This story was written by Michelle, Donor Wife In 2019, I watched as my husband of 22 years seemingly unraveled right before my eyes. He had always suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress syndrome. However, he was losing touch with reality, and I felt helpless. I was in deep grief from the loss of my […]
POWER PLAYER – ZACHARY
This story was written by Zachary, Living Kidney Donor My name is Zachary Sutton, and I am a living kidney donor, transplant nephrology physician assistant, transplant advocate, husband, Dad, and athlete. I donated a kidney as a physician assistant student to the transplant list in 2008, making me the first altruistic donor in South Carolina. […]
POWER PLAYER- SHIRENE
From Physician to Patient in 150 days This story was written by Shirene, lung recipient “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.” – Psalm 18:32 From an outside perspective, my life over the past couple years seems far from perfect or ideal. And if I had heard my story […]
POWER PLAYER – ANSHA
This Story was written by Ansha, student and cofounder of Docs Against Donor Disparities My name is Ansha Gupta and for the past year, I have been working alongside three of my friends to start an initiative. We have been working to spread awareness of donor disparities and have been making an attempt to educate […]
POWER PLAYER – JOANNE
This story was written by Joanne, Heart Recipient While each transplant recipient has their own unique story, I have one as well. I was born with a complex congenital heart defect called transposition of the great arteries. Because of this, I underwent lifesaving heart surgery within the first few months of life. Growing up, I […]
POWER PLAYER – CHARLES
This story was written by Charles, heart and kidney recipient. My name is Charles Cook. I am 53 years old. I am the father of 2 fantastic young adults. I am a 2 time deceased donor organ transplant recipient. I received my heart in April 2016 and I received my kidney in October 2017. I […]
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: KINGSTON
This update was written by Lisa Macfarland, Kingston’s mom . Check out Kingston’s original story here. Kingston is doing amazing! He recently celebrated his 3rd birthday. He’s so smart and so funny! He loves singing his ABC’s, loves playing soccer, and loves to swim. He’s excited to start preschool next month too. We recently […]
Power Player – Elizabeth
This story was written by Elizabeth, two time kidney and liver recipient Hello, I am a twice kidney (2004, 2021) and now liver (2021) transplant recipient. I am a year out from my most recent surgery and I am doing exceptionally well, working full time, travelling, and spending time with my family. What blessings I’ve […]
Power Player – Emma
This story was written by Emma, heart transplant recipient My name is Emma, and I had my heart transplant 11 years ago on April 1, 2011. When I was 12 years old, I woke up from surgery, in a hospital bed surrounded by doctors who I had never met before. I heard the words ‘heart […]
Power Player – Charlotte
This story was written by Charlotte’s mom, Maggie. Charlotte appeared to be perfectly healthy when she was born. It wasn’t until 6 weeks old when we noticed her looking jaundiced, that we wondered if something was wrong. Our pediatrician ordered lab work for her and called us that same evening to tell us that her […]
Power Player – Jody
This story was written by two time living donor, Jody Becker Wilkey My name is Jody Becker Wilkey, I am a 58-year-old native of Central Illinois, and I’d like to share my organ donation stories. My first story begins in June 1983, when I was a 20-year-old college student majoring in the Teaching of Spanish […]
Power Player – Patrick
This story was written by Patrick Brett, Heart and Liver Recipient When I sat down to write my story for Power2Save, I realized I could bore you with a ton of details about my childhood. For example, I was born with Tetralogy of Fallot and have had 5 open heart surgeries before my transplant […]
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: KEN
This story was written by Ken Kirwan. Check out Ken’s original story here. I spoke to you back in 2019 about my journey and I had already started work on my book back in 2017, but it was being written sporadically after work in coffee shops, hotel bars and at the weekends when I could […]
Power Player – Chase
Written by Chase T. I was born with biliary atresia the first year of my life was extremely difficult and the most turbulent times of my parent’s life. After constant doctors visits, multiple visits to the emergency room, and an unsuccessful Kasia procedure it became clear that my last hope would be a liver transplant. […]
Power Player – Sully
Jon, “Sully,” had never heard of kidney vouchers or living donations, but that all changed when an unexpected medical crisis impacted his family. In 1997, Sully’s wife was diagnosed with kidney failure and started on dialysis in 2001. After serving in the military and the government, Sully, who is no stranger to service, was by […]
