Ideopathic hypotrophic subaortic stenosis (IHHS) - the words alone
could make your hair stand on end. Imagine being the first person in
the world to receive such a diagnosis.
That's precisely what happened to George Brady 30 some years
ago. Of course, you'd have to argue that with Claude.
Claude Brady, George's older brother, his thathe was the first,
although a few minutes of friendly bickering will have him accepting
third place, behind their sister, Sandra.
IHSS, now known as cardiomyopathy, is hereditary heart defect that
usually makes itself known in the teenage years. Fatigue, shortness
of breath and a gradual deterioration in cardiac function ultimately
result in a slow, frustrating, frightening death.
George and Claude Brady may be the only brothers in the country who
have both received a heart transplant, whether for cardiomyopathy or
any other condition. George, 51, received his new heart six years ago;
Claude, 54, received his two years ago. Both were present, with their
wives, at the UNOS Patient Forum in Arlington, Va., May 17.
"I was put on the list July 1, 1985, and was given 90 days to
live," George Brady recalled. "I was transplanted 45 days
later."
Claude, on the other hand, went on the list in October 1988 and wasn't
transplanted until eight months later. He suffered one false alarm,
when Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was listed, thought is had a heart
for him.
"Until that time, she was always calling it my heart transplant,"
Claude remarked, referring to his wife, Nancy. "After the false
alarm, it became our heart transplant."
Nancy Brady has to be referred to as "Claude's wife, Nancy,"
because not only do the Brady men share the experience of cardiomyopathy
and transplantation, but they both have wives with the first name Nancy.
Claude and George frequently joke about moving all the way from Buckhannon,
West Virginia, to northern Virginia to marry women named Nancy from
West Virginia - Claude's Nancy is from Morgantown, George's Nancy is
from Grafton. Morgantown and Grafton are only 30 miles apart. Both are
about two hours from Buckhannon.
The coincidences help tie the family together in many ways. Having
two heart transplant patients in the same family has made pre- and post
transplant care a little easier. "Claude was calling George a lot
to see if he'd experienced this symptom or that," Claude's wife
said. "It's comforting to know that what you're experiencing is
not uncommon."
George and Nancy Brady lost a daughter to cardiomyopathy just four
years ago, a week before her high school graduation. And although the
leg cramps George experiences are considerably milder than they were
immediately following transplant, the prednisone he takes to fight rejection
has damages his pancreas and kidneys and he's now diabetic. "The
heart transplant was easy; it's the drug therapy that's the problem,"
he said.
Nonetheless, the Bradys have kept a sense of humor about their ordeal,
with George declaring with a laugh, "People with bypass surgery
have their hearts all beaten up. We have nice, neat ones, instead."
George Brady has been back at work as a computer technician for the
past two and half years, although his older brother has opted for early
retirement. Although their lives have been filled with ups and downs
both pre and post transplant, neither has had second thoughts about
the transplant. The UNOS Patient Forum gave them information to help
them through those ups and downs.
Besides learning about support groups, resources and how the organ
allocation system operates, Mrs. George Brady adds, "I found it
interesting to learn not just what they can do for us,
by what we can do to help."
7//99 - Nancy Brady, Claude Brady's wife, has passed away. If you
would like to hear more about her life and accomplishments please
read the text below:
Nancy Brady's Memorial Service
As you may know, TRIO lost one of the pillars of our organization
in June with the passing of Nancy Brady. Many of you were able to attend
the memorial service held on July 14. There were over 100 people in
attendance, including former co-workers, neighbors, family, and her
TRIO family.
The eulogies were given by: Dr. Harold Brown, former Secretary of
Defense, and for whom she had worked for many years; Dr. Ken Moritsugu,
Deputy Surgeon General, and donor father and donor husband; and our
own Al Leon, speaking about her contributions to organ and tissue do-
nation. It was truly a moving ceremony and there were no dry eyes.
Nancy designated TRIO as the recipient of donations in her memory.
We have received over $3,000 in her memory to use for donor awareness
activities.
Nancy Ann Brady
Nancy Ann Brady was the beloved wife of Claude Brady; the mother of
a daughter, Cynthia Green and a son, Richard Whiddon, children from
her marriage to Richard Whidden; which ended in divorce. She was also
sister to three brothers and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Her
son, Richard, preceded her from this life. Nancy lived in Arlington,
Virginia and was born in Cassville. West Virginia.
She began her federal career in 1957 as a Pentagon secretary. During
her career, she served five Secretaries of the Air Force beginning
with Eugene Zuckert. She served Dr. Harold Brown when he was Secretary
of the Air Force and when he became Secretary of Defense.
She left Federal service in 1985 to work for Dr. Brown at the Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and later at the Center
for Strategic International Studies, where she worked until her death.
