Transplant Article

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Conquering Mountains: Organ Transplant Patients Meet for Games, Kinship

Mike Branom, Associated Press Writer

Mon June 24, 2002 12:59 EDTLAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) – In the painful,

breathless years before Maureen Pecor received a new lung, cystic fibrosis

made walking up a flight of stairs seem like climbing a mountain. But within

five months of her transplant operation, she had hiked up six peaks in

Vermont.Nine years ago, Azevedo could barely make it to school; a bad

kidney could not keep up with his growing body. Now, the 20-year-old plays on

an intramural basketball team at the University of Tennessee after a

successful stint in high-school athletics.Transplant patients hold dear the

newfound vigor that comes with a new organ – so dear that many refer to the

date of their operation as their ``second birthday.''That renewed zest is

bringing 8,000 organ recipients from around the nation to Disney's Wide World

of Sports for the biennial U.S. Transplant Games. Four days of athletic

competition, featuring sports such as track and field, basketball, tennis and

bowling, begin Tuesday.``It would be a waste if I didn't go,'' said Azevedo,

who received his new kidney from his father in 1993.Added Pecor: ``I think

it's going to be awesome because I'm competing with people that have been

there and done that.''Some famous organ recipients will be lending moral

support: former ``Dallas'' star Larry Hagman (liver), former NBA star

Elliott (kidney) and Olympic snowboarder Klug (liver).``The games shows

that there is an active life after a transplant,'' Hagman, 70, said in a

telephone interview from his home in Santa , Calif.Showing that people

can lead a full life after a transplant is a goal the games' founders want to

emphasize.``It really is a lifesaving therapy for lots of people,'' said

, chief executive of the National Kidney Foundation, which founded the

games in 1990. ``The biggest problem in this area of medicine is that there

aren't enough donors. We can't transplant people that we should.''In the past

decade, the number of cadaver organs donated nationwide has remained fairly s

teady at 5,000 to 6,000 annually, while the number of people who need

transplants has jumped from about 20,000 to 80,000, according to the United

Network for Organ Sharing.An average of 16 people die every day while waiting

for a transplant of a vital organ, such as a heart, liver, kidney, pancreas,

lung or bone marrow.``It's just kind of ridiculous,'' Hagman said of the

shortfall.Pecor, a high school business teacher in Melbourne, Fla., nearly

became a statistic. She waited more than two years for a new lung, her breath

slowly draining away. ``Toward the end, I was just praying that I'd make

it,'' she said.A donor finally was found in April 2000, and a successful

transplant followed. But that was only half the struggle, as Pecor first

balked at the mental hurdle of living without the oxygen tank that had kept

her alive for so long.But she soon began to lead an active life, beginning

with a climb of 4,393-foot Mount Mansfield five months after the

operation.``It was unbelievable to be able to hike up a mountain and

breathe,'' said Pecor, 38. ``Before, I couldn't even walk and breathe.''On

the anniversary of her transplant, she ran a celebratory 5K. She has run a

dozen more races since then.``My breathing's better than it has been in 22

years,'' Pecor said.–––

Becki

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