Power Players – Cathi and David
Cathi could never imagine that a simple typo would play a significant role in her husband’s transplant journey. In 2019, David received life-changing news that he was in kidney failure. Shaken by this diagnosis, his wife, Cathi, went to social media to gather advice on finding a donor. She typed in her county and stumbled […]
Where Are They Now: The Barker Family
This story was written by Lisa Barker. Check out Lisa and Reid’s original stories. 2.6.14 and 12.11.18 will forever be two of the most important and life-changing dates in our lives. It has now been 7 years since my life was saved through a liver transplant and 2 years since my husband, Reid donated his […]
Power Player – Hetty
Written by Hetty C. Haden Two and a half years ago, I received a kidney for transplant from a live donor, whom I had never known in real life or in person. We met only because we were both Baltimore Orioles baseball fans. Here is our story: As we all know, the Baltimore Orioles had […]
Power Players – Katherine and MaryBeth
Everyone’s weight loss journey is unique, but Katherine’s began as an attempt to save her daughter MaryBeth’s life. MaryBeth was a vibrant and energetic 5-year-old but her doctors were concerned that she was not growing. They put her through a series of tests which led to referrals to 10 different specialists. She finally was referred […]
Power Players – Paul and Nicole
Written by Sarah Razner for Because of Organ Donation In Fall 2018, I walked into Marian University’s Common Grounds for an interview. It was not the first I had done there in my time as a reporter, but it became the most impactful. That night, I had the pleasure of meeting Nicole Braatz, Paul Osterholm, […]
Power Player – Mike
Mike had never thought about organ donation before – and didn’t even realize there is a need for organs. However, that all changed when he attended a family event and learned that his cousin, Brenda, needed a kidney transplant. Since Brenda was a distant cousin, Mike introduced himself, and after they began talking, he immediately […]
Power Player – Susan
Three years ago, Susan wanted to become more physically fit and learn about overall nutrition, health, and wellness, so she began searching for a personal trainer to help her achieve those goals. While exercising with her trainer, Matt, he mentioned that he would be visiting his hometown for a while to see his sister, Shannon, […]
Power Player – Sara
Alport Syndrome, a disorder characterized by kidney disease, is very familiar to Sara and her family. She watched her mother experience the complications of Alports over the years, along with her cousin, her older brother, and other family members. When Sara’s brother, Paul, was around seven years old, they recognized abnormalities in his kidney function. […]
Power Player – Brandon
At the young age of three, Brandon was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Throughout his early childhood, he and his family were able to effectively manage his condition as he grew older. Throughout high school and college, Type I Diabetes did not limit Brandon from graduating and becoming a high school social studies teacher. A […]
Power Player – NauBriana
Through childhood and adolescence, NauBriana had not experienced a need for eyeglasses or contacts. However, in 2008, she began to experience disturbances in her vision as she was driving home one day. She figured that perhaps she needed prescription eyeglasses that would help her while driving or reading while in the classroom, but she soon […]
Power Player – EJ
In 2016, EJ’s brother was experiencing kidney failure; undergoing dialysis, and waiting for a kidney transplant. EJ described his brother then as “shy,” “reserved” and never someone to ask anything from anyone—especially asking anyone to consider donating a kidney. He could remember how weak his brother was. His brother struggled with daily activities he should […]
Power Player – Eryn
My name is Eryn and I am a kidney transplant recipient. I was born with congenital abnormalities and had multiple surgeries throughout my childhood to include a nephrectomy at the age of five. My singular functioning kidney allowed me to live a normal life, participating in social and extracurricular activities with the occasional doctor visit and testing […]
Power Player – Linda
My name is Linda Walker, and I am a kidney donor and recipient. I’m married to Charles Walker and we have two children and one grandson. In 1998, my brother needed a kidney transplant. Out of my eight siblings, I was a perfect match. I went through several weeks of testing. On March 31, 1998, I donated […]
Power Player – Ann
In 1998, Ann moved to Birmingham, AL, where she met Tess, who would end up being a lifelong friend. From the beginning of their friendship, Ann knew that Tess had a history of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) and that a kidney transplant was most likely in her future. Tess did everything she could to protect […]
