Measles Case Identified in Iowa

Media Advisory: Measles Case Identified in Iowa Over the weekend, through testing from the State Hygienic Lab, a Northeastern Iowan was confirmed to be infected with measles. The individual was unvaccinated and recently returned from Israel, where measles transmission is occurring. The individual has cooperated with public health officials. Public health officials are following up with potentially exposed persons to ensure they are vaccinated against measles; however, at this time there is no indication there is any threat to the public. This is the first case of measles in Iowa since 2011, and serves as a reminder for all Iowans to ensure their vaccinations are up-to-date. Vaccines prevent diseases and save lives. ###

Horn Honors Organ Recipient, Katelyn Larson

Horn Memorial had the pleasure of interviewing Wendy Larson. She is the mother of Katelyn Larson who was the recipient of a new heart when she was just a baby.  Wendy did not hesitate when we reached out to her to ask if we could interview her to help Horn promote organ donation.  April is Donate Life Month, and Horn is using this opportunity to share little Katelyn’s story to promote organ donation. 

How did you feel when you got "the call" that there had been a match found?

We found out at 2 a.m. on September 11, 2013 that there was a match for Katelyn, and to be honest, my heart sank.  We were praying that she would have enough time to heal and that she would not need a new heart - because we knew that with the heart transplant came a lifetime of medicine and medical care associated with it.  In addition, it was very difficult knowing what had to happen in order for her to receive a new heart; how could we rejoice knowing someone was dealing with such loss?

What has been your favorite part of the organ donation journey?

Our favorite part of her transplant journey has been meeting so many amazing people.  We have met other kids who have overcome enormous obstacles and continue to thrive.  We were able to go to Washington DC and meet families, congressional representatives who share in the vision for supporting kids with chronic health issues.  

If you could talk to your donor family what is something you would like them to know?

If we could talk to our donor family we would let them know how absolutely grateful we are to them for making that decision during the darkest hours of their lives.  I would share with them that Katelyn is so full of life and vitality and how strong her new heartbeat is!  We are forever thankful for their generosity.

What is one thing you would say to people thinking about organ donation?

If I had the chance to talk to someone thinking about organ donation, I would tell them to do it, don't wait or hesitate. Make the decision now so you don't have to later.  It is the most generous gift you can give and the number of lives you can save and enhance is worth it all!

Horn Memorial Promotes Organ Donation by sharing Local Recipient’s Story

April is Organ Donation Awareness Month, and Horn Memorial Hospital is using this opportunity to share the importance of organ donation.  Statistics received from the Iowa Donor Network shared that every 10 minutes someone is added to the transplant wait list and an average of 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant. In 2018 there was 36,500 people in the U.S. who received the gift of life through organ donation.  Just one donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation and heal more than 200 lives through tissue donation.  If you haven’t shared your wishes with your family members or checked yes as an “organ donor” when renewing your driver's license, now is the time!

Horn has reached out to several people from our communities who have been recipients of organ donation and they were honored to help us spread the importance of this “gift of life”.   Jeanette (Paulson) Wulf of Odebolt graciously shared her organ donation story with us…

“Jeanette, are you ready for your liver transplant?!” the nurse said on the phone.  After a year and a half of waiting on the transplant list and two false alarms later I received the phone call everyone waits for.  My second chance at life!  When you get the phone call it’s not really like you’re waiting by the phone for it with your suitcase packed.  You are just trying to live your life, with a failing liver and health hoping that the phone call comes but not knowing when.  That is exactly what I was doing when the phone call came…living and hoping the best I could with failing health. 

I had just finished my freshman year at Wayne State College and turned 21 a few weeks before the fateful phone call.  It was a warm summer day on June 9^th 2001.  My sister Joann and I left Odebolt early that morning to spend a day shopping in Sioux City to prepare our small wardrobe for the summer quickly approaching.  I was buying trident gum in Target (back when Target use to be in the mall where JC Penny now resides). The cashier just slid the gum over the scanner when it happened. I heard the loud beeping and buzzing of my pager in my purse.  Not sure if it would be a false alarm or the real thing, I called the number that appeared on my pager using my very first cell phone that I had recently got for this exact reason.  The nurse on the line was waiting for my call and didn’t even say hello but joyfully asked if I was ready for a liver transplant!  It was not a false alarm.  Caught so off guard and busy shopping I didn’t know quite how to answer but told her I that I guess I was.  We managed to get a plan of action established over the phone and before I knew it our shopping trip was over and Joann and I were briskly walking through the mall, our thoughts racing.  We were told to go straight to Omaha to the University of Nebraska Medical Center and check in.  There I would wait for 8 additional hours before my liver arrived at the hospital.  Through the course of events, I did happen to find out that my liver came from a 22-year-old male. To this day that is all I know of my hero who saved my life.  At 5am on Sunday, June 10, 2001 the nurses came to get me and before I knew it, I was being whisked away to a major surgery that would completely change my life. 

