January 15, 2014
From the Alaskan Woods to Top of the Transplant List
By SMHNadmin
The first sign something was wrong came when Dennis Chavez was out hunting caribou with his wife, Maria. The Wasilla, Alaska, native suddenly found that he couldn’t cover ground like he used to. He quickly became winded — much more quickly than he expected. He ignored the signs for a while. But one day a […]
Tags: 3790, 5324, 5335, Langerhans, lung transplant
December 19, 2013
Living Donors Help Family Members Battle Kidney Disease
By SMHNadmin
Written by Jane Sullivan Horne When I received a kidney from my brother David 10 years ago at Mayo Clinic in Florida, little did I know that someday my only son would have to undergo the same life-saving procedure after suffering from the same rare kidney disease that has plagued my family for several generations. […]
Tags: 3120, 3786, 5324, 5334, Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, FSGS, kidney transplant, MayoClinicFL, Transplant
December 12, 2013
Boo Maddox takes on H1N1, dialysis, and complications on his way to a successful kidney transplant
By SMHNadmin
A year ago, the Robert Maddox family from Boyce, La., would never have imagined attending the 50th Anniversary of Kidney Transplantation celebration event at Mayo Clinic this month. A year ago, their 9-year-old son Robert, who goes by the nickname “Boo,” was struggling to survive, and a transplant seemed impossible. After a devastating bout of H1N1 (swine […]
Tags: 1594, 3786, 5324, 5335, Dr. Mikel Prieto, H1N1, kidney transplant, Living Donor, Pulmonary Hypertension, Renal Failure
November 25, 2013
Identical Twins Share Genetic Makeup, and a Kidney
By SMHNadmin
When Ernesto Boleaga learned that he needed a kidney transplant, the perfect donor, his identical twin brother, Jose Luis, was ready and willing to help. And because the Boleagas have the same genetic make-up, Ernesto’s body accepted Jose Luis’ kidney as its own. For most patients, however, an identical twin donor isn’t an option, and […]
Tags: 3786, 5324, 5335, Dr. Mikel Prieto, kidney transplant, Living Donor, Patient Story, Regenerative Medicine, stem cell transplant, Transplant
November 20, 2013
The Decision to Save a Stranger’s Life
By SMHNadmin
A patient in need of transplant touches Dr. Phil Fischer’s heart and prompts him to explore living donation. As a result, a patient in need of a kidney lives on, enjoying her grandchildren, golfing and dancing. The shortage of deceased donor organs has reached a crisis, with almost 120,000 people in need of a […]
Tags: 3786, 5324, 5335, Dr. Phil Fischer, kidney transplant, Living Donor, Patient Story, Transplant
September 26, 2013
Amber’s BMT Birthday Gift From Her Sister
By SMHNadmin
Sisters Amber and Sabrina Starke wear matching necklaces and rings as a reminder of their commitment to each other and to keep fighting the fight against leukemia. After graduating from high school, Amber started college in May 2003. She passed out at work one day and was taken to her local emergency department. A CT scan […]
Tags: 1136, 2145, 3273, 3719, 3739, 3981, 5279, 5324, 5334, BMT, bone marrow transplant, Cancer
September 11, 2013
Woman Gives Kidney to Ailing Sister, Walks a 5K Two Weeks Later
When Tammi Cummings learned that her sister, Terri McMillan, needed a kidney transplant after a 40-year history of diabetes finally took its toll on her health, she never hesitated for a second about the idea of providing one of her own kidneys. Cummings, 52, of West Melbourne, Fla., not only gave her sister a renewed […]
Tags: 1139, 3786, 5324, 5334, diabetes, kidney transplant, Living Donor, Mayo Clinic in Florida, MayoClinicFL, Transplant
August 7, 2013
Florida Double Lung Transplant Recipients ‘Pay it Forward’
When Richard Oppelt of Melbourne, Fla., became the first lung-transplant program patient at Mayo Clinic in Florida in June 2001, he never thought that 12 years later he’d be helping someone else with the same situation deal with his recovery. But that’s exactly what Oppelt did in Dec. 2012 when he heard John McGill, a friend of […]
Tags: 3790, 5314, 5324, 5334, Florida, Gabriel House of Care, lung transplant, MayoClinicFL, pulmonary, Transplant
July 23, 2013
Five Years on the Transplant List and the Perfect Match
By SMHNadmin
Chuck Jorud had lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 20 years when his kidneys declared, “enough.” He started dialysis and was evaluated for a kidney transplant. “I had young kids at the time and decided that if I was going to have a transplant, I wanted the best,” says Chuck. That led him […]
Tags: 1139, 3786, 3792, 5291, 5324, 5335, Chuck Jorud, diabetes, dialysis, Dr. Thomas Schwab, kidney transplant, nephrology