Johny has a new kidney! Arab Language Reception, ASWAT Youth Ensemble, and more...

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Egyptian American Society Newsletter Vol. 1 Issue 12 - Nov 2, 2009

A MESSAGE FROM SAMEH MICHAIEL, EAS VICE PRESIDENT

Dear family, friends, colleagues, and EAS members,

I want to share with you some personal good news: My son Johny got a kidney transplant last week.

Some of you knew but some didn't that my Johny had lost his kidney functions on July 21, this year and the doctors at Stanford started him on dialysis The process has been extremely difficult with three treatments a week, each session was seven hours from the time we leave home till we get back, and more over, he did not tolerate the treatments well, so he spent hours more at home recovering and then more hours going back for clinic visits.

What made it even more difficult is that his body generated antibodies -- from a previous transplant seven years ago -- that made him reject 96% of any potential donors. With a blood type O, which means that he only can receive from a donor with blood type O, his chances were extremely low to receiving another transplant.

We did not know how this could go on, or how it could end.

But on Wednesday, October 21st and exactly 3 months to the day, we received a call at 6:00 am, telling us that there is a possibility of a deceased donor transplant. By 9:30 am, they called again and asked us in the interest of time to drive to the hospital. At 10:30 am the decision was to prepare Johny as if he will be transplanted but we will not know for sure until the last minute. And that last minute came at 8:30 pm. The doctors, nurses and staff at Stanford Children's Hospital have a process with scores of sophisticated steps in the labs to determine his cross match, tissue typing and numerous things I do not even know about, and all of them lead to a go decision, and then, they started the surgery which lasted slightly over 4 hours.

By putting bits and pieces together, we learned that the deceased donor was in a very nearby hospital in the Bay Area. We were told that Johny's chances were "less than 1 in a million" to receive a negative cross match (good match). At three separate times from three different doctors we were told this was a miracle!

We learned that the donor was a very young person, a pre-teen child. The marvel continues as we later learned that the parents of the deceased child donated more organs to different people, so while we went to the surgery's waiting room, we met the parents of another child who was receiving a liver transplant from the same donor. And the second day, we learned that a third one also received a heart transplant from the same child.

Now Johny is back home and starting his long recovery trip, which is thus far going well. And I'm certain will continue to be a good one.

I wanted to share these details with you as a way to thank you and thank God for what you and He did with us and for us. Many of you have helped us tremendously. You helped us by a small gesture, a smile, a look, a tear, an email, a phone call, a short prayer, a nice thought, a visit, even an SMS or a post on Facebook.
Vainly, I tried to remember all who helped and supported us. Many people played a role and helped us: close friends, neighbors, family members, people that I knew well, others I had casually encountered, people I met at work, others at social or religious gatherings. All of you reading this message; but even people I did not know and will never meet on this earth, like the young donor child and his parents. Everyone had a role to play to get us through this rather tough period; everyone did his part very well.
It is my conviction that this is not a series of coincidences and that each and every one of you had a role in this story, as each and every one of us have roles and purposes in life. You may think your actions are very small and do not count in the big scheme of things, but the truth is not so.

Your role is phenomenal so please continue praying for the family of the young deceased donor, and do consider to be an organ or tissue donor. Continue to give and help, continue to be the light of the small world around you.

For all what you have done, we are grateful, thank you and above all thanks to God.

Sameh Michaiel and the Michaiel family

NOVEMBER EVENTS ON THE EAS WEBSITE
An Amazing Line up

Check out the amazing lineup of events on www.eascafe.org/events.

If you missed Ambassador Hosam Zaki's or Ms. Dalia Mogahed's talks at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, go to www.eascafe.org under the heading "Listen & Watch"

EGYPT-US RELATIONS UNDER OBAMA

Arab Language Reception with the Honorable Hesham Elnakib, Consul General of Egypt

World Affairs Council
312 Sutter Street, Suite 200
San Francisco

November 19, 2009 6:30-8:30pm

Special admission price for EAS members

Click here to register

Advanced registration is highly recommended

San Francisco Mayor's Office Internship Opportunities

The City & County of San Francisco Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, (MONS), is seeking Interns for this Fall and Spring semesters. MONS is dedicated to helping the citizens of the City & County of San Francisco receive the highest levels of service possible from all areas of City government. Interns work directly with district and community liaisons to ensure that the Mayor's Office is involved with helping to improve the quality of life for all San Francisco residents.

Check the formal application process

Application Process Includes