Family Spotlight

Meet Cason Blakely – A COTA Miracle

Within days of Cason's birth, parents B.G. and Tricia Blakely were told there were abnormalities in their son's blood work, which seemed to indicate a problem with his adrenal glands. Surprised and concerned, they took Baby Cason to the emergency room where he was admitted to the intensive care unit. There it was discovered that Cason's kidneys had not fully developed in utero and he would need a kidney transplant to survive. For his first 21 months of life, Cason underwent several surgeries; endured hundreds of needle sticks; had feeding tubes in his nose and abdomen, and spent countless days in the hospital. During these trying months, B.G. and Tricia reached out to the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) for help.

According to the Tricia Blakely, "COTA instantly became a vital part of our transplant journey. This incredible organization allowed us to focus our energies on living life and loving our boys -- instead of wondering how we would make it all work financially. With COTA's help, we are able to look forward with confidence at Cason's future without worrying about carrying a tremendous financial burden."

Cason received a kidney from his paternal grandmother on January 5, 2009. His progress has been truly miraculous since that time. Within days of the kidney transplant Cason's gregarious personality reappeared, and in less than a week he was running around
the room.

"Hope is not always easy to come by when you have a child who needs an organ transplant. There are sources of hope that bring comfort and strength during these
times … and COTA was our source of hope. COTA's team rallied our friends, family and community together to support and encourage us during every step of Cason's transplant journey," said Tricia.

Today, Cason is stronger, more energetic and more talkative. His parents are extremely thankful to Nona Beverly, to their transplant professionals and to their COTA team.

"With the help of COTA's staff and our family and friends, our entire community has rallied around us to love and support us every step of the way. Cason is a special little boy, and there are certainly lots of special people who love him," said B.G. and Tricia.

Please visit www.cota.org and select “Find a COTA Family” to locate a transplant family in your area needing financial and/or volunteer assistance.

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Giving Options

Retirement Relocation: Tips and Tools to Help You Make a Smart Move

For many, retiring to a new location is an exciting adventure and a great way to start a new chapter in life. Here are some tips to help you find and research a new community that meets your budget, and satisfies your wants and needs.

What to Consider
While nine out of 10 U.S. retirees stay where they are when they retire, the other 10% choose to relocate. Whatever your dream retirement location may be, you need to do your homework and learn everything you can about the area you're interested in. Here are some things to consider in helping you get started:

• The three Cs: Also known as crime, climate and cost of living. For most retirees these are high priorities in choosing a retirement location. To research these
  areas go to bestplaces.net, a fantastic web resource that offers climate profiles, crime statistics, a cost of living calculator and more, and lets you compare cities side-by-side. You can also click on the "Cost of Living" tab, plug in your annual income and find out how much you'll need to maintain your current standard of living. Also see homefair.com.
• Taxes: Some states are more tax-friendly than others. If you're planning to move to another state when you retire, you'll want to research your prospective state's personal income taxes, sales taxes, taxes on retirement income, property taxes and inheritance and estate taxes. You can do this at retirementliving.com - click on "Taxes by State."
• Healthcare: Does the community you're considering have good medical facilities nearby? Hospitalcompare.hhs.gov and qualitycheck.org are two good websites to help you research this. Also, to search for doctors in your new location who accept Medicare, visit medicare.gov and click on "Facilities & Doctors" or call 800-633-4227. Vitals.com is another good resource for researching new doctors. It's also important to keep in mind healthcare costs as they, too, can vary by market. Contact your insurer to research this.
• Transportation: If you plan to travel much, or expect frequent visits from your kids or grandkids, convenient access to an airport or train station is a nice advantage. Another consideration is public transportation. Since most retirees give up driving in their 80s, what services will be available? The area aging agency (call 800-677-1116 to get the local number) can help you with this.
• Recreation and work: Depending on your hobbies and interests -- golf, fishing, art, music, continuing education and more -- your retirement destination should meet your needs. Or, if you're interested in occupying your time with full-time or
  part-time work or by volunteering, what kinds of opportunities are available?

Test the Water
Once you find a location you're interested in, it's wise to make multiple visits at different times of the year so you can get a feel for the seasonal weather changes. It's also
prudent to rent for a year before buying a home or making a commitment to a retirement community. You may find that you like the area more as a vacation spot than as a
year-round residence.

More Tools
For more help researching a location, contact the prospective city's chamber of commerce. Also see epodunk.com, neighborhoodscout.com and relocateamerica.com - all excellent resources for learning more about thousands of locations across the country.

If you aren't sure where you want to retire, visit findyourspot.com and take their interactive quiz that poses dozens of questions on your preferences such as climate, recreation, community size and more. It then suggests possible destinations that match your preferences and offers detailed reports on the suggested communities. Also, see greatplacestoretire.com, topretirements.com and consider getting a subscription to "Where to Retire" magazine (wheretoretire.com; 713-974-6903).

Savvy Living is written by Jim Miller, a regular contributor to the NBC Today Show and author of "The Savvy Senior" book. The articles are offered as a helpful and informative service to our friends and may not always reflect COTA's official position on some topics. Jim invites you to send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070.

