Posts by detective

In an apparent medical first, an Abington man who underwent a living donor liver transplant last summer got a huge bonus benefit - he was cured of his hemophilia.

``To this day, it's still hard to fathom,'' said Tom Wales, a husband and father of a 12-year-old boy. ``Hemophilia has been a part of my life for 39 years.''

As a result of the cure, Wales is now able to play catch with his son for the first time and is considering taking up skiing once he undergoes a back operation until now considered too risky.

Hemophilia, an inherited blood disorder, prevents blood from clotting normally, causing excessive bleeding.

``It's a whole new life,'' said the 39-year-old former welder. ``I feel like I'm reborn.''

It may be the first time that a living donor transplant has been performed on a hemophiliac, experts said.

Dr. Elizabeth Pomfret, one of four surgeons involved in performing the liver transplant at the Lahey Clinic, said hemophilia is caused by a deficiency of factor VIII, a protein made in the liver that allows blood to clot.

``He tells me all the time the most incredible part of this whole thing is that he is no longer a hemophiliac,'' she said. ``In the past, anytime he would suffer any kind of injury, even just a bruise from fooling around with his son, he would need a transfusion and (an infusion of) factor VIII.''

Like many hemophiliacs, Wales contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion and it eventually caused him to develop cirrhosis of the liver. That's why he needed the transplant.

Wales said a liver specialist had told him years ago that a transplant would cure his hemophilia, but he also told him ``they don't do transplants for that reason.''

He went on a waiting list for a cadaver transplant two years ago, but his doctors at Lahey Clinic told him he probably wouldn't make it, as it can take several years to get to the top of the list.

They said his best hope was a transplant from a relative or friend, where surgeons take a portion of the donor's healthy liver and transplant it into the sick patient after removing the diseased organ.

Wales' brother-in-law, Walter Moran of Hanover, offered and proved a suitable tissue match.

``I was blown away,'' Wales said. ``It takes a special person to consider something like that.''

Wales said he started feeling better immediately after receiving the transplant.

Before the operation, he said, ``I was sluggish all the time. I probably felt like I was 60 years old or older. I'd fall asleep during the day.''

Although Pomfret said it was known that a successful liver transplant from a cadaver would cause his hemophilia to go away, it was not so clear that a living donor transplant would do the same thing.

``We just weren't sure if just giving him a piece of a liver would do it,'' she said.

Blood tests taken soon after the transplant, however, showed the new liver was making plenty of factor VIII.

``It was really quite remarkable,'' she said.

Fewer than 50 hemophiliacs have received liver transplants, said Dr. Arthur Rabinowitz, hematologist at Lahey.

But because more and more hemophiliacs are developing end-stage liver disease, ``more and more are getting liver transplants,'' said Steven Humes of the National Hemophilia Foundation.

However, he said he had never heard of a living donor liver transplant performed on a hemophiliac.

At the University of Pittsburgh, where pioneering liver transplant surgeon Dr. Thomas Starzl discovered 13 years ago that a transplant could cure hemophilia, doctors have performed about 30 transplants on hemophiliacs, including seven with HIV.

But none has been a living donor transplant, said Dr. John Fung, chief of transplantation.

Nobody, however, is suggesting that liver transplantation be done just to cure hemophilia.

``That's not something we would recommend,'' Humes said, citing the traumatic surgery involved - for both donor and recipient.

``Liver transplantation can cure hemophilia but it wouldn't be appropriate in the absence of liver disease,'' said Rabinowitz. ``The operation has a high mortality potential.''

Science, instead, is looking to gene therapy to cure the inherited blood disorder. Researchers at a number of locations are studying inserting enough healthy clotting factor genes into patients' liver cells for their blood to clot normally.

One study, published last year by doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, raised hopes that the technique may work.

The technique was tested on patients with hemophilia A, the most common form of the disorder, which afflicts 15,000 in the United States. It is the form that had afflicted Wales.

7

Meeting Quality People

by mikepence in

jw
friends

i wanted to put this out to this community in general, although i know that there are no easy answers.. growing up a jw, it is difficult to not be somewhat socially retarded.

your social circle is prescribed, and widening out beyond the small group of the congregation is frowned on.

even 'excessive' association wiht neighboring congregations is frowned on.. the biggest challenge i have encountered as an ex-jw is this: how do you find quality people to befriend and associate with?.

detective

Look into adult education programs in your area. They are often cheaper than university programs and are good sources for exploring new hobbies. Most offer cooking classes, wine tasting programs, dance classes, photography classes etc.

21

Beth Sarim

by larc in

jw
friends

how many of you knew about beth sarim when you were a jehovah's witness?

our most frequent poster, waiting, did not know about it until she left the religion.

i happen to know about it because my aunt berta lived there after rutherford's death.

detective

I recall seeing a scan of Beth Sarim's deed a few months back. I forget where that was. Does anyone know where a scan of the deed is online nowadays? I also saw the newspaper article of the man claiming to be one of the prophets of old coming to claim his property (after all, his name was one the deed)!

19

JW ELDERS APPLY/RECEIVE CLERGY TAX EXEMPTION

by MadApostate in

opinions of counsel.

volume 10 - opinions of counsel sbrps no.

these opinions are subject to revision and editing changes prior to publication.

detective

I guess it pays to be an elder. Nice perks.

33

King of North-Muslims

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

just in case you passed it by, ciro aulicino from bethel speaks out on armageddon, muslims and the king of the north, reading apostate literature, and what the watchtower did after sept. 11th to help.

a must listen!.

http://www.randytv.com/whatfutureholds.htm

detective

Where is the part where they say they outfoxed the scarlet-colored beast by soliciting an affiliation?

Someone should remind this guy that it was his signature that helped the tower get on board with the UN.

Talk about disgusting...

9

WT defines propaganda!

by thinker in

jw
friends

the following is from a watchtower.org webpage on propaganda.

my comments are in red.. http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2000/6/22/article_03.htm.

"a fool will believe anything.

detective

nicely done! Thanks for the article!!

10

disturbing thoughts from witness site

by detective in

jw
friends

i found this on a purelanguage.net thread.

what smug, bizarre, self-satisfied comments.

it's sad that these folks don't realize how ugly some of the things they say (and apparently think) really are.. an excerpt:.

detective

I found this on a purelanguage.net thread. What smug, bizarre, self-satisfied comments. It's sad that these folks don't realize how ugly some of the things they say (and apparently think) really are.

An excerpt:
"What I always wanted to do was get a big booktype thing. get it leatered bound, have it gold embossed with 'BOOK OF LIFE' on it. So when someone tells us they arent interested we ask for their spelling and their exact address. and start looking it up to scratch it out."

http://www.purelanguage.net/forums/showthread.php?s=9c83af3aa53cc000256214a7886a0210&threadid=838

55

What is Jehovah's Will Today?

by SexyTeen in

jw
friends

i have a quick question: what is jehovah's will today and who is doing it?

detective

Sadly, the amount of time TR spends waiting on Sexyteen to make him a burger will still be dramatically less than the amount of time Sexyteen will wait for Jehovah to make mince meat out of TR.

60

The mormons vs the jw?

by Nicolas in

jw
friends

i saw a report on tv about the church of jesus chrisht of latter day saint and they have a lot in common with the jw.

they go from door to door and as the jw, they believe that they are here to save the world.

do you think that this church will become more popular while the watchtower is losing his popularity?

detective

Now this would make for an interesting family reunion! I wonder, Susan, is it just Mormons and JWs in your family or are there other religions represented? Also, where did the religious split occur? What's the religious family tree, if you will?