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Representative Brian Sims Donated a Kidney to Gay Neighbor

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Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims is a lifesaver. When he learned he was a perfect donor match for a gay man was dying of renal failure last year, he agreed to donate one of his kidneys. This week, over a year later, Sims tweeted he ran into the now-healthy recipient and his husband while the two men were having lunch. He also revealed that when his parents came to town, the group all shared a meal together.

“My recipient Alan and his husband John were sitting having lunch,” Sims tweeted of the chance encounter that occurred while he was walking to his office last month. “A perfectly normal, healthy, happy couple sitting in the sun enjoying each other’s company. It was perfection!”

Read full story, here.

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Former Panther Greg Olsen says donor match found for son to receive heart transplant: ‘A huge step’

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The 8-year-old son of former Carolina Panther Greg Olsen, who was born with a congenital heart defect, is set to receive a heart transplant.

Olsen tweeted Friday that there was a donor match for his son TJ.

“Day 8- Today is a day of mixed emotions. A day we have prayed for has arrived,” Olsen tweeted. “Walking our little boy, with tears of hope and fear in our eyes, was one of the toughest moments of our lives.”

“We ask for everyone’s prayers for TJ and his amazing team of doctors and nurses.” Olsen tweeted that TJ has a long road ahead of him but “this is a huge step forward.”

Olsen, the former Pro Bowl tight end for the Carolina Panthers, said TJ has had three open-heart surgeries and lived with a modified heart for eight years.

Read the full story, here.

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Lung Transplant Foundation Joseph J. Carter Mentorship Program

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The Lung Transplant Foundation (LTF) Joseph J. Carter Mentorship Program connects transplant recipients and caregivers with trained volunteer Mentors who have gone through the lung transplant process themselves.

It provides an essential link between people living successfully following their transplant experience and those new or adjusting to life after a transplant.

Whether someone has lived with an illness for a long time or has been newly diagnosed with an end-stage lung disease, they may feel alone and uncertain about where to turn for help–especially when they learn that a lung transplant is required. 

Find more information, here.

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Reproductive Health & Transplant

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Check out one of AST’s educational videos.

“In this video, we discuss pregnancy and family planning post-transplant including information about contraception options and immunosuppressive medications.“

Watch the video, here.

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Understanding Your Lab Values

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People who develop chronic kidney disease may have some or all of the following tests and measurements. If you have kidney disease ask your doctor which tests you will have and how often they will be done. Speak to your doctor about your results. If your numbers are not in the normal range, ask how to improve them.

Learn more, here.

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Prohibiting Discrimination in Organ Transplant Process Under Consideration by Committee

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“State Representative Bronna Kahle delivered testimony before the House Health Policy Committee in support of her legislation prohibiting discrimination in the organ transplant process.

Kahle said that House Bill 4762 ensures that anyone who performs an organ transplant may not refuse to transplant an organ into an individual based solely on the individual’s disability. Further, the bill prohibits lowering an individual’s priority on the organ transplant waiting list simply because they are disabled.

Even though federal law bans organ transplant discrimination based on the presence of a disability, Michigan does not currently prohibit an individual from being denied a transplant surgery solely based on their physical or mental disability.

The plan remains under consideration by the committee.”

Read more, here.

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Cleveland Clinic’s Weston Hospital Performs First Living Donor Liver Transplant

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“Cleveland Clinic’s Weston Hospital has performed its first living donor liver transplant, in which a daughter donated a portion of her liver to her mother who had been battling complicated liver disease for several years.  

The donor and recipient surgeries were performed in Weston by a team of surgeons from Cleveland Clinic Weston and Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which has one of the nation’s largest living donor liver transplant programs.

On May 10, 2021, Cristiano Quintini, M.D., director of Liver Transplantation at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and Weston Hospital transplant surgeons Samer Ebaid, M.D., Ph.D., and Phoenix Vuong, M.D., removed 60 percent of the right lobe of 38 year-old Heidy Lima’s liver through an abdominal incision.”

Read more, here.

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Simple medical device improves care after kidney transplantation

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“A team from Lawson Health Research Institute (LHSC), in Ontario Canada, has found that a simple medical device can reduce swelling after kidney transplantation. The wearable geko™ device, manufactured by UK-based, Sky Medical Technology Ltd and distributed in Canada by Trudell Healthcare Solution Inc., is a small muscle pump activator that significantly increases blood flow via painless electrical pulses. Patients using the device following kidney transplantation experienced shorter hospital stays and reduced surgical site infections by nearly 60 per cent.”

Read more, here.

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Montrose man’s kidney is nearly 101 years old

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“Nearly every morning, Daniel Lane can be found drinking coffee at the Montrose Travel Center north of town.

“We go down there and talk about everybody,” said the 74-year-old Montrose resident. They cover politics, current events and the weather. Like him, the dozen or so guys he meets all have ranching and agricultural backgrounds.

On Thursdays, Lane goes to the Delta Sales Yard for the livestock sales and to visit with all the old cowboys. “It’s kind of in my blood,” the bachelor said.”

Read the full story, here.

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Graft, patient survival improves in HIV, HCC liver transplant recipients

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“Outcomes have improved significantly among HIV/Hepatitis C virus-coinfected liver transplant recipients in the direct-acting antiviral era, according to data presented at the Digestive Disease Week.

“The practice of liver transplant for HIV-positive patients has been increasing since 2013 when the HOPE Act was passed; however, the number is still low, less than 1% of total liver transplants,” Jennifer Wang, from the University of Chicago, said during her presentation. “There is a significant geographic variation of HIV/HCV coinfected liver transplant practice with limited number of participating centers. Liver transplant outcomes for coinfected patients have improved significantly in the [direct-acting antiviral (DAA)] era and are comparable to patients without either infection.”

Wang and colleagues analyzed data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) on adult patients in the United States who underwent liver transplantation between 2008 and 2019. They identified 70,125 liver transplant patients, 416 of whom were HIV-infected.”

Learn more, here.

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