By Saleen Martin
A Kentucky baby girl who died in January is living on through the boy she donated her heart to, and her mother was finally able to meet the boy and listen to his heartbeat earlier this year. Read the article in USA Today.
By Elise Devlin
GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) – One family’s tragedy has turned into another family’s miracle.
In March of 2021, Neil Patel went into cardiac arrest while driving and died in a car accident.
It was at the same time that Joe Robl was in desperate need of a new pair of lungs. About two days later, it was Patel’s donation that saved his life. Read the article on WSPA CBS 7 News.
By Katrina Kincade
OXFORD – A chance meeting led to a life-saving heart transplant for a man in Oxford, Massachusetts.
“If it wasn’t for Jay, I don’t think I’d be here today and I mean that,” David Kornwolf said of his new heart and the man who helped him get it, Jay Toland. Read the article on WBZ CBS News Boston.
by Rick W. Snyder II, MD
In any career, 25 years of dedicated work is a lot to let go of. In medicine, it amounts to hundreds of patient relationships, and the blood, sweat, and tears that go into starting and maintaining a practice.
Yet, after all that time, one of my physician colleagues recently had to let go of her beloved private practice — not by choice and not without tears for her dear, elderly Medicare patients who now face fewer options for care. Her story is unfortunately not unique.
Read the article in MedPage Today.
By Phaedra Threthan
This summer, the last thing on Kaitlin Seigel’s mind was whether she’d be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with her family.
The 15-year-old from Clark, New Jersey, felt nauseous all the time. She was listless and all the color was gone from her face. She couldn’t eat, and the lack of nourishment was making her weak. She didn’t want to hang out with her friends or take part in any school activities, fearful she might get sick. The isolation made her sad and anxious.
Read the full story in USA Today.
Written and submitted by Robert Lalley of Silver Spring.
As a heart transplant recipient, I am upset by recent Medicare coverage rollbacks by private contractors that limit some patients’ ability to receive simple diagnostic blood tests that detect early signs of organ transplant rejection so doctors can make rapid treatment decisions. This is very concerning because research shows that one out of three heart transplants fail after 5 years, making proactive monitoring essential to patient care.
Read the full article in The Sentinel Newspapers.
Sharol Lucey, one of the longest-living heart transplant patients in Oregon, honors her donor by living life to the fullest, helping others along the way
By Christine Torres Hicks
Grandkids, beach trips, family-filled Christmases and fresh cinnamon rolls are just some memories Sharol Lucey has been making the past 26 years — thanks to a heart donated in 1997.
Lucey is among the longest-living heart transplant patients in Oregon. As she has for many of the past 26 years, the 76-year-old Vancouver resident joined others who have benefited from organ transplants during an August event at Oregon Health & Science University to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation. Read the full article in OHSU News.
By Stephanie Stahl
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A Montgomery County bakery and Facebook played critical roles in saving a life and creating a new forever friendship.
Strangers met for the first time at Penn Medicine and there was already an intense, emotional connection. Check out the full story from CBS News 3 Philadelphia.
Dwayne Patterson served aboard the USS Carl Vinson. His heart transplant was at Northwestern Medicine, which operates a clinic at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago to treat advanced heart failure.
By Phyllis Cha
Dwayne Patterson is proud of his time in the Navy, and is happy that this year, he can attend a Veterans Day event somewhere near his Park Forest home.
That wasn’t the situation last year, when congestive heart failure left him unable to walk more than a few feet without feeling exhausted. Read the full story in the Chicago Sun Times.
UCLA Health patient’s trip also pays tribute to the healing power of music.
By UCLA Health
Santa Monica resident Jernej Čopič recently concluded a four-week kayak adventure in his native Slovenia with two very special companions: his childhood best friend and kidney donor Dejan Kralj, and his beloved cello.
The trip came just one year after Čopič’s second kidney transplant at UCLA Health, in which he received a kidney from Kralj, a Slovenian whitewater kayaker who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Read the full story from UCLA Health.