Bill Sumiel was having a tough Friday. It was October 2020, and the 71-year-old, who was dealing with kidney failure (肾衰竭) and had been on dialysis (血液透析) for a few years, found himself at the hospital 30 miles from home for the second time in 24 hours. The day before, his brother had driven him for a routine declotting (去除血块), but it unexpectedly blocked again that night.
Sumiel was no stranger to the struggles of kidney disease. He’d been diagnosed with diabetes (糖尿病) more than 20 years before, which led to his kidney problems. He was on the list of the kidney transplant program, but no matches had yet appeared. So he continued with his treatments, including the periodic declotting that had failed this time. This time, Sumiel took a taxi to and from his appointment.
Timothy Letts, 31, was driving north to visit a friend when his phone received the request for Sumiel’s ride home. The trip was out of Letts’s way. Still, he took the fare, figuring if the passenger was coming from a hospital, he likely needed a ride.
When Sumiel got into the car, Letts could see that the older man was not energetic but in good spirits. And as they set out on the 40-minute drive to Sumiel’s home, the pair started chatting.
Letts shared with Sumiel that he was a proud Army veteran (老兵) and Sumiel mentioned that in the past he’d enjoyed volunteering at his church and in his community, even serving as president of the city council. But he was doing less these days, he explained, because the dialysis treatments left him exhausted and he was searching for a kidney donor.
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This hit Timothy Letts deeply.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Weeks later, Letts received a call from the hospital, saying he was a perfect match.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Julia Harlin’s liver (肝) began failing several years ago as a result of a serious illness, her only option for survival was to get a liver transplant (移植).
Due to a long waiting list, Julia would need to wait months or years to find a person with a matching blood type, who’d like to donate his or her liver, as well as other medical characteristics—and as a senior citizen, time wasn’t exactly on her side.
“They basically told me, it would probably be at least five years, if not longer, before I would get the transplant,” Julia, 71, of Frederick, Maryland, recalled during an interview.
Despite having five children of her own, Julia said she did not want any of them to donate their liver to her “because then I would be worrying about them on top of worrying about myself”.
Without their mom’s knowledge, however, Julia’s daughter Eileen Harlin and her two other brothers and sister applied to donate their liver, which would reduce their mom’s wait time, although it would require a major surgery.
Eileen got the call that she was a match right before Mother’s Day. Deciding that Mother’s Day was the best time to tell her parents, Eileen began the conversation, “Hey, don’t get mad. For the past few months, I’ve been getting tested to see if I’m a match. And I am, and I want to do it.” The news was met with tears all around. Happy tears. How can you be mad when the daughter just said she was going to save her mom’s life? “It was emotional for sure,” Eileen shared.
The liver transplant was carried out successfully on Aug. 16, 2022, at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, according to a press release from the hospital. Unfortunately, Julia received additional bad news not long after the surgery. She was experiencing kidney (肾) failure due to the kidney damage.
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Julia’s doctors said that the condition required her to get a new kidney.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Eileen saved her mom’s life twice.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A six-year-old Scottish girl has taken her first steps even though doctors said she would spend her life in a wheelchair. Arabella was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC, 先天性多发性关节挛缩症) affecting both her arms and legs, but when doctors in Scotland said there was nothing that could be done for Arabella, her mom Catherine refused to believe it and instead made it her mission to find a solution to help her daughter.
She reached out to Dr. David S Feldman, a famous doctor based in Florida who treats AMC with surgery (外科手术), and made an appointment with his team at the Paley European Institute in Warsaw, Poland. “We all agreed she is a great person for operation and can gain motion in her legs, which gave great hope to Arabella and her mom,” Dr, Feldman said. However, it needed a big amount of money for the operation, which the family couldn’t afford it.
When Catherine returned to Scotland to meet with some famous doctors, they said there was nothing that could be done and the surgery wasn’t suitable for Arabella. As a result, Catherine was a little disappointed. “They said we needed to be realistic and think about how we could improve Arabella’s life in a wheelchair,” Arabella’s father William said, “On hearing that, as any parents, it dashed (使破灭) our hopes so much...” For the next two months, the family was in a low spirit. William has been on a mission ever since to help his daughter walk again. He launched a crowd funding page to raise £125,000 for the surgery.
Arriving in October 2021 and remaining there over Christmas, Arabella underwent 12 weeks of careful rehabilitation and physiotherapy (康复理疗) with the dedicated nurses as she built up her muscles and learned to walk. Last August she returned to hospital for a second operation and a further six weeks of physiotherapy. They didn’t give up. On the contrary. they looked after Arabella carefully and encouraged her to feel confident of the operation.
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The parents tried their best to raise money for the second operation.
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Arabella had the second operation and physiotherapy.
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Since the late 1990s, Dr Daniel Tanita has been engaged in volunteer dental work for children in his hometown, a remote small country. His devotion and effort have not gone unnoticed.
When Tanita first started his volunteer work, he found himself in less-than-ideal conditions. The lack of proper dental facilities meant that he had to conduct dental checkups in a cramped(狭窄的) closet. With only one small chair and no windows, it was far from an ideal environment for providing dental care. The absence of windows resulted in the absence of natural light, creating a dim atmosphere within the small space. The lack of fresh air circulation made the environment stuffy(闷热的) and hot. Despite these limitations, Tanita persisted his volunteer work.
Over the years, Tanita’s passion for making a difference in the lives of children in need grew stronger and stronger. He witnessed firsthand the impact that early dental work and education could have on improving the overall well-being of these children. This realization fueled his determination to create a better environment for providing dental care.
The idea of building a permanent dental clinic in a local elementary school took shape in Tanita’s mind. He recognized the importance of having a dedicated(专用的) space where children could receive the dental care they were desperately in need of. With the support of a few other volunteers who shared his vision, Tanita became the driving force behind the clinic’s construction.
The project was not without its challenges. Securing funding, finding a suitable place within the school, and dealing with various related considerations required a great deal of effort and perseverance. However, Tanita’s firm devotion and passion for making a positive impact on the lives of these children motivated him to overcome all these issues.
注意：
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2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Finally, the permanent dental clinic became a reality.
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Since then, children at the new clinic have been enjoying a better experience.
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Call a Physical Therapist
You get up from the sofa and - ow! Back pain takes your breath away. Do you reach for the pain pills? No! Call a physical therapist instead!
More and more, physical therapy, or PT, is a common go-to for treating aches and pains. A physical therapist can treat almost any injury to give a patient a better quality of life. When it comes to treatment, one size does not fit all. A physical therapist personalizes a treatment plan based on their observations and the patient’s concerns. The goal is to help injured or ill people improve movement and manage pain, so they can live life to the fullest. These therapists work with patients who suffer from back or neck injuries. They help people recover from broken bones and surgeries as well as work- or sports-related injuries. Physical therapists also teach people how to stay in shape and prevent further injuries. Their hands-on (动手的) therapy includes strengthening or stretching exercises, ice or heat and more.
No one can become a physical therapist without getting a doctor of physical therapy degree. After completing it, a person must pass a professional license exam before beginning to practice. Further, being a physical therapist can be mentally and physically draining because of the hands-on, personalized patient care required. A successful physical therapist needs to have great communication skills and an eye for detail. They should also be creative problem solvers as well as resourceful.
For those looking for a satisfying career, PT is one to consider. The demand for the profession is growing faster than that of many other careers. Private clinics and hospitals hire physical therapists. Sports facilities and professional sports teams also employ them. Therapists may work in skilled nursing facilities or visit patients in their own homes. If someone wants to see the world, they may want to become a travel physical therapist.
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