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How a health crisis caused me to rethink my sense of identity

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Getting to the core of who I am was a pivotal moment on my journey

By Lara Govendo

I had an identity crisis when I turned 30. At the time, everything that had previously defined me — my health, my job, my financial independence — had been stripped from me. It felt like the rug had been pulled out from under my feet.

Most 30-year-olds aren’t writing out their final wishes in the event they won’t be able to communicate, but several years ago, I was. As I finished the evaluation for a double-lung transplant, made necessary by complications of cystic fibrosis, I had to rumble with death more than life. While preventing death was the goal, it wasn’t promised. Read more in Cystic Fibrosis News Today.

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Organ Transplant Recipients Share Their Stories

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By Mina Kim

Every day in hospitals around the country, while one family is grieving the loss of a family member, another family is given news that will offer them hope: that a possible organ donor match has been made. In California alone, more than 20,000 people remain on the waitlist for a kidney, liver, or other organ. We’ll talk about how organ donation works and hear about a new law that aims to modernize the current system. And we’ll hear from you: have you or a family member received – or donated – an organ?

Guests:

Lenny Bernstein, health and medicine reporter, The Washington Post

Michael Pasco, liver transplant recipient

Kris Netherton, heart and kidney transplant recipient

Dr. Harish Mahanty M.D., surgical director of transplantation, Sutter Health

Listen to the interview on KQED Radio.

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Heart failure, then a transplant – for both dad and college-athlete son

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By Deborah Lynn Blumberg, American Heart Association News

When Ryan Scoble was a junior lacrosse player at Mercyhurst University, he came home to Cincinnati for winter break eager to see his father.

Ryan’s dad, Steve, had dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened, then enlarged. Steve had surgery to implant a machine called a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD; it essentially does the work of the left side of the heart. He was waiting for a heart transplant. And he was recovering from a stroke. Read the full story from the American Heart Association.

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‘Truth in transplant’: Gratitude and suffering coexist after ‘the miracle’

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Quality of life after lung transplant shouldn’t be a taboo topic

By Christie Patient

Amy Silverstein’s second memoir, “My Glory Was I Had Such Friends” (2017), left a lasting impression on me. It wasn’t just because of the way Silverstein’s devoted friends attended to her while she awaited a second heart transplant, or even how that story mirrored my mom’s lung transplant story. It was the impact of one thing that many transplant stories lack: the whole, and sometimes ugly, truth. Read the complete article in Pulmonary Fibrosis News.

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I Would Have Died Without A Transplant. Here’s My Story Documenting The Journey.

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“I can’t articulate what it was like to lose my mother like that, after being diagnosed with the same disease. I just know the fear of meeting that same fate was something I carried since that hot July day.”

By Alison Conklin

When I was 13 years old, I passed out in the middle of a competitive game of floor hockey in gym class. A trip to the hospital later, I’d been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease that often causes thickening of the heart.

Five months after that diagnosis, my mother and I were in the kitchen together. We’d been chatting as she cooked, but suddenly she said she didn’t feel well. I watched as she collapsed to the floor. Read the full story in the HuffPost.

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‘She made a difference’: Ohio heart transplant recipient meets donor’s family

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By Katie Shatsby

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio (WDTN) — An Ohio woman who received a heart transplant got the chance to meet the father of her donor in an emotional gathering.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, Katherine Schroeder-Herrmann was born with a rare congenital heart disease, requiring more than 20 heart procedures before the age of 22. Check out the full story in WDTN News 2.

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From liver transplant to marathon, a veteran’s journey to the finish line

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By Tahleel Mohieldin

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (WTMJ) — Before the hugs and congratulations at the finish line, John Allison had a clear mission at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Sunday.

Allison’s goal was to help raise awareness for veteran suicide and after finding an outlet for his own mental health struggles he wanted to encourage others to not give up. Read more in WQOW News 18.

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Longest living heart transplant recipient celebrates 40 years since surgery

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By Jasmine Youngblood

PADUCAH, KY — It’s a celebration of a second chance at life.

One Paducah man, Michael Grief, has made history as the longest living heart transplant recipient in the country, according to Vanderbilt University.

Friday, he and his family and friends celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the surgery that saved his life. Check out the full story in WPSD Local 6 News.

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From Florida to Boston and back again: Reagan’s liver transplant journey

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By Veronica Giarla

Reagan, 18, is gearing up for her freshman year of college this fall, and she has a solid idea about her future career. “I hope to become a transplant nurse or a child life specialist,” she shares with a smile. Her inspiration to enter this field of medicine comes from her experiences with the care team that she and her family met while at Boston Children’s Hospital when she was only an infant. Read more from Boston Children’s Hospital.

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From liver transplant to marathon, a veteran’s journey to the finish line

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By Tahleel Mohieldin

MILWAUKEE – Before the hugs and congratulations at the finish line, John Allision had a clear mission at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Sunday.

Allison’s goal was to help raise awareness for veteran suicide and after finding an outlet for his own mental health struggles he wanted to encourage others to not give up. Check out the full story in WTMJ-4 Milwaukee News.

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