August 11, 2017
Random Chat With a Stranger Leads to a Second Chance at Life
When John Branson struck up a conversation with Edgar Roberts, the two had no way of knowing their chance meeting would motivate John to become Edgar’s kidney donor. But that’s exactly what happened. Today, Edgar is enjoying renewed health, thanks to John’s generosity.
Tags: Dr. Martin Mai, kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
March 31, 2017
Friend’s Generosity and Successful Transplant Give Maikki Nekton a New Way of Looking at the World
Maikki Nekton was 32 years old when she had a life-saving liver transplant, thanks to her good friend, Jenifer DeMattia, who donated a portion of her own liver to Maikki. Prior to the transplant, Maikki worked as a clinical social worker in the Maryland school system and for nonprofit organizations. Jenifer was her co-worker, and […]
Tags: Cholangiocarcinoma, Dr. Charles Rosen, Liver Transplant Program, Living Donor Transplant, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
January 5, 2017
‘You Never Think About a Living Donor Until Someone You Love Needs One’
From the time he was 13 years old, Jairus “Matt” Pierce, battled kidney disease. By 2016, when he was 44, the disease had become debilitating. A shift commander for a fire department, Matt had been forced to take a light-duty assignment because of his medical condition. He required daily dialysis, and the only long-term solution […]
Tags: Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
December 30, 2016
Paired Kidney Donation Offers a Unique Way Forward for Transplant Recipient
The day before Norma “Kay” Orr was scheduled for a living donor kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic, she needed one more blood test. The Palm Coast, Florida, resident was in line to receive a kidney from her niece, Jamie. Jamie Rogers had volunteered to be a living donor when she found out in early 2016 […]
Tags: Dr. Martin Mai, kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Transplant Medicine
October 26, 2016
Colleagues Go From Sharing a Workplace to Sharing a Kidney
When Dawn Odenthal sat down for a meeting with her colleague Jolinda Conzemius in June 2014, organ donation was nowhere on her radar. The two women knew one another through their work at a company that specializes in school photography, yearbooks, church directories and other forms of memory preservation. Dawn is a regional sales director, […]
Tags: kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
October 19, 2016
Living Donor to Kidney Recipient: ‘I Feel Like the Winner in All This’
The email from a parent at her school in May 2013 took Nancy Shaver, an elementary school principal, by surprise. It was from Kati Walker, mother of two, who was on a mission: to donate one of her kidneys to Nancy, who greatly needed one. Kati’s message announced, “I’m going to be tested to be […]
Tags: Arizona Campus, kidney disease, kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
September 24, 2016
Liver Transplant Allows Young Father to Be There for His Family
Bryan Duncan didn’t think twice about the lab tests he had as part of a routine medical checkup in the fall of 2014. A 29-year-old father of two small children, Bryan led a busy life, didn’t have any health problems, and felt fine. When the test results came back, though, they showed enzyme levels in […]
Tags: Dr. Nicholas LaRusso, Gastroenterology, hepatology, Liver Transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center, Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis
August 31, 2015
Mother Gives Daughter the Gift of Life … Twice
At 27 weeks into her pregnancy with twins, Amber Sylvester went to Mayo Clinic with her husband, Mike, for an ultrasound test and received news that no parent wants to hear. One of the babies was in trouble. She had enlarged kidneys, no amniotic fluid around her body, and fluid in her abdomen. She would […]
Tags: Dr. Mikel Prieto, kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Children's Center, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
August 13, 2015
Marathoner and Ironman Michael Koetting Back in the Race After Donating Kidney
As an endurance athlete who has completed six Ironman triathlons and more than two dozen marathons, Michael Koetting does not fear physical challenges. So when he learned he could use his good health to help a stranger in need, he never hesitated.
Tags: kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center, organ donation
August 14, 2014
Todd Goldrick was living the dream. Good job. Loving wife. Two young, healthy kids. Weekends spent playing golf, softball, kayaking, hiking, running or just hanging around home with the family. But that changed suddenly in 2010, when he and his wife simply tried to buy some life insurance. He was just 28. “Mine came back […]
Tags: Alport syndrome, kidney disease, kidney transplant, Living Donor Transplant