Power Player – Luke
Written by Luke Maltais My name is Luke, I am 24 years old and I live in Milford, Connecticut. At 10 weeks old I was diagnosed with Biliary Atresia and I underwent my first operation of many, called a Kasai. Biliary Atresia is a rare liver disease where the bile ducts are blocked and […]
Power Player – Kylie
Luke and Jesse’s Story – as told by their mother, Kylie The Wilson family’s story began as Kylie Wilson was experiencing her second pregnancy—this time with twins. Overall, she had a healthy pregnancy and normal birth with seemingly well, beautiful baby boys. However, three days after she gave birth, they began to notice that both […]
Power Player – Kevin
In the year 1992, Kevin was born happy and healthy, until one day, two weeks after returning home and while his mother was feeding him, Kevin coded in her arms. Luckily they were able to get him to the hospital to save his life, to then find that a viral infection caused him to develop […]
Power Player – Shirleyanne
Written by Shirleyanne J Psalm 140:1-2 “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all of my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” My God Support Journey began on June 20, 2016, when I survived a massive heart attack. At 3:00 am, […]
Power Player – Lisa
Written by: Lisa E. The universe may place hurdles in your path that seem insurmountable, but the resilience of the human spirit will also give you the strength and stamina to overcome them. In 2017, I was thrust into a race I had never wanted to run where reaching the finish line meant life or […]
Power Player – Ashley
In September 2012, Ashley and her husband were preparing for the upcoming birth of their daughter, when Ashley went into labor at only 22 weeks of her pregnancy. Shortly after delivery of their daughter, unfortunately, passed away. Not long after the delivery, Ashley began to bleed heavily, and during a DNC her lungs began to […]
Power Player – Kingston
In April of 2019, Lisa Macfarland welcomed her 2nd son, Kingston, into the world, who appeared to be a happy, healthy baby. Yet, 2 weeks after Lisa gave birth, Kingston was no heavier than his original birth weight. Doctors insisted to Lisa that she was simply not feeding her son enough, and suggested supplementing with […]
Power Player – Annemarie
Annemarie’s story began with a morning walk alongside her mother, sister, and three family dogs before the start of the school day. It was the first and only time that Annemarie and her sister asked if they could join their mother to walk the dogs. During their walk and in a hurry to get back […]
Power Player – Cal
In February 2007, Cal began coughing almost nonstop during the day. He also started to feel winded while performing everyday activities and additionally noticed that, while playing basketball with co-workers, the other players began to outpace him, which typically wasn’t the norm. He even noticed that simply climbing the stairs to his third-floor condo now […]
Power Players – Mike and Joy
Last October, Joy decided she wanted to be a living kidney donor. She didn’t have a recipient in mind, but she filled out a questionnaire and was told she could proceed with medical testing. “I just woke up one day and decided I wanted to be a donor,” Joy said. A couple of […]
Power Player – Robert
Written by Robert C. Five years ago, Robert Collier lay in a hospital bed after years of trying to fight off a disease that was “scarring my lungs to where they were hard as a rock.” Collier was placed on a lung transplant list, but it could take months before he may receive new lungs. […]
Power Players – Amanda and Nicole
If you could save a stranger’s life, would you? If so, check out LiveDonorToolkit.com to learn about living donation. Here’s Amanda and Nicole’s story. Amanda and Nicole met in 2015 in a Facebook group about parrots and connected over their mutual love of helping them. Both Amanda and Nicole have old wild-caught Amazon parrots and […]
Power Player – Jeff
Written by Jeff P. In 1992, I found out that I was only born with one kidney. In 2000, I started having issues with the kidney and was seeing a nephrologist. As time went on, the kidney developed cysts which were causing some issues with elevated B/P and protein output. January of 2017 arrived with […]
Power Player – Shawn
Shawn recently celebrated his first kidney transplant anniversary, thanks to his friend and living donor, John. Over 15 years ago, Shawn met John at a church retreat in Miami. The two became fast friends, and Shawn shared that he had Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). When Shawn explained how PKD leads to kidney failure, John immediately […]
Power Player – Roy