In 1991, she and her husband Claude (a heart recipient) were two of
the founders of the Nation's Capital Area Chapter of Transplant Recipients
International Organization (TRIO). TRIO is a nonprofit organization
for those who have received transplants, are awaiting transplants or
are donor families. She served as Secretary for many years and also
as membership chair. Nancy knew every member, their transplant story
and their concerns. She always had time to listen and will be greatly
missed by her family, TRIO and her friends.
Memorial Service Introduction
My name is Albert Leon.
On behalf of Claude Brady and the rest of Nancy Brady's family, they
want to express their profound appreciation for your being here today
to show how much Nancy truly meant to a11 of us.
I will be our third and last speaker, after which everyone is invited
to the downstairs lounge, for punch and cookies, at which time you
will have an opportunity to speak with Claude and the rest of Nancy's
family, at your leisure.
Our second speaker will be Dr. Ken Moritsugu, who is the Deputy Surgeon
General of the United States. But additionally, to all of us in the
transplant community, he is a very special person and friend.
Long before I knew Nancy, and that she worked for him, I respected
and admired our first speaker. Accordingly, it is my sincere privilege
to introduce a former Secretary of Defense, Dr. Harold Brown.
Eulogy by Dr. Brown
We are here to remember Nancy Brady and to celebrate her life. Some
of you knew her as a cherished family member. I should say family
leader, devoted to family members of the generation before her to those
of her own generation and to those of the two generations after. Still
others knew her as a tireless worker for TRIO. I knew her beginning
in the mid-1960s, as a colleague and friend. For periods that add up
to more than 22 years she was the most effective and efficient and
the nicest executive assistant I've ever seen in my 50 years of experience
in government, private business, and the non-profit sector of universities,
think tanks and foundations. To people outside she was a friendly helpful
and unflappable interface. For me and others around me both in government
and in the private sector as SAIS and at CSIS these characteristics
were especially welcome because I myself was not always friendly, helpful
or unflappable. Nancy was always able to deal effectively with every
person in every sort of organization as they interacted with our own
office. Whether with other cabinet offices, congressional offices,
embassies, businesses or think tanks or not least journalists and other
media people, she knew what to say, how to hold off unwanted meetings
or to arrange desired ones, and always without offending anyone. She
was as polite and friendly to sergeants as to generals, to secretaries
as to Cabinet secretaries. She knew whom to put through on the telephone
and whom to delay. She knew which subjects were urgent and which were
not. She even knew how to deal with the White House, the only residence
in the world that seems to have its own wishes--as when some eager
staff member called in to say, "The White House wants..."
So much for dealing with the outside world. As to the inside world,
Nancy was superlatively efficient, caring and responsive. She didn't
wait to be told what to do; she took initiatives. And nothing was too
difficult for her. She was enormously skillful at everything from secretarial
tasks (transcribing, composing letters, and so forth )-- to scheduling
and knowing who to go for whatever information was desired. Characteristically,
she made the transition from typewriter to computer a lot faster than
others--including me--were able to.
Nancy was not an empire-builder. She never yearned to have a lot
of people report to her. But she was nevertheless a fine organizer.
Things ran smoothly when she was around. She handled problems proactively,
to prevent them from becoming crises.
Finally, I'd like to say something about Nancy's courage in the face
of personal and family tragedies and obstacles and in the face of her
own illness. She always displayed optimism tempered with realism. And
through it all she just kept on working and producing and supporting.
She put up with people many of whom were and are difficult to deal
with--me and my colleagues, but especially the outside world and especially
while she was in the Defense Department, where she served for 20 years.
Nancy Brady can't be replaced. She will be achingly missed by all
those who knew her. But we can remember her, admire her and be grateful
for having worked with her, for having known her and for having her
as an example.
Eulogy by Dr. Moritsugu
Today, we remember the life of Nancy Brady. A day of sadness, a day
of joy.
For those of us in transplantation, we celebrate life everyday, knowing
its value so personally and intimately. And today, we celebrate the
life of a wonderful woman, who has been involved with the Gift of Life
for so many years. I have known Nancy and Claude for only a few years,
brought together by the common thread of organ donation and transplantation.
I did not know her then. but I can imagine how committed and dedicated
she must have been to Claude, as he waited for his heart transplant,
and, how she has supported him before, during, and after receiving
that Gift of Life. She is truly one of the real heroes in Claude's
life. One of those real heroes in transplantation.
I remember her as a person who always wore a smile, who was always
gracious, who always had a kind word for everyone, who was always there
to help, who always had an enthusiasm for life that was infectious.
I know because I remember one of the first times I met her, not as
a transplant recipient, but as a new donor family member, when she
reached out to me to offer comfort and thanks, as I have seen her do
on other occasions, in her quiet, un- assuming, but so very effective
way.
I remember her in so many different places: volunteering her efficient
services in the TRIO offices; providing her quiet wisdom at national
Board meetings; enjoying nature at local chapter picnics; and attending
the Annual Celebration of Life galas.
