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How Kevin Schnurr Honors His Gift of a New Kidney

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On May 6, 2014, all Kevin Schnurr had to do was remember his name and date of birth.

So—on May 6, 2014—Kevin awoke from surgery, and doctors and nurses asked him his name and date of birth.

Kevin successfully replied, “My name is Kevin Schnurr … and I was born on March 31, 1986.”

Kevin then furthered his response.

“I’m also in a Stony Brook Hospital recovery room … and my best friend, Matt, just gave me a kidney.”

The doctors and nurses laughed, and replied, “Yes. Matt did … and the kidney is working!”

Read Kevin’s full story, here.

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Valen Keefer Praises Donors Who Give Life to Transplant Recipients Like Her

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COVID-19 being what it is, Valen Keefer’s speech at the grand opening of CareDx’s newly expanded CLIA lab in Brisbane, California was a unique virtual event.

Valen was there as a virtual robot, sharing her inspiring story and leading the countdown for the ribbon cutting.

“Being a transplant recipient is a lifelong journey and having the opportunity to celebrate this new lab is so amazing,” said “Robot” Valen.

Valen’s journey as a multi-organ transplant recipient has been a compelling one—to say the very least.

She has lived through polycystic kidney disease (PKD), dialysis, lengthy hospital stays, a kidney transplant, and a liver transplant. She is a survivor through and through, with a prodigious passion for helping the transplant community.

Read Valen’s full story, here.

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Alexandra Harrison-Flaxman—How a Transplant Recipient Became a Legislation Advocate

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“The passage of the Immuno Bill is not just a win for the patient community …” says Alexandra Harrison-Flaxman “… it’s a win because of the patient community.”

On December 22, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed S. 3353 – Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplants Patients Act of 2020 (The Immuno Bill).

Earlier, on December 8, 2020, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5534, which set up the Senate vote.

The bi-partisan passage of the Immuno Bill now awaits the President’s signature.

Getting the bill passed has been Alexandra’s (“Alex’s”) passion for several years now and she says she cried when watching both the House and Senate pass the legislation.

“I was thinking, ‘This is crazy,’ I’ve just been a part of enacting actual change for kidney-transplant recipients,” says Alex, 34.

Read Alexandra’s full story, here.

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The reason I qualify for a Covid-19 vaccine has nothing to do with the fact that I’m immunocompromised. That needs to change

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“My cell phone rang on a Sunday afternoon in early March and I answered it immediately. It was my friend, a doctor who specializes in epidemiology and infectious diseases. She warned me that the coronavirus was about to surge in New York City and recommended that if I could flee the city and retreat to my parents’ house, I should do it, and fast.

I hung up the phone, called my parents, rented a car, packed my bags and drove 13 hours from New York City to the suburbs of Chicago the next morning. Meanwhile, my friends were still going out to dinner and going into work. I could tell my coworkers and roommate thought I was being absurd, but I couldn’t afford to care about their opinions. I had simply fought too hard for all 27 years of my life, I couldn’t lose it here.”

Read the full piece, here.

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Kentuckians Need Congress to Approve Lifesaving Bill for Kidney Transplant Recipients

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“The COVID-19 public health emergency has revealed painful weaknesses, inefficiencies and inequalities in our health care system. As a result, the public is looking to elected leaders to enact policies that improve our health system, protect at-risk populations and allocate government resources more wisely. Fortunately, there is a bipartisan, common-sense proposal in Congress that could achieve all of those goals for a particularly vulnerable part of the American population: kidney transplant recipients.”

Read the full article, here.

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Kidney Transplant Chain Is A Touching Act of Kindness

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“You never know where an act of kindness ends.

Tara Berliski of Magnolia, Texas, offered to donate a kidney to her husband, John Berliski. His were removed in July because of polycystic kidney disease. Doctors at the Houston Methodist Hospital living donor program explained that because John Berliski has type AB blood, he could receive a kidney from almost any donor. But if John and Tara Berliski chose to enter a kidney swap program, they might be able to help someone else, too; someone else might help them.”

Read the full opinion piece, here.

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Honor Organ Donors By Saving Procurement Organizations

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“When Cyndi and Frank Grobmeier lost their 18-year-old daughter, Maddie, to an asthma attack, they honored her wish to be an organ donor. Gift of Hope, the organ procurement organization in Chicago that met with the Grobmeier family in the hospital when Maddie died, is still helping them cope with their loss. As Mrs. Grobmeier reminds us in her guest column in the Daily Southtown, donors and their families make every transplant possible.”

Read the full story on UNOS, here.

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