Speaker for our next support grougp: Dr. Rothman of the Dept. of Endocrinology

The Speaker for our next meeting: Micol S. Rothman, MD, Assist. Prof. of Medicine, Deprt. of Endocronology, Metabolism and Diabetes from UCHSC
SAVE THE DATE!!!!!Our Lung Disease Support Group will meet on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 5:30p.m. in our new facility. For those who haven't discovered us yet, we meetin the Anschutz Outpatient Pavillion, on the second floor in conference room2005/2006. The Anschutz facility is located on the old Fitzsimons property.Take I-225 to Colfax Avenue and go west about 3 blocks to UrsulaStreet.....turn right on Ursula and take the first or second left turn intothe AOP parking lot. There is plenty of handicapped parking on the East endof the building or use the regular parking area.....at that time of night,the parking is plentiful and the valet-attended parking is not available.Take the elevators to the second floor and turn toward the center of thebuilding.As always, please bring a potluck dish to share and bring your own drinks.Plates, cups, plasticware, napkins and ice will be provided. Don't forgetto bring serving utensils as needed.We are especially privileged to have Micol S. Rothman, MD, AssistantProfessor of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes,University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, who will speak to us abouthis specialty.....the Endocrine effects of steroids (diabetes, adrenalinsufficiency and osteoporosis). Doctor Rothman will also be open toquestions from us so give some thought as to what questions have nagged atyou since "the dreaded prednisone" entered your life. Our tireless socialworker, Kristy Powell, has worked long and hard to get a speaker of Dr.Rothman's calibur to speak about this difficult subject, so I do hope youwill save the date for this opportunity!!I will also have a short message from, Marge Frueh, the Director of theTransplant Clinics, regarding our concerns about the waiting room in our new"mega-clinic". She and I had an hour-long meeting and I was pleasantlysurprised at the frank conversation and meeting of the minds that resulted.If you know of anyone who might want to attend our support group, be theytransplant candidates or not, please feel free to invite them to visit us onthe 27th. Make sure that your interested family members know about us aswell.....pulmonary disease is a family affair and we certainly qualify as a"family". I look forward to seeing a large group of us on the 27th.Best Regards, Cindy Anderson

Celebration of the Life for Kathy Blummer

Subject: Celebration of Life for Kathy Blummer
A Celebration of Life Ceremony will be held on Sunday August 19,2007 at 4:30pm.
Located at Faith Lutheran Church 10000 Spain, Albuquerque, NM 87111.

There will be a reception that will follow at the church.

If you can not attend this ceremony there will be another in Chicago area in Sept.

In lieu of flowers please send a donation on behalf of Kathy Blummer to:

NM Donor Services
% Maria Saunders
2715 Broadbent Pkwy NE Suite H
Albuquerque, NM 87107
OR
American Lung Association of NM
7001 Menaul Suite 1-A
Albuquerque, NM 87110

Patient/Family Care Advisory Council at University of Colorado Anschutz Facility

As most of you know, I have been selected to be on the Patient/FamilyCare Advisory Council for the new University of Colorado Anschutz Facility. As a group, we have been asked to give input on a wide variety of subjectsof interest or concern to us as patients and family members. We havetackled such diverse subjects as the type of waste baskets used in thehospital rooms, pamphlets for the admissions packets regarding "being yourown best health care advocate", discussing the impact of HIPPA on familydecision-making, the hospital's stance on smoking, etc. Needless to say, ithas been challenging and stimulating work. Our next meeting, August 6, 2007, will present some uniqueopportunities. We will be graced with the presence of Mr. Bruce Schroffel,the CEO of the Anschutz Facilities, and Marge Frueh, the Director of theTransplant Clinics. Both of these individuals have a great impact on thequality of care we receive at Anschutz. I want to encourage you all to takesome time to write me about anything you have on your mind that has to dowith your experience of care at the facility. I will not use your name(except if you specifically request that I do so) and I will not add or takeaway from your concerns, questions or requests except to clarify anythingthat is not understood. Please consider me your "pipeline to the decision makers". For those ofyou who do not know me very well, let me give you a short bio. I am a 61year old, single lung transplant, 6 1/2 years out, who has emphysema. Ihave been co-facilitating the lung transplant support group for the lastseveral years, I belong to Transplant Speakers International and was justhonored by the Donor Awareness Council as their Volunteer of the Year. Ihave recently joined a new patient-to-patient chapter of the ColoradoSociety of Respiratory Care in an advisory capacity and hope to help themlaunch an effective pulmonary education program for all who suffer fromrespiratory disease. I am dedicated to giving back to the programs thathave allowed me to live a fulfilled and fulfilling life that I would nothave been able to live had I not been given the gift of life throughtransplant. So please spend a little time to write to me about anything andeverything you have on your mind.....it doesn't have to be earth-shaking,just anything that will make your health-care experience better. I promise that I will do my best to present everyone's concerns as effectively as ishumanly possible.
Best Regards,
Cindy Anderson
cindytlc@msn.com
303-660-9744