Roy is a store manager at a regional furniture retailer called Raymour & Flanigan. In 2019, Roy’s store gained a new associate, Randy. Randy had requested a transfer to a store that would make his commute easier, as he is the caregiver to his 21-year-old son with brain cancer. Two weeks after Randy started, he […]
Power Player – Paul
Paul’s journey began on March 17, 2012, when he unknowingly had an 8-hour heart attack that he assumed was mental. When he went to the hospital, they confirmed he had a heart attack. Immediately after, Paul quit smoking and changed his lifestyle. His heart muscle was scarred very badly but Paul and his medical team […]
Power Player – Kathie
Kathie Boyette is no stranger to health ailments. Having Type I Diabetes throughout her life meant always having to rely on medication to adjust her blood sugar levels. But, after years of taking insulin, her pancreas was beginning to fail and a transplant seemed imminent. At first, Kathie thought a transplant was a drastic move, […]
Power Player – Moises
Moises’ transplant journey began when his doctor diagnosed him with kidney disease during an evaluation for Gastric Bypass surgery. The progression of Moises’ kidney disease started slowly but increased over the next five years. He knew that he would soon need dialysis but always thought a transplant would come first. Moises is a hairdresser and owns […]
Power Player – Michael L.
In April 2018, Detective Lollo saw an NYPD Intranet posting about another police officer that needed a kidney. Michael inquired about donating but did not receive a response. Michael didn’t think about living donation again until September 2018, when he saw an article about Marc Weiner, a man who had a Times Square billboard donated […]
Power Player – Tyler
Several years ago, Tyler overheard a conversation about living kidney donation. This topic always stuck with him, although it would take several years for the idea to come to fruition. Tyler was in a work accident in 2009, which left Tyler with an amputated foot. “I learned to live with missing parts, so I knew […]
Power Player – Terri
Terri was born with Tyrosinemia, a rare metabolic disease, where the body doesn’t have what it needs to break down tyrosine. She was in and out of the hospital frequently as a child; something as simple as a cold would put her in the hospital. Terri’s care began in Georgia, but Terri and her family […]
Power Player – Tammy
It was the early 2000s, Tammy was in her 40s, and she was becoming increasingly ill. This went on for about a year. Meanwhile, Tammy was missing work and losing a significant amount of weight. Her doctor advised her to see an allergist. When she went to see the allergist, she was told that she […]
Power Player – Rylee
Our daughter Rylee was a gift from the beginning. Even before she was born, we knew she was strong, mainly because she was able to kick and punch me more than either of her brothers. When Rylee was first born, she was perfect. Her brothers, Cody (6) and Wade (4) were so excited to meet […]
Power Player – Patricia
Written by: Patricia Metrick My name is Patricia Metrick and I first heard of kidney disease when I moved to Arizona in the late 1980s. I read an article from Irma Bombeck who had the disease and was writing about kidney donations. I was intrigued and considered the possibility of pursuing donating, but time flew […]
Power Player – Damian
Damian had never thought about living organ donation before. That was until one of his best friends needed a liver transplant. A few friends from high school volunteered to be her donor but ultimately fell through. A family member of his friend asked Damian to post on social media about her need for a liver […]
Power Player – Ken
Ken was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease at the age of 24. This diagnosis would eventually lead him to a kidney transplant. Ken remembers his diagnosis clear as day. It started as a typical day, but after dinner, Ken felt pains in his stomach area and dead pains in his back. These pains had been […]
Power Player – Liz
Liz was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at just four months old. By her sophomore year of college, her health began to decline, and she had to move back home with her parents. She knew that a lung transplant was in her future. By February 2018, her illness became much more severe. Her doctors decided that […]
Power Player – Louise
Dialysis has always been terrifying for Louise. When she was just ten years old, she experienced a dialysis center for the first time with her mother, who was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). Just eight years later, Louise was diagnosed with PKD. Although the news was devastating, it was not a surprise. PKD is […]
Power Player – Lara
Written by Lara G Have faith in God. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it. Mark 11:22-24. I’ve lived by this since March 2017 and have often referred to it as my lifeline because […]
Power Player – Randene
