By Chayil Champion
A year ago this December, a remarkable story of love, sacrifice and family was approaching its culmination within Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
On that day, Nanette Zumwalt — a wife, mother and entrepreneur who had been battling polycystic kidney disease (PKD) — was preparing to undergo a life-changing kidney transplant. Her journey to that point was not straight forward; it took an unforeseen path of fate, love and generosity. Read the article in UCLA Health.
By Eduardo Cuevas
Evan Dame lives in near-constant fear his body will reject his transplanted kidney.
For a time, a simple blood test from the comfort of the 39-year-old’s Maryland home just outside of Washington would assuage that fear. He’d get the test every two to three months at 6 a.m., just before he started work as a facilities manager. Read the article in
USA Today.
By Kristin Samuelson
Twelve-year-old Melanie Rodriguez Romo has dreamed of becoming a doctor since she was just three. So much so that she requested it as her Make-A-Wish following a life-saving kidney transplant.
A team-effort between Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the kidney and transplant teams at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Lurie Children’s kidSTAR Medical Education Program, her wish was granted. Read the full story from Northwestern Medicine News Center.
By Karen Jordan
CHICAGO (WLS) — It’s the first day of medical school for Melanie Romo, a 12-year old girl shadowing a nurse at Lurie Children’s Hospital.
First up for Melanie was evaluating Bella, who volunteered to act as a patient with gall stones.
This is the experience Melanie was hoping for. She was once a patient at Lurie, diagnosed two years ago with chronic kidney disease and in need of a transplant. Read and watch the full story from ABC 7 Chicago.
By Hanna Webster
Josh Wilder never expected to spend weeks surviving in the wild on national television.
He was born with Prune Belly syndrome, a rare genetic condition in which some internal organs and the abdominal muscles don’t fully develop. He frequented Pittsburgh doctor’s offices and hospitals throughout his childhood and was put on a strict, low-fat diet of healthy fruits and vegetables (a kid’s favorite) to protect his kidneys.
Read more in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
By Gabriel Spitzer, Emily Kwong, Rebecca Ramirez, Liz Metzger
In February 2021, pandemic restrictions were just starting to ease in Hawaii, and Leila Mirhaydari was finally able to see her kidney doctor. This was a huge relief after being unable to get in-person health care for so long. But Leila was also anxious: Transplanted organs need diligent care, and Leila had been looking after her donated kidney all on her own for a year. So a lot was riding on that first batch of lab results. Read or listen the to the full story on NPR.
It was a desperate plea for help, a call for a lifesaving kidney donor. For five years, cancer survivor Marc Weiner endured grueling dialysis treatments three times a week, waiting for a donor to step forward. Then in 2018, Marc and his family took a bold step, covering a Times Square billboard with a plea for a kidney donor. Little did they know, their plea would lead to a life-changing transplant that would finally end Marc’s long wait.
Read the full story in Next News Network.
Undergoing any surgery puts you at greater risk for infection. But with kidney transplants, you are often at even higher risk of infection from a range of viruses and bacteria, known as pathogens, because the medications you take afterward affect your immune system.
“Medications suppress your immune system so you will not reject the new kidney,” says Nikhil Agrawal, MD, a nephrologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “This makes it harder for your body to fight off a viral or bacterial infection.”
Read the full story on CareDx.com.
In 1984, Chelsea Roman entered the world two months early. Her mom went into labor in a parking lot. Fortunately, that parking lot was across the street from a hospital.
Chelsea’s mom walked to the hospital in severe pain, and before they could even numb her up, she endured a delivery by cesarian. Chelsea was stillborn. For the first five minutes of her life, Chelsea was not breathing. Read more about Chelsea’s transplant journey on CareDx.com.
“It’s a gift of life,” says PKD survivor Judith Belair-Kyle who received a kidney transplant on Dec. 1 from a live donor after over a year of campaigning on social media. Brittany Henriques reports. Watch her story here.