Support Group Meets

The summer is flying by for me and it's hard to believe that it's time forour potluck again. I hope that several new folks will be able to attend andget a feel for what we can be for one another. We're still trying to getthe extra-big conference room organized so that we are close enough toprovide some intimacy and don't have to shout across the room. Anysuggestions are welcome.Our potluck will be held on Monday evening the 25th of June at 5:30 p.m. atthe Anschutz Outpatient Pavillion. The conference room is AOP2005 and is on the second floor. We'll try to have some folks posted outside the building to direct you to the right place. Just take the elevators to the second floor. For those who have not made it out to the new facilities, just take I-225 to Colfax Avenue and turn west toward the mountains. Approximately 3 blocks west on Colfax, you will turn right on Ursula Street into the old Fitzsimons Army Medical Center property. Take the first available left and you will be facing the Outpatient Pavillion. Take the next right and find your way into the parking lot.As always please bring a potluck dish to share (don't forget your serving utensils) and all other plates, cups, napkins and plasticware will be provided. Carol Bohlsen reports that she is missing a spoon from last month's meeting, so if you came up with something extra, please bring it with you on the 25th.Our speaker this month is Carrie Gleeksman, a registered dietician from National Jewish, who has experience with pulmonary patients although not with transplants in particular. She will discuss basic nutrition issues, poly-pharmacy absorption, and some glucose issues as they relate to steroids. She will be open to questions following a short presentation.Looking forward to seeing you on the 25th. Cindy Anderson

Nani's Passing

Dear Susan: I just wanted to convey my sympathy to the friends and family of Nani. She was truly a wonderful person who will be missed by all who knew her. She struck me as someone who lived life to the very fullest, and she won't be easily forgotten by the Lung Transplant Team at Colorado. I was wondering if you could forward this message to the lung transplant patients. It has been an honor and a privilege getting to know you these past years. Marty, Denny, Joe, Todd, Maren, Jane, Heidi, Terri, Jennifer and I have a special affection for our lung transplant family. The courage, fortitude, faith and humor of our transplant patients are such an inspiration to us all. As my family and I leave to go to California, I just wanted to express my appreciation to you all for sharing your lives with me and the good attitudes that Nani so fully manifested. We will continue to try and make strides in our efforts to improve transplant care through research. Nani's life and passing makes these efforts all the more pressing and poignant. I just wanted to say that I will really miss seeing you all. Please don't hesitate to drop a line once in a while. Best wishes for years of health and happiness, Mark Nicolls

Patient Panel

Hi Everybody!As a change of pace, our April meeting will be an open forum with some of the "old-timers" on a panel to answer questions about their experiences with transpant. I'm looking for volunteers who are willing to be classified as "old-timers" to answer some of our "newbies" questions. I want to emphasize that we are not medical personnel, so questions of a purely medical nature must be answered with care.....our doctors and nurse-coordinators are always the last word on technical stuff. But we surely can share our stories and get into the emotional, spiritual and relational aspects of transplant.I'm writing this e-mail early so that I can gather our panel, but also because Dennis and I will be taking our annual trek to Cancun from the 21st to the 28th of April. So if you would like to be on our panel, please e-mail me as soon as possible. Our usual potluck will still take place.....we just won't have a formal speaker.So give me a holler if you'd like your five minutes of fame. And thanks for your willingness to be teachers to the next generation. Cindy Anderson cindytlc@msn.com

