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Aug
12
2014

Can You Help My Friend?

sunflower - loyalty and longevityThis isn’t a plea for a new boyfriend.  It’s a heartfelt hope that the as-yet-unknown person whose blood type is just right for my friend will come forward for testing. I tried and was not the perfect match. Maybe you are.

For Teresa Atkinson, being a great fighter isn’t always a plus.  I’ve known Teresa for over 10 years and since our first meeting at The Kidney Foundation where I worked and she volunteered, I was struck by her ability to overcome obstacles, fight back when things or situations needed changing, and strategize solutions to problems.  A tireless worker on any committee she joins, she is also lots of fun to work and be with – all while enduring the many challenges of being a kidney dialysis patient.  Teresa was one of the first in BC to train for home dialysis and for the past decade her bedtime routine includes face washing, teeth cleaning and night dialyzing – a system whereby she hooks herself up to a dialysis machine that cleanses her blood overnight while she sleeps.

But for Teresa, it’s time to get off dialysis and receive a new kidney. Her system is having problems handling the challenges of ongoing dialysis.  Unfortunately her great fighting ability comes from more than just her positive spirit.  It’s also in the blood –and for a transplant hopeful, that’s not good news.  Teresa’s antibodies, her system’s fighters, are too plentiful and too efficient.

According to Wikipedia, the world’s new dictionary for everything, antibodies in the blood identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses.  The problem is, antibodies also identify and neutralize (reject) other foreign objects – such as donated and transplanted organs, like kidneys.

The anti-rejection drugs that transplant patients take daily for the rest of their lives usually work well to “fool” the recipient’s antibodies into thinking the new organs are good guys that don’t need to be rejected.  But for people like Teresa who have an excess of antibodies, it’s more challenging. The need to find a donor whose blood is a perfect match for hers is imperative.  It can be done.  It has been done.  But it takes longer.

I had hoped to be that person.  When I saw on her Facebook page that Teresa was searching for a kidney donor I immediately wanted to help.  I knew from my work at The Kidney Foundation that people don’t need two kidneys and that following surgery a living kidney donor goes right back to normal life never noticing that one kidney is gone.  I also knew from knowing and working with Teresa that I wanted to try to be her donor.  Unfortunately I am not the perfect match.  After only two trips to the lab for blood tests it was determined that a kidney from my body would not meet Teresa’s needs.

Teresa needs a new kidney.  I ask that everyone who knows her, loves her and wants to help her gets tested.  The perfect match is out there.  Maybe it’s you.  To find out, call the Pre-Assessment Transplant Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital, 604-875-5182.

Tags: blood type, dialysis, fighting, healing, kidney, perfect match, positive, spirit, testing, transplant
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Beverley Pugh

Beverley Pugh

Beverley Pugh has international experience in Individual, Marital and Family Therapist services. Areas of practice include counselling in: individual, couples, family, anxiety, addictions, grief, depression, pain management, multicultural, workplace and others.

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Mastery Practice Tool

Tree Exercise for Children

During The Laughing and Breathing Belly workshops I taught an exercise for children called Standing Like a Tree. The children really enjoyed it. This is a great calming activity. You can have fun teaching them to stand like a rooted tree. They will feel good and steady.

Stand with them with feet shoulder-width apart and slightly bend their knees. Their arms go out like they are hugging the tree. Ask them to close their eyes and bring in the feeling of being a tree. Describe for them how they can feel their roots going down deep into the earth and then spreading. Their awareness is going down deep into the earth too. This is grounding for them. They can feel what it's like to be the strong big trunk of the tree and how good strength feels. They imagine the crown of their head reaching and touching the sky. It is a beautiful feeling of connection. Have them hold it for about 3-minutes. Practice it with them and you, too, can feel quieter inside!

Testimonial

Our ability, as parents, to support our children to thrive in stressful situations is becoming more and more important. Children need very specific tools in their self regulation 'tool kits' that they can draw upon to support their success, and trusted adults to coach them in their use. But what are these tools and how to we teach them effectively to our kids?

Thankfully, there is Beverley Pugh! Bev takes a curious and calm approach to supporting children and parents with this journey. She is passionately invested in teaching parents and children ways to reduce anxiety and approach life positively and confidently. Bev is a master of her craft - she draws on years of her own experience as a parent and counsellor to work effectively and respectfully with children and their parents. I have thoroughly enjoyed Bev's recent workshops for parents and children and recommend them to anyone willing to explore specific strategies to help their children thrive at home, at school and in their community.

Lani M. - Parent and Elementary School Principal

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About Beverley

Beverley Pugh has international experience in Individual, Marital and Family Therapist services. Areas of practice include counselling in: individual, couples, family, anxiety, addictions, grief, depression, pain management, multicultural, workplace and others.

Contact

Telephone:
604-925-1513
Email:
bev@beverleypugh.com
Location:
120-1451 Marine Drive
West Vancouver, BC
V7T 1B8
Canada

Disclaimer: The information presented on this site about various psychological conditions, is of a general nature and is not a substitute for an assessment by a competent therapist and/or medical professional. If you believe that you or an important person in your life is in need of an intervention please seek qualified help as soon as possible.

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