Written by Randene R. Meet Gary, 72 years young with a now fully functioning kidney he received from his daughter, Randene, at the age of 33. At the early age of 18 during a routine physical, Gary’s family doctor discovered excessive albumin in his urine. Concerned with kidney failure, over the next 7 or 8 […]
Power Player – Caleigh
Caleigh was diagnosed at birth with Cystic Fibrosis. Despite her diagnosis, Caleigh lived a normal childhood and participated in sports and social activities. At the age of 19, Caleigh moved to San Francisco to attend culinary school. Unfortunately, during this time, she found herself in end-stage lung disease. At just 23 years old, she was […]
Power Player – Suzy
Suzy’s journey to transplant began nearly 30 years ago when she was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. She got tested after her father, who passed away waiting for a kidney transplant, was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. She was fine for a while, but by 2008, she was told that she needed to go on […]
Power Player – Tiffany
Tiffany is the caregiver to her 15-year-old son, Devin, who received a heart transplant in December 2017. Their journey began when Devin was an infant – he went through five open-heart surgeries by the time he was eight years old. Devin was born with hypoplastic right heart syndrome. He also developed a condition called plastic […]
Power Player – Rhonda
Two years ago, Rhonda’s father went into kidney failure because of his diabetes. At the time, he was 74 years old and just starting home dialysis. After a year of dialysis, Rhonda told her father that he should attempt to get a kidney transplant. She offered to be his living donor, but he declined her […]
Power Player – Vernell
In 2015, Vernell received news that he needed a heart transplant. His doctor told him to pack his bags – he required hospitalization while he waited for a new heart. He suffered from congestive heart failure and spent six months in the hospital waiting for an organ donor. The wait was difficult for Vernell and […]
Power Player – Matt
Matt has been dealing with kidney disease for his entire life, all 42 years of it. It has not knocked him down but made him stronger. Matt was born with Eagle-Barrett’s Syndrome. When he was born, he had about 10% function of his kidneys. The first ten years of his life, he considered it “normal.” […]
Power Player – Vicky
Vicky’s journey began 40 years ago when she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease at 26 years old. At 26, she was told her kidneys were functioning at 75%. In her 40s, she started seeing a nephrologist, who monitored her kidney disease. She was told she would need a kidney transplant. Although transplantation was not […]
Power Player – Alin
On December 21, 2018, 30-year-old Alin’s life changed forever. After having episodes of dyspnea for several days, she decided to go to the emergency room. She became critically ill during her first night in the hospital, and by the third day, she was told that she would likely need advanced heart failure therapy since her […]
Power Player – Kevin
After some health issues, Kevin found out he needed a heart transplant. In July 2017, he was added to the transplant waiting list. Kevin said waiting was the hardest part of his journey. “I prayed every day while I was on the waiting list,” Kevin said. “My condition got worse during the wait, so I […]
Power Player – Tara
On December 12, 2017, Tara found out that her dad, Todd, was in end-stage renal failure and would need a kidney transplant. Tara immediately knew that she wanted to become his living donor. Todd hesitated to allow Tara to donate her kidney. However, she finally convinced him that it was safe for her to donate […]
Power Player – Reid
Written by Reid Barker Power2Save previously published a story written by Reid’s wife, Lisa. In February of 2014, in the hallway of the Baylor Dallas hospital ICU, I was told my wife would need a full liver transplant from a deceased donor to have any chance at survival. Her body was in liver failure which […]
Power Player – Hailey
Hailey was born with a heart defect and required surgery as a baby. She didn’t remember the surgery and never expected to hear the words “you need a heart transplant” when she was just 16 years old. “I never knew I would need a transplant, so it was a big shock when I found out,” […]
Power Player – Summer
Seven days after giving birth to her son, Kaleb, Summer passed out and was admitted to the emergency room. She was diagnosed with post-partum cardiomyopathy and was told she would eventually need a heart transplant. She was just 19 years old. The news was very terrifying, especially for a brand-new mom. A year and a […]
Power Player – Ixel
Ixel was just eight years old when she found out she needed a heart transplant. Her story began when her mom brought her to Urgent Care, for what she thought was a cold. She was sent to the hospital by ambulance. At the hospital, it was clear there was something wrong with her heart, so […]
Power Player – Sarah J.
