cross-country skier and bicycle racer, Singer agreed to see him at

Toronto General.

Four years later, Singer proudly introduced Sheppard at the 2005

version of the same conference.

Sheppard told physicians at the conference how the single lung he

received at Toronto General in 2002 restored his quality of life. With

renewed vigour, he was gradually returning to his athletic pursuits and

had become an advocate for organ and tissue donation.

" I was one of the success stories, I think because of my athleticism in

the past, " he said.

Sheppard was placed on Toronto General's transplant list in March 2002

after a series of rigorous tests confirmed he was otherwise in fine

health.

Twenty-five days later he received a call from the hospital at 2 a.m. A

donor lung was available and he had two hours to get there.

By that time, he had become almost incapacitated, unable even to tie

his own shoes.

" I was on 10 litres of oxygen, 24 hours a day, " recalled Sheppard, a

retired, longtime pharmaceutical sales representative.

No one is sure what caused Sheppard's illness. " Idiopathic " means the

cause is unknown.

But one of his doctors speculated that the auto-immune response

triggered to fight a virus didn't shut off after defeating it and

started attacking Sheppard's lungs instead.

He was in the hospital for just two-and-half weeks after the transplant.

" Within three weeks after the operation, I was on a treadmill, " he said.

For three months following the surgery, he had to return to the

hospital three days a week for monitoring.

It took him about two years for his health to completely stabilize. He

had to learn to juggle 35 pills a day and battled recurring infections

because his immune system was so suppressed from the anti-rejection

drugs.

Sheppard said the rigid age criteria, are no longer used for transplant

patients -- individuals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

There are 1,758 people in Ontario on transplant wait lists, 46 needing

lungs.

Now a regular speaker for the Trillium Gift of Life Network, Ontario's

organ procurement agency, Sheppard is helping raise funds as well.

He is encouraged by this week's news that the number of Ontarians who

donated their organs after death increased 19 per cent in the last year.

Sheppard applauded changes implemented in January requiring hospitals

to notify the agency of any deaths and to approach families about

donations.

" We are starting to turn the corner. "

LIVING GREEN RIBBON

Those involved in organ and tissue donation will gather today in the

Civic Square at Kitchener City Hall to form a Living Green Ribbon.

At about 10:30 a.m., participants in green ponchos will form the

ribbon, which is the symbol for organ and tissue donation.

Transplant recipient Merv Sheppard will be among the speakers. This

week is National Organ and Tissue Donation awareness week.