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Ways You Can Help

In Lieu of Flowers …

COTA Community Coordinator Amy O'Donnell-Riley reads obituaries mostly looking for names she recognizes. She also enjoys the old photos, and the little piece of history that goes with them. Amy feels the most revealing line of a death notice is the last paragraph -- the suggested donations in lieu of flowers and this thought lead her to write an article for a journal her profession publishes. Here's an excerpt from Amy's recently published article …

An obituary tells a lot about a person … what they enjoyed in life, what disease they were battling, who they left behind. I always wonder if very much money is raised for non-profits by these intentions. I'm not one for sending flowers, so why would I send something in lieu of them? I guess it's like a parting gift from the deceased (as they won't be around to support the charity anymore).

Recently, I've had to give a great deal of thought to charities. Two years ago one of my daughter's eight-year-old classmates came out of a play structure in tears, complaining of his chest hurting. The physician diagnosed a cardiac arrhythmia, and prescribed some medication with instructions to return in a few months. Well, long story short, Cullen returned to the physician to find his cardiac function had deteriorated, resulting in pulmonary hypertension. He was quickly given a central catheter and wears a pump to administer medication on a six-minute interval to keep his pressures under control. He was granted a "wish" and was flown to Washington D.C. to meet President Bush in his final days in office. Yes, we all laughed that a nine-year-old boy would rather meet a president with a 46% approval rating, than go to Disneyland … but it was his wish and he has some great pictures to prove it.

In early 2009, Cullen experienced a series of setbacks. His catheter became dislodged from his chest, requiring emergency surgery; he began experiencing panic attacks and his pump accidently shut down in class one afternoon. Cullen's parents were told by the Stanford team it was time to start fund-raising for a heart and double lung transplant.

Cullen's parents sent a group of people an email inviting us to learn more about Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA). COTA is a 501(c) 3 national charity based in Bloomington, Indiana, which is dedicated to organizing and guiding families and communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients. COTA's priority is to assure
that no child or young adult is denied a transplant or excluded from a transplant waiting
list due to lack of funds. One hundred percent of all funds raised in honor of patients are used for transplant-related expenses.

Someone needed to step forward and be the community coordinator for Cullen's fundraising effort. COTA estimated we would need to raise $75,000 towards out-of-pocket expenses for the two-year period leading up to, and following a heart/lung transplant. Money raised could be used to pay for any transplant-related expense. I prayed someone would take the position, so I could take the easier path of working more hours and just donating a big pile of money to the COTA account.

Here was a couple whose child had fallen down a well, and they were looking around the room and asking us for a rope … begging us for a rope, and apologizing for having interrupted our evening to watch the COTA video. So I signed on to help them raise the money for Cullen's transplant expenses. I'm scared of letting them down. What seemed like such an easy task now seems overwhelming. I envision having to oversee 24 first graders running a lemonade stand, 18 third graders jumping rope for an hour, and door to door solicitations holding a cardboard box with Cullen's picture on the front. It will be a lot of work, but I think the sense of community enveloping us will be our comfort later on. Cullen's brother and friends will have the opportunity to wrap their arms around him in support, and reassure themselves in the process. COTA restricts families from fundraising on their own behalf, so I will do what Colleen Cullen cannot do for her son. I'll ask my family and friends to donate money. I'll bully strangers and beg businesses.

It's not much, but it's all I can offer. More time for Cullen to experience life, the opportunity to drive a car, kiss a girl (not my daughter), go to college and all the other events that might take place over the next 10 years.

So what will my obituary read? I'm not sure what the future holds, but I believe the next 12 months are going to impact my life. I do ask this of you; don't wait until someone dies to support what is important to the person. If a neighbor, family member or friend sends you an email, or knocks on your door asking you to donate to a worthy cause, pay tribute to them now and write the check. I'm sure they'll appreciate it more than flowers.

Would you like to follow Amy's example and be a COTA Miracle Maker? Families like Cullen's are all over the country, probably even in your community. Email us at CampaignInfo@cota.org or call 800.366.2682 and we will help match you with a COTA family who needs your donations of time and dollars.

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COTA News

You Can Be a Miracle Maker, Too!

COTA has kicked off its nationwide Miracle Maker program, and many groups have already begun their planning for activities and events for 2011. Across the country American Legion Departments and Posts; Kiwanis and Key Club groups and Optimist clubs have committed to becoming COTA Miracle Makers.

A great example: In Ohio, every Legionnaire was challenged to give just fifty cents -- toward a total raised of more than $20,000.

It's not too early to start your 2011 planning … you can be a COTA Miracle Maker, too! If your organization is having a state, regional or national convention, COTA would like more information. Please send details about any service conventions to jennifer@cota.org.

We hope to see many of you soon and we look forward to hearing from you. COTA's staff is here, just a phone call or email away.

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COTA Fast Fact

Funds Available for Patients' Transplant-Related Expenses
Funds raised through the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) in honor of patients are available for ongoing transplant-related expenses. Changing insurance plans, inflated premiums and deductibles, and benefit caps are long-term issues for most transplant patients. Having COTA funds available for post-transplant care helps alleviate these concerns.

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