For Sarah and Jim Jones, a journey that would lead to a liver transplant and the start of a non-profit to help others began in 2002 when Jim was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Soon after Jim was diagnosed with kidney cancer, he had his kidney removed. However, just a few weeks after the surgery, he […]
Power Player – Julie H.
Julie was a 26-year-old mother enjoying life with her family when she discovered she needed a lung transplant. Julie was a healthy and active mom when she began to experience occasional shortness of breath. Other than that, life seemed pretty normal until the day she collapsed. That day, she had friends over. She went upstairs […]
Power Player – Julie
Julie knows the importance of making “One Transplant for Life” a reality – she is the recipient of three kidney transplants. Julie has battled kidney disease her entire life. Her parents found out when she was just six weeks old, and she lived with only 25% kidney function until she was 11 years old. Thankfully, […]
Power Player – Patrick
In April 2013, during a visit with my endocrinologist, I found out that I only had 35% kidney function. She referred me to a nephrologist. My nephrologist informed me of certain foods I needed to avoid so that I could prolong going on dialysis as long as possible. While I had to wait this thing […]
Power Player – Sarah
My name is Sarah Bradley, and I am from a small town called Roswell, NM. I’m a proud momma of two boys. I am also a heart transplant recipient. A lot of times, when you hear the words heart failure, you think of the elderly. As a healthy 25-year-old, never did I expect to hear […]
Power Player – Michele
Michele always assumed that the only way to be an organ donor was to designate it on your driver’s license. However, after a string of unexpected events, she became a living donor to a woman she had never met. Michele lives in Florida, but her kidney now lives in California. The origin of her story […]
Power Player – Christy
In 2005, Christy was diagnosed with heart failure. By 2014, she was told she would eventually need a heart transplant. The news that a heart transplant would be in her future was not easy to hear, but with a history a heart problems, Christy was not terribly surprised. She tried to stay positive when she […]
Power Player – Ray
Ray’s doctor often refers to him as a “walking miracle.” He beat all odds, and if he were a textbook case, he would not be around today to tell his story. It all started in December 2016, when Ray began retaining fluid in his abdomen. It became difficult to sleep, so Ray consulted his primary […]
Power Player – Megan
Megan was a 24-year-old teacher when she was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. She was told she would need a kidney transplant. When she found out she needed a kidney transplant, she was terrified. The internet was still new at the time, but she did as much research as she could. Her transplant center connected […]
Power Player – Valerie
I went to my GP back in 2000 because I had been suffering from diarrhea for a rather a long time. I was referred to a consultant, Dr. Ellis at the Horton Hospital, Banbury. When he looked at my blood test results, he found that I had the anti-mitochondrial antibody which can sometimes lead to […]
Power Player – Brock
In April 2017, when Brock was just turning 11 years old, he was diagnosed with stage 4 hepatoblastoma, a tumor that starts in the liver. By July 2017, he needed a liver transplant and was added to the waiting list. All of this came as a shock to Brock and his family. Brock appeared to be completely […]
Power Player – Dave
Written by: Dave R. My transplant journey began at birth – I just didn’t know it until I was in my 50s. I was born in 1956 with a hole in my heart, and of course, it was undiagnosed because the technology was just not available in the fabulous 50s. The amazing thing is I […]
Power Player – Steve
In 1992, Steve was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, a form of liver disease. Fortunately, the disease progressed slowly and Steve’s doctors were able to keep it under control for many years. Nearly ten years later, it had been so long since Steve was first diagnosed that he had forgotten the potential outcome – a […]
Power Player – Kyle
When Kyle was just 20 months old, he was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Luckily, the impact on his childhood was low. It was not until April 2010 when he collapsed at 5:15 AM one morning. More severe issues came in 2013 when Kyle’s congestive heart failure started. In 2015, he was doing an exercise test. […]
