Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992 TAG: 9203050403
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A house-husband, he spends his days trying to keep up with his 3-year-old granddaughter. Last year, he completed a 10-kilometer walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Fund. He's disabled; and if you didn't know his story, you might wonder how.
Lucas has been a diabetic for 22 of his 42 years. In November 1989, he was the first person to have simultaneous heart and kidney transplants at the University of Virginia Hospital. He also was the hospital's second heart transplant patient and now is its longest survivor. Lucas got his new chance for life from a 19-year-old head-injury victim.
Since his operation, Lucas and his wife, Pam - who works the night shift at Cooper Industries - have devoted their time to helping others like him and to educating people about organ donation.
"You'll never be able to thank the donor," Pam said. "But if there's any little thing we can do, we feel like we're paying back."
In 1991, more than 20,000 people were on waiting lists for organs. Slightly more than half received transplants. Organ donations have been down lately, Pam said, because of the AIDs scare and because of reports that families of donors have to pay for the harvesting of the organs.
Testing for AIDs is so sophisticated now, Pam said, that there is "no way" infected organs could be passed on. And the stories about families having to pay are simply untrue.
"Not enough people in this country know they can donate organs or how they can go about it," Pam said.
Besides speaking to any school, church or civic group that wants to listen, the Lucases will talk one-on-one with potential transplant recipients and their families. Carl, who amazed Pam and his doctors by getting out of bed the day after the operation and asking for a cup of coffee, can show patients the brighter side of survival statistics. He has had only one rejection episode, and his doctors have decreased the medications that keep his body from rejecting his new organs.
But the couple's biggest project so far has been founding a support group, Transplants United, for individuals and their families who have had or are waiting for transplants.
The group, which has nearly 30 members, provides medical and financial information as well as emotional support.
What many people don't realize, Pam Lucas said, is that after a transplant - no matter how successful - there will be lifelong costs for drugs and medical care. Unless they are considered experimental, most transplant operations are covered by most medical policies, but the follow-up care sometimes is not.
Although Pam's insurance is covering Carl's expenses, they know that if she loses her job, they may be in the same position as other members, who are "tearing their hair out" over where the money is going to come from.
The Lucases started the group in January 1990. The first anniversary of Carl's operation was November 1989, and shortly afterward, they met Mitzi Stafford, a Salem girl who also had a heart transplant.
"We just fell in love with her," Pam said. Mitzi died last April but the Lucas' came to realize how important it was for her family to have other people to talk to.
Members of Transplants United are of all ages and all backgrounds. Most of have had kidney, liver or heart transplants. One has had a still-rare pancreas transplant. The youngest is a 16-year-old who is waiting for a heart donor, and the eldest, a 68-year-old, is waiting for a kidney.
Many members are unable to come to meetings regularly, either because of their health or the distance. The Roanoke group draws people from all over central and Southwest Virginia. Some people have come from as far as West Virginia and Kentucky. The next closest transplant support groups are in Culpeper, Harrisonburg and Charlottesville.
For those who can't attend the Roanoke meetings, a monthly newsletter, written by Pam, is their lifeline to the group.
"It's like a big family" Pam said. "We interact and help each other out."
The Lucases are trying to file for non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service. So far, the group has relied on donations of money and goods to pay for the newsletter and for refreshments during the meetings.
Eventually, Pam said, they would like to begin fund-raising projects. "We'll never be able to pay for a transplant or for medication," she said, but they hope to raise enough money to help families with gas and lodging for trips to medical centers.
Transplants United meets the third Sunday of every month at 2:30 at Central United Methodist Church on College Avenue in Salem.
by CNB