Good morning! Joe gets his transplant today! What a great day this is!!
Please keep Joe and Joe (and family) in your prayers.

By Jessica Gardner
Times Herald-Record
jgardner@th-record.com

Today, two men, old friends from the neighborhood, will walk into Westchester Medical Center, one to give life, the other to receive the gift of life.

Joe Polanis and Joe Wharton hadn't seen each other in decades. The pair, who grew up just blocks from each other in the West End neighborhood of Port Jervis, live 1,200 miles apart, Wharton in Largo, Fl., Polanis in Pike County, Pa.
Today, however, they'll be neighbors again in this sterile hospital. Today, two teams of surgeons in two operating rooms will spend half a day taking a portion of Wharton's healthy liver to save Polanis from death.

They may not have spoken in 30 years, but after today, these two lives will forever be joined. By blood. By faith. And by friendship.

JOE POLANIS IS three years younger than the 49-year-old Wharton. Still, the younger man looks ancient next to his friend.

Polanis' tissue-paperlike skin and the whites of his eyes have taken on a sickly yellow color, and his voice and handshake are weak.

He was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease two years ago, the result of contracting hepatitis C through a blood transfusion in the '70s. He's been on the waiting list for a new liver ever since.

"The livers go to the sickest on the waiting list," Polanis says. "There's always going to be someone sicker than I am. This is for me; I want to live."
Next to him, Wharton, a culinary manager for Olive Garden, looks robust. His skin has the healthy glow of a man who's spent hours in the sun, his steps quick and sure.

Back in the day, Polanis was a smart-mouthed jock, while Wharton was buried in his music. Both had shoulder-length hair and big plans to leave town.
After high school, Polanis went to Texas for a two-week vacation. He stayed for 15 years. Wharton went to Florida. Both have since married and have a slew of kids between them.

Wharton got word of Polanis' condition through a friend on the Web site classmates.com. Flooded with memories of childhood, he sent his old friend an e-mail. The e-mail turned into phone conversations and then the offer of Polanis' life: Wharton was willing to offer 60 percent of his own liver to replace Polanis' faulty one.

"Not too many are willing to do what he's doing," Polanis says a few days before the surgery.

Wharton knows the risks, the recovery process, the sacrifices. Although slim, the risk of death is there. Still, he believes he was put on this earth to do this.
"What are the chances of a guy from Florida hooking up with somebody here for this?" Wharton asks. "And then for me to be a match, wow!"
Wharton's lips thin out when asked about the risks.

"I'm not worried about it at all," he says flatly. "Everything will be fine."
For Polanis, who became too weak in February to continue working, Wharton is, well, a lifesaver.

And he's faced so many disappointments up until now.

Polanis came close to finding a donor in October. A friend was a match, but his liver was too small. Joe's 54-year-old brother, John, was willing to donate part of his liver, but his blood type wasn't compatible.

There have been others, too, some who wanted money for their livers. Thanks, but no thanks.

So, running out of options – and time – Joe created a Web site in November asking for a donor.

It wasn't a political or social statement. It was life or death.

Still, Polanis took the site down in March after getting a phone call from someone (he wouldn't say who) warning him that he was putting his spot on the organ wait list in jeopardy.

"These bio-ethicists say we're trying to cut the line by doing what we can to stay alive," Polanis says. "There's nothing illegal about it."

But it wasn't the site that brought his donor forward; it was, according to Wharton, fate.

"I was meant to do this," Wharton says.

Both men are facing long recoveries after the surgery. Wharton will be out of work for up to 14 weeks. Polanis will be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life.

And after they recover?

Polanis hesitates before answering.

"No real plans; I'm just thankful to have a second chance," he says.
Wharton, who's sitting nearby, jumps in: "We're going out on the water and we're going to catch some big, big fish."

Polanis simply smiles.

By the numbers
88,189: the number of people on the U.S. waiting list for an organ
300: the number of transplant candidates added to the national waiting list each month
8,282: the number of people waiting in New York for transplants
6,168: the number of people waiting in Pennsylvania for transplants
62,055: the number of people waiting for kidneys in the U.S.
17,355: the number of people waiting for livers in the U.S.
70,123: the number of transplants performed between 1988 and March 2005
2,706: the number of living organ transplants performed between 1988 and March 2005
74: the number of people who receive an organ transplant each day
17: the number of people who die waiting for transplants each day

Source: The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, www.organdonor.gov

Organ donation Q&A
Q: Are there age limits for donors?
A: No. The deciding factor is the person's physical condition, not age.

Q: What is a living donation?
A: The exchange of an organ, or part of an organ, from one living person to another.

Q: What is involved in becoming a living donor?
A: Donation is arranged through individual transplant centers.

Q: How do I express my wishes to become an organ and tissue donor?
A: Indicate your intent on your driver's license or sign a donor card.

Q: If I sign a donor card or indicate preferences on my driver's license, will my wishes be carried out?
A: Even if you sign a donor card, make sure family know your wishes.

Q: What can be donated?
A: The heart, kidneys, pancreas, lungs, liver, intestines, cornea, skin, bone marrow, heart valves and connective tissue can all be donated.

Q: If I sign a donor card, will it affect the quality of my medical care?
A: No!

Q: Will donation disfigure my body?
A: Donation does not disfigure the body or interfere with having an open casket.

Q: Why should minorities be concerned about organ donation?
A: The need for transplants is unusually high among some ethnic minorities. Matches are more likely and more timely when donors and potential recipients are members of the same ethnic background.

Q: Are there any costs to my family for donation?
A: No. The recipient covers costs.

Q: Can I sell my organs?
A: No! It is illegal to sell human organs and tissues.

Q: How are organs distributed?
A: Patients are matched to organs based on a number of factors, including blood and tissue typing, medical urgency, time on the waiting list and geographical location.

Source: The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, www.organdonor.gov

Irma Woodard
www.LinksForLifeCampaign.com
www.DonationForCynthia.com

UPDATE from Joe: JUNE 2006