She was active, present, and effective both at local as well as at
National levels. It was a rare national transplant event where I did
not see Nancy together with Claude. She was a quiet force behind the
scenes of the local TRIO Chapter, helping to assure that things were
done right, and that the right things were done. But in all of these,
always with such a positive attitude, and always looking out for her
Claude and for others. Many of us are here today, celebrating her life
and thanking her.
Even in her last battles with the disease that finally took her, she
was gracious and smiling.
Claude, while you have lost a wife and a life partner, she leaves
you with a huge circle of friends who will be here to support you and
cherish her memory.
Nancy, you have fought a good fight.
We are all better people because we knew you, and because you touched
our lives.
Rest in peace knowing that you have made a difference in this world.
Eulogy by Albert Leon
This is an appointment I wish had never been necessary, but one I'm
honored to fulfill. When I was called, on June 20, and was told of
Nancy Brady's death, I was struck by the collision of the inevitability
of death with its actuality .As rational and thinking beings, we all
recognize that the very miracle of being blessed with life means it
must necessarily--sooner or later--come to an end. But when its actuality
comes all too soon, and to someone as special and beloved as Nancy
Brady, one asks difficult questions only to meet the brick wall of
unsatisfactory answers. And so it is--here and now!!
Earlier this month, at a service in West Virginia, Nancy was recognized
for the family person she was. Today, you first heard from Dr. Brown,
speaking so eloquently of Nancy Brady, the career person.
Then, from the transplant community's staunch friend and active supporter,
you heard words that could only have come from the likes of Dr. Ken
Moritsugu.
Now, I want to talk about Nancy Brady the TRIO person. With respectful
consideration of those of you here who don't know of TRIO, it stands
for Transplant Recipients International Organization. And as its name
suggests, it is an organization dedicated to transplant recipients,
candidates, their families and friends, along with living donors and
donor family members and their friends and the many professionals in
the field. Our mission is one of education, awareness, support and
advocacy.
In this assemblage today, there are many transplant recipients. And
those of us who are TRIO members pretty well know who we are. In all
due mass modesty .we usually look so healthy. I challenge those of
you outside of TRIO to differentiate a recipient from his or her support
person.
People frequently refer to a transplant recipient as "special".
I put "special" in quotes because, truly we would be the
first to establish that we are not "special", but that we
are simply lucky, lucky to have received our life-saving transplant.
And many of us--as our way of saying "thanks"-- work with
TRIO, the Washington Regional Trans- plant Consortium, the Coalition
on Donation and other advocacy and support groups, to the end of bringing
our good fortune to the many tens of thousands of hopefuls still waiting
for a transplant.
But the really "special" people to recipients are our donors,
our donor family members, our medical team and our support people.
And that brings me back again to Nancy Brady, a person whose given
middle name was Ann, but whose earned middle name might very well have
been 'Support', I know from firsthand experience of her special love
and support of Claude, her husband of 33 years, of her beloved granddaughter,
Sarah, and of Sarah's mother, Cindy and Nancy's support of TRIO is
literally legend.
In that regard, I hold in my hands a beautiful and meaningful plaque.
It is dated November 9,1996. Allow me, please, to read it to you. I
quote:
"EXCELLENCE
Claude and Nancy Brady
Founding (Father) and (Mother) of our Chapter
For your hard work, dedication
and enthusiasm for
organ and tissue donation, we thank you.
Transplant Recipients International
Organization
Nation's Capital Area Chapter”
The characterizing words on this beautiful plaque are 'Founding Mother'.
Although Nancy had some appropriate conception help from her husband,
our Founding Father, Claude, as well as some important mid- wifery
from several other co-founders, it was Nancy who principality gave
birth to our Chapter.
But as with all good mothers, her job didn't end with giving birth.
It just began! She nursed and nurtured our Chapter with every bit of
energy and dedication possible. She served on our Board. She hosted
Board meetings innumerable times. And yes, she even did so soon after
her initial hip surgery .She was our Membership Chairperson. At one
time, she did our newsletter, she made arrangements for special events
such as picnics and chartering dinners. She was, in every sense, the
glue that held our Chapter together. And in the very best use of the
word, she was considerably more than a woman. She was a LADY.
Even though she was a great fighter, Nancy apparently recognized,
soon before her death, that the end was near. So she told Clause she
wanted to be remembered as a person who never did anything half-way,
but always all the way. She also asked to be remembered as the healthy,
vibrant Nancy, not the Nancy that died sick in the hospital of uncounted
complications from her bone marrow transplant.
Recognizing she will be sorely missed by Claude, by her granddaughter,
Sarah, by Sarah's mother, Cindy, by her daughter, Cynthia Green, by
her brothers, Dick, John, and Fred, who unselfishly came forward to
be Nancy's bone marrow donor, by the rest of the family and by her
countless friends and admirers, let's remember her as she wished, and
for being the wonderful person she was and for the indescribable support
she gave to each and every one of us.
Nancy Brady has earned and deserves our highest regard, our deepest
respect and our utmost reverence. We love you, Nancy. May you be at
peace.
