September 17, 2020 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
©
Shelton Mason County Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 36 (36 of 40 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
September 17, 2020 |
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader ![]() |
Page A—36 Shelton-Mason County Journal — Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020
Catch
and release
Gilford Palmer, a Shelton resident for
33 years, has been capturing opossum
in his yard at Turner and 14th streets,
and then releasing, them in the woods.
Opossum are the only North American ~
marsupials — females carry their young
in their pouches. They are a threat to
dogs, Palmer said. “A lot of people
don’t know these things are in town,”
he said. Photo courtesy of Gilford Palmer
By Kirk Boxleitner
kbox/eitner@masoncounty.com
When Mason General Hospital was
recently recognized for its support of
tissue donation by LifeNet Health, at
least one member of the Mason Health
team already understood the value of
tissue donation on a personal level. .
LifeNet Health. acquired Northwest
Tissue Services, a department of the
nonprofit Puget Sound Blood Center
in 2012, and in. the years since, it’s
partnered with Northwest hospitals
to receive tissue donations.
LifeNet 'Health awarded Mason
General Hospital the Washington
Critical Access Hospital of the Year
Award for 2019, which it gives to its
hospital partners who demonstrate
“outstanding collaboration and com-
mitment” in support of tissue dona-
tion.
LifeNet Health Executive Vice
President Doug Wilson praised Ma-
son General Hospital for maintaining
its standards going into 2020, even
as the hospital’s staff and resources
are taxed by the pandemic. LifeNet
Health and Mason General Hospital
work with the families of prospective
donors as families weigh what their
loved ones’ wishes might have been
regarding the donation of their tissue,
Wilson said.
The investment of care yields an
impressive return of resources, Wilson
said, with a single donor often able to
help 150 others.
“That can mean skin grafts for.
treating burns, bone grafts for bad
fractures and blood vessels for diabet-
ics,” Wilson said. .
' Arla Shephard Bull, marketing co-
ordinator for Mason Health, reported
that Mason General Hospital’s five
tissue donors in~2019 wound up giv-
ing to 750 other patients, which Jen-
nifer Capps, the chief development
and communication officer for Mason
Health, described as having “a huge
local impact.” ,
In turn, Mason Health Chief Nurs-
ing ‘Officer Melissa Strong, deemed
LifeNet Health “a wonderful partner”
that has provided the staff of Mason
General Hospital with resources rang-
ing from education to caregiver cours—
es designed to alleviate “burnout” in
health care workers, which Strong
added is especially appreciated during
the pandemic.»
Kristyn Criss is not only a regis-
tered nurse, but is also the RN team
manager in the emergency depart-
ment of Mason Health and has worked
with LifeNet Health for more than two
years in support of tissue donation.
Criss‘is a tissue donation recipient.
“When I was 15 years old, I got in-
jured playing soccer,” Criss said.
A collision with another player re-
sulted in knee injuries that included a r
torn AOL and several tears to her me-
niscus, and led to a series of surgeries
from 1999 to 2005 that wore on her,
mentally and physically. .
A hamstring autograft failed after
six weeks, and was followed by a sec-
ond surgery to remove damaged tissue
from the joint, a third surgery to re-
pair the damaged tendon a year later '
and a fourth surgery five years later,
the latter of which led to the discovery
of additional'damage to her surround-
ing ligaments, completely shredding
her meniscus.
Criss had worsening pain and in-
stability in her knee, so she talked
with additional specialists, one of
whom recommended an allograft and
referred her to an orthopedist who
specialized in AOL reconstruction us-
ing donated tissue.
Criss knew little about tissue dona-
tion at the time, but underwent her
fifth surgery in 2005. The transplant
was a success. .
~“In the 15 years since, I’ve only
had minimal issues, all while working
and raising four very active children,”
Criss said.
While Strong touted the benefits of
tissue donation to other young women
athletes, who are among those most
commonly in need of knee and leg
surgery, Criss urged families to talk
about tissue donation beforehand.
“It can help with the grieving pro-
cess, to know that your loved one
wanted to help others through the gift
of tissue donaticm,” Criss said.
How you can help
To sign up as a donor or learn more
about donation, go to RegisterMe.org.
Melissa Strong, chief nursing officer for Mason Health, holds ajLifeNet
Health award presented to the hospital earlier this year. Courtesy photo
August was National Minority Donor
Awareness Month, which focuses on
bringing awareness to donation and
transplantation in multicultural com-
munities. '
According to the United Network
for Organ Sharing, transplants can
be successful regardless of the race or
ethnicity of the donor and recipient,
but the'chance of longer-term survival
might be higher if the donor and re-
cipient are closely matched in their
genetic background. Learn more at
donatelifemet/nmdam.