Stories of Hope
Transplant patient webinar addresses proposed changes to kidney and pancreas distribution
The OPTN Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation Committees will host a webinar on Monday, September 16, 2019, from 4 to 5 p.m. EDT to describe the proposals for transplant patients and family members and encourage them to comment on the proposals.
Jameson’s story: The transplant that came out of left field
Jason Finney watched his family open gifts together through FaceTime with his wife, Sarah, on Christmas Day in 2017. Jason traveled out of state the day prior to support his father who required breathing assistance from a ventilator at the time. “Um – Jameson just...
Solitary Kidney Siblings
Eight years ago, my brother Josh, who was 19 at the time, donated his kidney to my Dad at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. It was a miracle how well the transplant worked. My sister, Hannah, and I were so inspired by what we saw that we knew one day, we wanted to be...
My second heartbeat
Monique Acosta House was your typical college student 20 years ago with the daily schedule filled with work and classes. She began to notice that she was feeling more tired than usual and had left arm pain. Her friend suggested that she should get that checked out by...
My second chance, thanks to an organ donor!
I received a kidney on February 5, 2019 from a young deceased organ donor. My donor and their family has given a second chance at life to a daughter, granddaughter, niece, aunt, friend, wife and mother. Words can't even express the gratitude my family and I have for...
Never knew I was sick
I woke up one Sunday morning in March, 2017 with my left arm swollen. I thought it was my heart so I went to a local ER and was diagnosed with cirrhosis and told I would need a transplant in 1 1/2 -2 years. I asked for a referral to Ohio State , was admitted for 22...
I only had a 2% chance
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 those two words. And never did I ever expect to heart those two words while pregnant with my second. Peripartum Cardiomyopathy. After...
T1D free!
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1990 when I was 6 years old. I had for the most part taken very good care of myself, and I never let T1D hold me back. In 2016 I was told that my kidneys had begun to spill protein (proteinuria), but that they still were 100% functioning, that I did not have kidney disease, and that the kidneys could be saved with a pancreas- only transplant
We can all help
For Kaci Alvarado, an ordinary Saturday of running errands resulted in an extraordinary act of kindness. The last task on her list that day was to have an oil change at a friend’s auto repair shop. While Kaci was there, her friend asked her to proofread a Facebook...
Losing a sister, saving a life with donation
A campus classroom may seem like an odd spot to consider organ donation. But trust Sara Miller when she tells you it is better than a hospital waiting room. That’s where she and her family made the decision eight years ago to donate the liver of Miller’s older sister, Laura, who had been declared brain-dead days after being diagnosed with cancer at age 14.
‘Yes’ means we’ve become a family
Michael Pettijohn was a strong guy. After four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he went to work at a consulting engineering company and started taking night classes at UT San Antonio to earn his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Busy as he was, he didn’t think much of it when he started feeling tired, and didn’t even notice his eyes had turned yellow.
The special bond of Hudson and Uncle Trevor
Jordan and Morgan Hill carry with them a custom-made coin inspired by their son’s liver transplant and the man who saved his life. Morgan had the coin made weeks before his older brother, U.S. Army Special Operations Command Lt. Col. Trevor Hill, flew to Seattle from North Carolina to donate part of his liver to his 8 ½-month-old nephew, Hudson.