Power Player – Alana
Alana was just 13 years old when she was diagnosed with kidney disease. It took ten years for her to require a kidney transplant, and thankfully, her brother volunteered to be her living donor. The living donation allowed Alana to bypass dialysis, so she was very excited (as well as a little nervous) when she […]
Power Player – Charles
My sister Nancy is seventy. When she was twelve her kidneys began to fail, triggered possibly by an autoimmune response to being stung by a swarm of bees. For the next six years, I watched as medications, needles, blood tests, doctors, hospitals, and finally kidney failure consumed her life. This was the sixties and artificial […]
Power Player – Anne Marie
I was born in Ottawa, Canada with a congenital heart defect. I had 3 heart surgeries as a child, the first one being the day after I was born. Doctors had warned my parents that these surgeries were palliative: problems would eventually start to arise because my heart would start to fail. Although I couldn’t […]
Power Player – Sandra
Sandra was on a family vacation in Mexico, when something happened that would change her life. While playing with her kids in a waterfall, she slipped and scraped her ankles. She had an open wound and entered tainted water. Months later, she began to feel tired. Her drowsiness turned to exhaustion, and Sandra soon went […]
Power Player – Denise
Denise recently celebrated the 20-year anniversary of her transplanted liver. Her donor was 75-year-old, Geraldine Hodges. Her liver is now over 95 years old – and still going strong. Denise found out she would likely need a liver transplant when she was around 18 years old. She was diagnosed with autoimmune liver disease, which ultimately […]
Power Player – Lauren
I am a 28-year-old female who has lived with Cystic Fibrosis her whole life. If you don’t know, Cystic Fibrosis causes thick mucus build-ups in lungs, which become nearly impossible for medicine to cure, thus resulting in a lung transplant. For the last six years, my doctor has causally mentioned lung transplant at various appointments. […]
Power Player – Robert
In 2012, I was working for a landscaping company. I got a couple of hernias and went to a surgeon to have them fixed during our offseason. I had to do regular blood work for the surgery. That is when my doctor called me in and said, sit down. The next few minutes turned my […]
Power Player – Carol
To say that I was an unlikely kidney donor is an understatement. If my high school yearbook had had a “Least Likely to Be a Living Kidney Donor” category, that would have been me. I’ve always been a wimp: I faint at flu shots, IVs, blood tests. And yet, in June 2006, I donated a […]
Power Player – Jill
Written by: Jill Stephenson My greatest gain I count as a loss. As the sister AND mother of organ donors, I can make this statement twice. When I was barely fifteen years old, my eleven-year-old brother J.T. was hit by a car and declared brain dead ten days later. As a family, we were approached […]
Power Player – Ken
Ken was just ten years old when he was diagnosed with kidney disease. His doctors tried to treat the condition for years, but by the time Ken was in college, it was clear he would need a kidney transplant. During his second year of medical school, Ken’s father volunteered to be a live donor and […]
Power Player – Rick
Rick and his wife, Jackie, have always been there for each other. They have been married 36 years and have always taken care of one another. In 2015, Rick gave his wife a Valentine’s Day Gift that will be difficult to top – he became her living kidney donor and saved her life. It all […]
Transplantation: The Science Fiction That Became Mainstream Medicine
Written by: Reg Green To most people — to almost all people — the idea of having someone else’s heart or liver, kidney, lungs or pancreas inside them is too outlandish to think about. But, in fact, all around us there are ordinary men, women, and children who one day have been, or will be, told […]
Power Player – Tatiana Benitez
When I was 5 years old, I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, and my only hope of survival was a heart transplant. My case was the first pediatric heart transplant in Paraguay. The surgery was performed by Dr. Jorge Jarolin at the Bautista Medical Center. Today, I celebrate 10 years with my heart transplant. I live […]
