Gail's Letter Tells Bert's Story
At this point he had two decisions to make. One, he could sit around in a depression and wait to die or he could lift up his chin and go on living. He is a fighter so after spending his first two days after the doctor's appointment, he decided he would take the more positive approach. He started with the referral to Jackson Memorial Hospital by his cardiologist. While down at the hospital for one of his evaluations he asked if there was a heart transplant recipient that he could speak to. He was introduced to a 30-year-old man. This man was a runner and a swimmer. He looked like the poster child for heart transplants, not a man waiting to die. This gave him a new burst of energy and a sudden rush to live. The worst part of this idea of a heart transplant up until this point was not knowing or understanding transplantation. After seeing and meeting a few heart transplant recipients, he vowed to help people in his same position after he received his heart.
He received his heart in September of 1990 and immediately began "Have A Heart" which is a support group for heart transplant recipients and pre-transplants, which he has now run for the past 10 years. There are fears for both sides. For the recipient there are so many side effects and changes to your body after the transplant that you are not sure what is normal and what is not. He began having tremors in his hands. He began to get nervous until he went out to eat with other heart transplant recipients and saw that they were shaking as well. (Watching a group of heart transplant recipients trying to eat soup is quite good entertainment.) Once you know that other people are experiencing the same things that you are - then you can understand it and can deal with it.
The other reason and the more important reason he wanted to start a support group was for the pre-transplants. My mother has always said my father was put on this earth to do God's work and after what I have witnessed for the past ten years, I know now this to be true. Before my father's transplant, 10 years ago, when we had trouble finding support because transplantation was so new, he vowed to never let any pre-transplant that needed support suffer. He has been there for anyone who needs him, never forgetting his friends an family who stood by his side. He is a person who has a heart big enough not to leave one person out of it. He said when a new pre-transplant walks into a meeting for the first time, they are gray, slouched over and you can see the fear in their face. By the time the meeting is over they are smiling and standing erect. His doctor told him before his transplant that the "healthier" and more positive he was when he went to the hospital for his transplantation, the better recovery he would have. This is one of the beliefs he instills in people. A positive attitude is a big part of a speedy recovery and a healthier life.
The "Have A Heart" support group is listed in the Transplant Support Group Directory of all support groups and he has received many phone calls from around the country. Not only on heart transplantation but also Where can I find a heart healthy diet, I need heart bypass surgery, to Can you get me a heart. His phone is available 24 hours a day - 7 days a week for anyone to call who wants to talk and to help the organ procurement team out. He constantly volunteers for the promotion of organ donor awareness. He spoke at his synagogue in front of 400 people for organ donor Sabbath. He has worked at Florida Atlantic University speaking with students and handing out donor awareness cards for organ donor month. He volunteers in Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties to work all different types of health fairs. He was asked to be an inspirational speaker for "The Leading Ladies" - an organization devoted to raising awareness for organ donation. He visits patients when they are in the hospital at his transplant center to give them encouragement. He has spoken to nurses in hospitals to talk about transplantation and answer questions on how it feels to be a recipient. This in turn helps the nurses in trying to promote organ donation.
He attends the transplant forum put on by the Transplant Foundation of South Florida twice a year and has done so since the forums have begun On many occasions he has been asked to read the Transplant Creed. "With great respect for organ donors and their families, and in gratitude for their generous gifts, We Pledge, to lead healthy and honorable lives, to help those still in need by encouraging organ and tissue donation, and to give thanks to all who work together to make the gift of life possible".
He is a tough man to keep down. In 1992, two years after his transplant, he had to have surgery on his hips from bone necrosis as a result of the medications he was taking. He had to be in a wheelchair for two months. However, this did not stop him from saying "YES" to a widow who asked him to eulogize her husband who was a member of his support group.
He was very active in working towards getting the commemorative stamp approved to promote organ donor awareness. I remember him always having one of the petitions in his hand or pocket available to get signatures for the stamp. He went several times to the motor vehicle offices to educate people on organ donor awareness so that they would agree to be an organ donor and have it marked on their license that they were an organ donor.
He has been acknowledgedand praised for his unyielding volunteerism. For example, he was acknowledged by the Transplant Foundation Inc, as the 1999 volunteer of the year for outstanding service and volunteer efforts in organ transplantation. This year, "Have a Heart" has been nominated for the Miracle Maker Award being presented by the South Florida Transplant Foundation on May 20th. He has been honored and invited to black tie affairs as a guest in return for his time given to organ donation and awareness.
He collects discarded, unused and outdated drugs from transplant recipients and anyone else who has them, and gives them to the Kidney Foundation in Miami. He knows he has helped someone who is in need of drugs because they can't afford them and also knows that some of the drugs will be sent to 3rd world countries where indeed they might not have ANY drugs at all.
His work does not stop with organized events only. He has the organ donation bumper stickers on his car. He wears organ donation t-shirts hoping to capture someone's attention and start a conversation. He wears organ donation pins on his clothes, again hoping someone will ask a question. He puts organ donation cards in every envelope he sends out when he pays his bills. He always feels that if he reaches one person and saves one life, he has done his job.
This is a man who does not have he word "CAN'T" in his vocabulary and will not say "NO" to anyone who turns to him for help either for themselves personally or to help further the cause of organ donation. I have seen over the years many recipients being involved for the first few years after their transplant and then they simply fade away from being involved; Even though he has been ten years out from receiving his heart, he is as dedicated today as he was ten years ago for the promotion of organ donation. He has just signed up for The San Diego Transplant Association Mentor Program. The definition given on a mentor is --A mentor is a wise and trusted advisor, counselor, or teacher who has specialized knowledge. Someone who knows something that the client does not. A true mentor has something to offer that meets the immediate and/or future needs for another. This is definitely him. He is proud to be an organ donor recipient and is happy for every second, minute, hour and day that he is alive.
Well, I am by no means an English major, but I have tried to give you many of the facts about some of the things I can remember (without asking him and having him know that I am nominating him) and now I want to give you MY feelings.
Even though we tease Dad about all of his "H's" going like his Heart, Hair, Hearing and Hips, we know that HEART is synonymous with love and affection and his is filled with both. To me he is my HERO, a man who exhibits extraordinary courage and performs great deeds on daily basis. He is a Happy-go-lucky person who lends a Hand to all who cross his path. His Heart contains Hope, tenderness, sympathy and courage. He is the most Honorable person I know. I have great respect for my Dad. I am proud of his good reputation.
My father is full of Hope and he inspires Hope in others by being extremely Humane in dealing with other transplant recipients. He is kind, charitable, compassionate, sympathetic and tender Hearted. In MY Heart I know my Dad is what I would describe as MANKIND AT ITS BEST. He deserves the honor and recogonition for all his distinguished services, which all who know him, are of high merit. He is worthy of being honored....but...it's okay if my Dad does not receive the award nomination because in MY Heart he deserves the golden Halo for his golden Heart. I bet THAT would be enough for him...It is for me!
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