Six years earlier, I was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), I was 15 years old.  I managed my care at Horn Memorial Hospital who worked well with my team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  For six years I would have an ERCP about every three months to balloon my bile ducts open so they could function better and to relieve some of my symptoms.  My worse symptoms were chronic fatigue, constant itching, sores all over my skin, and very irregular and high liver functions.  After each ERCP I would get pancreatitis and spend a week in the hospital.  I bounced in and out of the hospital in which Horn always played a key role.  The staff at Horn was always so good with my rare problems and so kind in treating me.  I began relationships then that I cherish and still have to this day with many new ones.  I feel well taken care of there and enjoy familiar faces there who know me.  The night before my transplant was a restless awful sleep as I did not feel well and remember itching the worst I had ever itched before.  I remember thinking that it was maybe time for another ERCP since I was feeling so bad.  Little did I know then that would be the last night before the fateful happenings the next day that changed my life and another’s.  The next morning as I prepared for a day of shopping, something terrible happened to someone who would become my hero.

My transplant surgery lasted eight hours and I received over 22 units of blood through the course of the tedious surgery.  I awoke in the ICU to a room filled with windows and the warm summer sun shining in on me.  Warm thoughts of thankfulness instantly flooded my thoughts…I made it!  Those first few hours I remained so thankful and drank in the warm rays of sun that I just knew the Lord shined in for me.  It wasn’t long when the thoughts of guilt and a sadness came.  As I was celebrating little things like my eyes no longer being yellow and the liver spots all over my skin disappearing, I knew another family was grieving and making preparations for a funeral.  It was such a bittersweet time. 

I knew I had to thank this family.  Every year at Christmas I wrote them a letter letting them know how I was and how thankful I was for their decision.  But how do you truly thank someone who gives you such a gift?  Thanking them in letters was nice but living my life to try to be the best I can everyday and be a good person was more than saying thank you but honoring my donor, who is my hero, and their decision.  Because of them and their decision to say yes to organ donation I am alive!  I have been able to live a full wonderful life.  I went on and graduated from Wayne State College in 2003 with honors.  I got married shortly after on Valentine’s Day and we have been happily married for 15 years.  We live on a farm and manage a small farming operation.  I got pregnant in 2008 and had a baby full term which is a big deal for transplant women.  He is a healthy 10-year-old now and the ‘SONshine’ of our lives.  We live happy, love each other and love to laugh.  We remain thankful for what we have.  There was a time in my life when all this was very questionable and because of the decision to say yes to organ donation I have been able to go on and live a wonderful life!

When I was a kid, I remember hearing about organ donation.  It sparked an interest in me that they could actually transplant organs.  I came home to ask my mom about it and that I would like to donate if something would ever happen to me.  She said that it was ok with her but I needed to talk to my Dad.  So, when Dad got home, I came with my exciting news.  Only to have him tell me, “Absolutely not, no one is going to take my little girls’ organs.”  I could not convince him and my hopes were dashed.  Who knew that years later organ donation would in fact end up saving his little girls life?  His views on this matter changed immediately and he is to this day an organ donor.

 Sometimes the hard and serious circumstances in life make you exactly who you are.  It isn’t fun or easy to go through them but it is how you handle them that defines you. I often think of the jolly nurse that asked me if I was ready for my transplant all those years ago and the sunshine in my room the day I woke up on June 10, 2001 to my second chance at life.   If someone asks you to be an organ donor will you be ready to answer?  I encourage you to think about it and to say yes.  Talk to your family about your wishes and remember my story.  I hope it helps you in your decision.  Organ donation works and saves lives, it saved mine and I will live forever grateful.