Elisheva Would Have Been So Proud ...

So Many Came to Honor her Life, her Generosity at her funeral service on April 10th And so many sent donations to IHS in her memory. Those donations helped take us through a few months, during a time when writing e-mails was such a struggle. It still is ... but at least these hands don't shake as much when I remember how much she wanted her work to continue as the "last place a UVA Hospital Social Worker needs to call for assistance, when no other agency or clinic or charity can meet the need to help an underfunded situation, especially for food and lodging." She said to me so often, "Isn't it wonderful that we have  been given this opportunity to assist so many people in such stressful situations. How lucky we are." Elisheva would have been so pleased ...that key Team members who tried to save her all came together on June 24th to meet with me and two of our daughters (Yalda and Arezou) from out of town.  Dr. Christine Lau, lung specialist, was to have performed Elisheva's last cancer removal for her right lung which was scheduled for April 7.  The cancer in the left lung was successfully removed in mid-March. Something more deadly had begun the night of April 5 and when it ruptured the situation was beyond repair. The exploratory in ICU was immediate and extensive, but Elisheva's body could no longer sustain the fight. The Medical Team Members who met and offered their professional comments were ... Christine Lau, MD, Chief, Section of Thoracic Surgery UVA;  John Stringham, MD, Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon; Patrick Norton, MD, Radiology & Medical Imaging; John Riordan, MD, Emergency Medicine;  Chris Ghaemmaghami, MD, Chief Medical Office; and Kevin Adams, MDiv, representing UVA Chaplaincy.  The team answered all questions to the best of their abilities. Drs. Lau and Stringham were present from the time Elisheva' arrived in ICU until time of death.  This meeting was so important for our family, for this was a patient prepared for lung surgery within 24 hours who came through ER and seven hours later went into cardiac arrest and died from internal bleeding in a upstairs room so suddenly and unexpectedly. The Team was aware of our lingering concerns and took time to address the situation thoroughly. There was only one major request, not a question from me:  Please take this case and review it precisely and seek out any aspect which may have been missed at any stage of Elisheva's treatment, and use it for awareness training.  It is all I can ask. Elisheva would be proud that so many cared deeply for her efforts at UVA Hospital ... but she would be terribly distracted if I did not remind the readers of this e-mail that such a charity can only fulfill its goals with dedicated giving.  She was already planning visits to local churches and activating new private contacts and meeting Commonwealth of Virginia (CVC) UVA Medical Center kick-off personnel to spread the word that Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) is an important tool for lifting burdens from the least able in a most immediate manner. Keep this in mind Please ... Every person reading this e-mail, or its equivalent as a blog posting, is a member of some type organization, such as a church, a school, a business, a clinic,  a club, a team, a family. Every person can indicate that there is one silent charity which was founded by a person who saw the needs of people in desperate situations, and said, "This must be corrected!" I am asking for each of you to consider promoting that same sense of generosity within your area of influence. Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.   Thank you so much for your ideas and invitations to expose this charity's vital mission. NEVER shy away from seeking gift-giving from others when you know it will serve the needs of the least able. Sincerely, T. Wade Clegg III President, IHS