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Hope Floats At Rocky Creek

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By JESSICA BALANZA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 5, 2007

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Patients come almost daily to sit below the rustling leaves of the tree they call famoso palito (famous tree) and mark with a sticker that reads 'Donate Life.'

They gather there in hopes of placing weightier matters - their liver transplant operations - on the back burner while they play some games of dominoes.

These patients, from LifeLink HealthCare Institute, have united among the 900 residents at Rocky Creek Retirement Village to kick their heels back as they wait for their second chance at life.

Rocky Creek is one of about 10 places in the county that offer reduced rates to house LifeLink HealthCare Institute patients, before and after their transplants. With the help of a volunteer, the majority of the patients at Rocky Creek hail from Puerto Rico.

Together, these two-dozen patients share camaraderie by attending church services, participating in support groups and playing dominoes.

This community within a community started about a year ago after Andres Morales, a native of Puerto Rico, found out about the location because of another patient.

Morales received a kidney transplant through LifeLink more than four years ago at Tampa General Hospital. After his transplant surgery, he remained in Tampa, settling in Carrollwood, and he began volunteering with LifeLink Foundation.

LifeLink Foundation, a nonprofit organization with multiple divisions including LifeLink HealthCare Institute, recovers organs and tissue for transplant.

The foundation has about 200 helpers who volunteer in the Tampa Bay area, but Jennifer Krouse, foundation spokeswoman, said they don't all go to the extent that Morales does.

'He is very dedicated,' Krouse said.

Having undergone a transplant operation, Morales understands some of the difficulties patients coming in from Puerto Rico can endure.

One major difficulty: not knowing the language.

'He has committed himself to help those who need life,' William Nazario, the administrator at Rocky Creek Village, said in Spanish.

'They are my people, and I went through this,' Morales said.

Although there is a LifeLink of Puerto Rico, which offers organ transplants, that facility does not perform liver transplants. Those in need of a new liver often come to the United States for the operation.

Patients typically come to Tampa because it is close, said Rebekah Arsenault, marketing coordinator for LifeLink HealthCare Institute.

After surgery, patients must remain at their present location for 30 to 60 days to recover. LifeLink patients are usually referred to a support group for Puerto Ricans, Arsenault said.

'The support group is a very close-knit group of individuals who likely share their own experiences and provide opinions on places, one of which is surely Rocky Creek,' Arsenault added in an e-mail.

Rocky Creek Village, an assisted living and retirement community, usually keeps two apartments on hold for LifeLink patients in immediate need and also rents out other apartments when available. Furnished apartments are provided at a reduced rate.

About 22 patients are residing within the community. Some have recently received a transplant and are recovering, and a handful are waiting to be the next organ recipient. Like Morales, some decided to stay in Tampa after their operations, and they made Rocky Creek their permanent home.

The LifeLink patients at Rocky Creek often gather in the shade of large tree, where they chat, swap stories and play dominoes.

The patients also have access to the amenities Rocky Creek provides: a pool, pharmacy, barber shop and convenience store, to name a few.

Although Rocky Creek provides religious services, the patients have appointed among themselves a 'pastor,' Hector Rodriguez, and they host their own prayer groups. Rodriguez leads the group in prayer. He came to Rocky Creek because his wife, Elba Baez, received a transplant.

'They patients come here because they are looking for life,' Rodriguez said.

'It's a blessing having found this place,' Morales said. 'They provide everything.'

The LifeLink patients have befriended some of the retired residents at Rocky Creek as well.

'It has attracted many people from the community,' Nazario said.

Many of the retired residents who prefer prayer group in Spanish attend the service with LifeLink patients.

'I am Christian, and I enjoy praying and sharing with them,' said Josefa Martinez, Rocky Creek resident. 'I know it is hard for some of them, and I feel in some way I am helping them.'

Morales said patients work together to help one another, such as providing transportation to appointments.

Since Morales began volunteering, he has tried to find housing or transportation for patients coming in from Puerto Rico. But he said it was not until he found out about Rocky Creek that his volunteering work became more organized.

'God has chosen me for this path because, thanks to my past condition, I am now in a position to help many people,' Morales said.

LifeLink patient Manuel Diaz came with his wife and daughter from Puerto Rico two months ago. Morales picked him up at the airport and helped him get adjusted. One month ago, he underwent his liver transplant surgery.

'I like it here - there is a lot of peace and harmony,' Diaz said. 'Everyone shares together. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a fraternity like this one.'

Being here has made this transition easier, added Jorge Diaz, who arrived from Puerto Rico four months ago and received his liver transplant a month ago.

'This is a great place,' Jorge Diaz said. 'It's like being at home.'

Although patients receive a list of other locations where they can stay, Morales said the support and friendship at Rocky Creek appeals to many.

'This is paradise for patients that stay here,' Morales said. 'Not only has it changed our lives, but the lives of those that already live here.'

Krouse, of the foundation, said the average wait for a liver transplant in Florida once on the National Patient Waiting list is seven months. The national average is two years.

Once patients are recognized as needing a transplant, they are placed on the list. The patient's position is determined by how advanced the disease is and how sick they are.

Arsenault said on average about six patients a year come from Puerto Rico for liver transplants.

Not all of them can wait.

'Patients who die while on the waiting list do so because of the extreme scarcity of organs,' Arsenault said. 'It is an accepted statistic that 17 people die daily while waiting, and a new name is added to the national transplant list every 13 minutes.'

Jose Perez, marketing director and admission coordinator for Rocky Creek Village, said he can recall three patients who died at Rocky Creek while waiting for a transplant.

'That's kind of what happens. Some of them make it. Some don't,' Perez said. 'It's really hard because you get attached to them. It's really hard - you see them every day hanging out or playing dominoes.

'We learn to appreciate life just seeing them around here,' Perez said.

BY THE NUMBERS

6: Average number of patients that come from Puerto Rico to Tampa per year for liver transplants.

22: Transplant patients currently residing within the Rocky Creek Village community

7 months: The average wait for a liver transplant in Florida

2 years: The national average wait time

3,470: Floridians are on the waiting list for an organ transplant

481: Puerto Ricans are on the waiting list for an organ transplant

Jessica Balanza can be reached at (813) 865-1518 or at jbalanza @tampatrib.com.

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