March Support Group

Happy Spring, Everybody!!It's time again for our monthly gathering, and this time we're back at the9th Avenue Campus. The Support Group will meet on Monday, March 26th at5:30 p.m. in the 8th floor conference room of the Shiver's Building acrossfrom the main hospital on the Southeast corner of Ninth Avenue and ColoradoBoulevard. Free parking is available behind the building and can beaccessed off of Ninth Avenue. As always, please bring a dish toshare.....plates, cups, plastic ware and napkins will be provided. We'lldiscuss the move to Anschutz, but count on at least this and one moremeeting at Ninth and Colorado.Our speakers will be Anita Rich and Ellen Ritt from the Midland Group andthe subject will be Social Security Disability and Medicade (if it's ofinterest). You may be all settled on this subject, but you will besurprised at the number of people who put off the disability decision andfind themselves with an uphill battle to get qualified after transplant.All the "veterans" will tell you how important that extra income can be astime goes by.I will be reporting news from our last Patient/Family Care Advisory Councilmeeting that will have an effect on all of us. I'm really looking forwardto future projects as we develop a game plan for this group.Just a caution.....we've had enough gorgeous weather to melt off the last ofour early winter snow, but those of us who are immuno-suppressed should becareful not to expose ourselves to any "snow mold" that may still belingering. Don't do the lawn raking or thatching at all if you can avoidit, or at least wear a mask. The fungal diseases such as aspergillus areextremely difficult to get rid of!!P.S. A Corningware dish was left at the last meeting and will be brought toour meeting on the 26th. If you are unable to attend, please arrange to havesomeone pick it up for you.Looking forward to seeing you on Monday. Cindy Anderson

Support Group at Fitz this month

The Lung Transplant Support Group Potluck will be held on Monday evening, February 26, 2007 at 5:30 P.M. For this month ONLY, we will meet on the new Anschutz Campus of University Hospital located on the old Fitzsimons property on Colfax Avenue just West of I-225.If you are coming either northbound or southbound on I-225, exit on Colfax Avenue and proceed west on Colfax to Ursula Street (approximately 1 mile). This is the main entrance into the Fitzsimons property. Go right onto Ursula (north) and the Anschutz Outpatient Pavilion is on your left.

Free parking is available in front of the building. Please be aware that the doors are locked at 6 P.M. so we recommend that you arrive a little early to avoid any difficulty.

Enter through the main front doors. Once you enter, go down the hall past the coffee cart to the elevators on the right, and take them to the second floor, turn right and enter room 2006.

We'll try to have someone by the entrance to get you pointed in the right direction.

If I remember correctly, the outpatient pavilion is located between the In-patient Pavilion and the Lions Eye Bank Facility. As usual, please bring a dish to share and your own drinks. Dishes, napkins, plastic ware and cups will be provided.

Our speaker will be Lee Shaughnessy, The Donor Awareness Council's Community Outreach Program Manager. …………..

By the way, the food last month was particularly delicious (can we thank our newest members??).

There is some exciting news to report in the area of Donor Awareness so I hope all of you will make a point of making it to our next meeting on the 26th. And if you haven't met her yet, our new Social Worker, Kristy Powell, will be with us in her first "solo-outing" since taking over the position from Dana Parker.

Looking forward to seeing you next Monday at Anschutz!! Cindy Anderson

A Note From the Support Group Coordinator

It's hard to believe that we are well into the 7th year of new century!!And after a cold and snowy Holiday season, we are inviting you to our firstLung Transplant Pot Luck of the new year. If the temperatures drop into thesingle digits, please stay home......or if the forecast calls for more thana couple of inches of snow, we will postpone our meeting until the followingmonth.Our potluck will be held on Monday, January 29th, at 5:30 P.M. in the 8thFloor Conference room of the Shiver's Building on the Southeast corner ofNinth Avenue and Colorado Blvd. Parking is available behind the buildingand can be accessed between the buildings off of Ninth Avenue. Pleasebring a potluck dish to share (with serving utensils) and your own drinks.Plates, cups, silverware and napkins will be provided.We hope to be introduced to our new full-time social worker, but please donot be disappointed if that does not come to pass.....Dana Parker hasinformed me that it has been difficult to make the transition, because ournew person is already working at UCH and has not been able to extricateherself from her current job. If we do get to meet her, I hope that youwill share your story so that she will understand what a terrific bunch offolks we are.I hope that a couple of new transplant candidates will be attending and thatyou will make them feel welcome as you always do. I will also be talking alittle bit about my new duties as an Advisory Board member at UCH and hopethat you will become my "pipeline" from patients and families to the powersthat be at UCH.I'm looking forward to an exciting and fulfilling 2007 for all of us! Seeyou on the 29th. Cindy Anderson

susan Hamelin a Seven Day Hereo

Channel 7 published an article on Susan Hamelin of The Lung Connection in December. If you would like to see what they have to say about Susan as a Seven Day Heroe go to:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/7everydayhero/10556675/detail.html