Andy

Teri Dannenberg of El Cerrito was watching the news one day and heard that there was a shortage of blood in the Bay Area. The report said that elective surgeries were being rescheduled. Teri was not too concerned. Then she heard that there may not be enough blood for patients waiting for organ transplants and that caught her attention.

You see, Teri spent much of 2003 with her husband Andy Pasmanter in the hospital ICU at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Andy was in and out of ICU while awaiting a liver transplant. When the last trip disrupted their wedding plans, Teri and Andy even got married in the hospital.

Andy learned that he had a liver disease in March due to Hepatitis C. He had probably contracted it sometime in the 70's and the disease was so far along that by October he was admitted to the ICU to stay - either till he received a liver transplant or until he died. Andy had a dangerously low platelet count and even minor medical procedures, such as a biopsy, would require several units of plasma because his blood was not clotting on its own.

While he was in the hospital, Andy and Teri got to know many of the other patients waiting for organ transplants. Andy received his liver transplant on November 20 and went home on December 2. Though he was fortunate enough to receive his transplant in time to save his life, he knows other patients who are still waiting. And he knows that it took many units of blood for his operation. Andy's doing great now. He went back to work part-time in February 2004. Teri works at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley and has called the Red Cross to organize a blood drive there. They both want to do what they can to encourage everyone they know to consider giving blood.