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Longtime VCU coworkers forever linked by living donor kidney transplant

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Compassionate colleagues highlight the importance of living organ donations

By Sean Gorman
During the month of April, VCU Health News will be publishing a series of stories to mark National Donate Life Month, a national effort to spread awareness about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donations. 
 
Jay Gould’s kidney disease had been slowly progressing for 30 years and he knew there was a possibility of needing to undergo a transplant one day.
 
That time finally arrived in 2022 as his declining kidney health put him in danger of having to start dialysis unless he received an organ transplant. His nephrologist, Todd W. Gehr, M.D., told Gould that the time for a new kidney was approaching.
Read the story from VCU Health News Center.

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One kidney donor responsible for four transplant candidates receiving a new organ

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By Liam Connolly

Donors and recipients in eight-way kidney transplant meet for first time

(SACRAMENTO)

As we mark National Donate Life Month this April, UC Davis Transplant Center held a celebration and first-time meeting for donors and recipients who participated in an eight-way ‘chain’ kidney transplant at UC Davis Medical Center. Read more from UC Davis Health.

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An Alaska man receives a heart transplant after missing his first opportunity due to severe weather

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By Paradise Afshar and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

More than three months after Patrick Holland’s first shot at getting a heart transplant was ruined by winter weather that upended his travel and prevented him from getting to the Washington state hospital in time, the Alaska man has been given a second chance.

The father of sevenis among the thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest whose flights were canceled or redirected in December as severe storms swept through the region.
Read the full story on CNN.

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Chicago doctor donates kidney to patient

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Every day as a nephrologist at Northwestern Medicine, Aleksandra Gmurczyk, MD, sees patients who are suffering from kidney failure. Several years ago, she began to consider donating one of her own kidneys to someone in need of a transplant.

On Feb. 16, 2023, Dr. Gmurczyk kicked off a kidney paired donation, which occurs when patients have a willing kidney donor who is not a good match. Both are then paired with another patient and donor who are better matches. Watch the full story from Northwestern Medicine on YouTube here.

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From Patient to Doctor: How a Transplant Recipient Became a Transplant Physician

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Sara Kathryn Smith — the medical director of pediatric liver transplantation at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, brings a unique insight and perspective to the job, as a transplant recipient herself


Newswise — At age 17, Sara Kathryn Smith began an unexpected, personal health journey — a journey that would alter the course of her life and career and, ultimately, provide her a unique set of experiences to help others as a medical professional. Today, Smith serves as the medical director for pediatric liver transplantation at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. But years ago, she was a liver transplant patient herself. 

Her liver troubles began one evening during her junior year of high school — Smith had a pain in her stomach and threw up blood the following morning. Read the full story from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

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Friends shorten kidney patients’ long waits for transplants to mere months by donating organs

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Good news story: Two organ transplant patients reveal how others stepped up for them

By Amy McGorry
As many as nine in 10 adults with chronic kidney disease do not know they have it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s an important fact to know during March — National Kidney Month — and all throughout the year.

By the time kidney disease is detected, it is usually in the advanced stages — which means a patient may need dialysis several times a week. Read and watch the story on Fox News.

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Living kidney donors rely on a promise to protect our future health. We’re scared it will go away

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By Martha Gershun

Five years ago, I donated my “spare” kidney at the Mayo Clinic to a woman I read about in the newspaper. Though living with only one kidney has risks, I was not particularly concerned about my own health. The clinic’s medical evaluation was extremely thorough, and I knew their highly conscientious selection committee would not approve me to be a living donor if they were even the slightest bit concerned the procedure would cause me long-term health problems. Furthermore, I was assured at every step of the process that if my remaining kidney should fail or be damaged, I would “go to the top of the transplant waiting list.” Read the full story in STAT.

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After a liver transplant changed his life, UTSW postdoc is inspired to help others

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Dr. Ahmad Anouti advocates for organ donations as he trains to become a transplant hepatologist

DALLAS – Feb. 22, 2023 – As a child in Beirut, Ahmad Anouti, M.D., endured dozens of medical procedures, hundreds of medications, and numerous setbacks before a liver transplant at age 16 saved his life.

Today, Dr. Anouti is a postdoctoral research fellow at UT Southwestern Medical Center specializing in hepatology, which is the study of the liver. He’s also an advocate for organ transplantation and strives to raise awareness of UT Southwestern and the work being done by its Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases. Read more from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

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‘Quite an adventure’: Cartoonist helps lifelong friend through heart transplant

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Over three months, Steve Ulrich and Leigh Rubin drew strength and inspiration from each other. Rubin also drew cartoons for his nationally syndicated comic.

By Katherine Cook
PORTLAND, Oregon — A Hood River man has a new heart and deepened appreciation for a lifelong friend.

Steve Ulrich, 66, received a heart transplant in December at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Southwest Portland. But before getting on a transplant waiting list, doctors told Ulrich he would need someone to commit to being a temporary, in-house caregiver to him for three months. Ulrich reached out to his close friend, Leigh Rubin. Read or watch the story from KGW8.

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