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address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256,
Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com.
TOO LATE FOR MOM
Thanks for your article about Dr. Alfrey and the
transplants being stopped at Memorial [See ” Kidney failure,”
by Dusty Rhodes, IT, Oct. 9]. My mother had a kidney transplant at Memorial in August
of 2003. Dr. O’Connor was the surgeon and he was absolutely wonderful
and gracious to her and to her family. She was religious about taking her
anti-rejection drugs at the right time every day, just as Dr.
O’Connor had told her to. When she had to start seeing Dr. Alfrey she
was crushed. He just would spend no time with her and not answer questions
as he should. Reading your article just hits so close to home. My Mom just
knew that there was a reason that Dr. O’Connor left, but she could
never get any answers.
You see my Mom died four weeks ago in the ICU at
Memorial without Dr. Alfrey even stopping by to try and help save her life.
We asked and asked to see him but only at the very end his transplant nurse
came by. Dr. Tamizuddin and Dr.Chen (both kidney doctors) did what they
could, but she really should have been seen by the transplant doctor. Our
family knew if Dr. O’Connor would have been there we would have seen
him every day. I am heartbroken that your article came too late for my Mom
to read but I am so glad I got to read it and I plan to share it with my
whole family.
Memorial needs to wake up and get a new transplant
doctor. That is a very important service for our area because Peoria and
St. Louis are too far to go when you are that sick and in desperate need of
a transplant. I know of one person who totally avoided Memorial due to the
lack of new recipients being put on the transplant list. They went to St.
Louis and got a transplant last week.
Maybe things will change now that this has been
brought out into the open.
Sue Davis
Pana
TRANSPLANT SAVED MY DAD
Roy Maxfield’s story reads very much like my
dad’s story [See “Kidney failure,” IT, Oct. 9]. He had scarlet fever
when he was 7, it slowly began to shut down his kidneys and when he was 39
he had to go on dialysis. He waited 11 years for a match of a kidney and in
December of 1991, we got the best Christmas present ever. My dad received a
kidney and my whole family received the gift of having my dad around.
I’m 34 years old now, and by all accounts of my
dad’s health 17 years ago, he should have never seen me graduate high
school. Today my dad is 67 and considering all he’s been through,
he’s amazingly healthy. (Of course he listens to his doctors, eats
well, doesn’t drink.)
Dr. Birtch did my dad’s transplant and Dr.
O’Connor was his doctor after that. I know my dad really trusted and
liked both of them. It’s a shame that the transplant program has been
suspended. I know firsthand how important their program is to anyone who is
in need of a kidney.
About five years ago I had my whole family write
anonymous letters to the donor family, just letting them know how grateful
we were for their loved one’s generosity. I often thought of them and
their loss and I just wanted them to know that their loved one saved an
amazing man who had a family that treasured him and we would have been
permanently broken without him. My family can attest to how important it is
to keep people aware of organ donation and I hope that our local program
gets reinstated.
Tracie Cook
Petersburg
DOCTORS NEED TO BE THERE
Being a 35-year survivor and the Memorial transplant
program’s oldest living recipient, I met Dr. Alfrey and experienced
the same bedside manners as mentioned in your article [See ” Kidney
failure,” IT, Oct. 9]. I have not been back since that day. I have known all
the doctors and nurses from the program and they never treated me or anyone
else like that. They were there for us 24/7, no matter what the problem
was. Maybe Dr. Alfrey is an excellent surgeon, but he has to realize that
we look to the doctors and nurses of the program as friends and sometimes
family, because we have to see them so much after such a life-changing
experience. We depend on them to be there when we need them. I have met a
lot of doctors in my life, starting after contracting polio at age 2 1/2,
and I have only met a couple who I did not like and respect. I have never
written to a publication before to complain, but this program is important
to me and so many others that depend on it. I sincerely hope that these
problems do not shut down this important life-saving program.
While I have not been back to transplant clinic, I am
not saying that anyone else should do the same. As anyone knows who has
known me over the past 40 or so years, I was never known as the model
patient. I have been very, very lucky, so please hang in there and see your
doctor as you should.
William A.Tucker Sr.
Springfield
THE SOUND OF FREEDOM
The article on the history of Springfield aviation
was interesting [See ” Springfield aviation makes history,” IT, Oct. 9]. However, the
caption in the upper right hand corner was incorrect.
In February 1955, the first F-84F
“Thunderstreak” arrived at Capital Airport to be flown by
the 170th Fighter Squadron. The F-84F was the aircraft when the 170th
became the 183d Tactical Fighter Group in October of 1962, and stayed
through the first nine years of existence for the 183d TFG.
The aircraft in the caption is an F-4 Phantom and the
183d was the first Guard unit to receive the F-4C in January 1972. It was
replaced by the F-4D in January 1981.
In June 1989 the first two F16s landed at Capital
Airport and was the beginning of the conversion from the F4Ds to the F16s.
May 5, 1990, marked the official acceptance of the F16s to the 183d,
therefore making the 183d a total F16 fighting unit.
I will miss the “sound of freedom” around
the Springfield area.
Matt
Urish
Springfield
Illinois Times regrets the error and appreciates the
corrected information.
HARVARD PARK CELEBRATES
Thank you for the engaging, informative article,
“Spirit of Progress: Harvard Park celebrates a century as a working
class neighborhood that still works,” by Tara McClellan
McAndrew (Sept. 25). The residents of Harvard Park are proud of its
100-year history and we are honored to have Harvard Park featured in the
best of weekly newspapers. Tara is an excellent writer and we will add her
story to our future.
Harvard Park commemorated its 100th anniversary with
a celebration on Sept. 27 at Harvard Park Elementary School where hundreds
of current and former residents enjoyed not only a myriad of activities and
lively music, but simply the opportunity to be together.
For some celebrants it was an opportunity to visit
with classmates whom they had not seen since leaving Harvard Park grade
school decades ago. Former teachers attended and recognized former
students. One gentleman stopped as he walked into the gymnasium and said:
“I played a lot of basketball in this gym.” Then, Jack
Pfeiffer showed up with a photo of the Harvard Park grade school basketball
team celebrating its 1948 Sangamon County Championship. One of the parade
marshalls, Carol Vorhees, has lived her entire 71 years in Harvard Park.
Clyde Bunch probably knew more current and former residents of Harvard Park
than anyone else. And the entire place knew the Humphrey’s when they
received a Good Neighbor plaque for being just that at 15th and Ash Streets.
As Fletcher Farrar has noted: “The lifeblood of
Springfield is in its neighborhoods. Each one has character, history, good
people — and problems. Celebrating a neighborhood’s history
reminds everyone that it is worth preserving…”
Polly Poskin
On behalf of the Harvard Park Neighborhood
Association
Correction
Due to a formatting glitch in a national online
database, our cover story last week, “Kidney failure,”
contained an erroneous statistic. We reported that Memorial Medical
Center had done only four kidney transplants in the first six months of
this year. After publication, we learned that the actual number was 14. Illinois Times regrets
the error
This article appears in Oct 9-15, 2008.
