Healing at the holidays

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BALTIMORE — Kathleen O'Boyle was not shy about jumping into the medical histories of those who attended a Christmas Party this week at the University of Maryland Medical Center's healing garden. "Did you have a transplant?" she asked a man who was sitting his wife while chatting with other guests. "What did you have?"

What would have ordinarily been a party faux pas at the event Tuesday night was met with honest and joyful answers because the lives of many of the roughly 300 guests had severely improved or even had been saved by an organ transplant.

For the past four years, the center has held the party as part of the Transplant Patient Education Series that it hosts each month for recipients.

Gracie Moore-Greene supervises social workers who monitor the psychological health of solid-organ transplant recipients from the time they are diagnosed with an illness requiring a transplant through their recovery from surgery.

Miss Moore-Greene said the education series runs from September to May and features lectures from doctors and a support session to help patients cope with psychological issues related to transplants.

"It's still a lifestyle change," she said. "I think it's important that patients have a connection to the hospital."

Miss O'Boyle, 39, of Silver Spring, said she still feels healthy after receiving a kidney from her sister nearly 10 years ago. A self-described gadfly, Miss O'Boyle said she likes to reach out to other people who are dealing with recovery issues.

"Whenever I go to the transplant clinic, I was always talking to other people to see how they are doing," she said. "I ask a lot of questions."

Joyce Herbert, 44, of Baltimore County, said the program gives her the comfort of knowing she is not alone.

"It's like a miracle to find all these people," said Mrs. Herbert who received a kidney in last December. "When I was sick, I felt like I was the only one."