Transplant Talks

Two Months to a Lifetime: A Story of Sobriety and Survival

Emma is 31 years old and a native of Florida. She had worked as a bar manager for most of her adult life. She describes, “I always was too enthusiastic of a drinker and drank more than my friends,” but things got worse during COVID. It was difficult to be home for months, and she found herself just doing shot after shot all day. After COVID, she quit drinking on and off but kept falling back into binge drinking. She would drink around the clock, get very sick, and then stop for a bit. She started having symptoms of liver disease but didn’t really know much about this and convinced herself they were “normal,” even when she started turning yellow, couldn’t stop vomiting, and became so confused she couldn’t do her job. She finally went to the emergency room when she was having trouble breathing.  Her oxygen saturation was 54%, which is dangerously low, and she had a bloodstream infection, basically on the brink of death. She was told her only chance of survival was a liver transplant, and she didn’t leave the hospital until this happened. Her team at Tampa General Hospital took a chance on her because it’s still not common to do transplants in people who don’t have an extended period of sobriety – Emma had less than two months.
Emma didn’t have a lot of (or any) time to learn new coping strategies. She found the help of her therapist, support groups, and a recovery app invaluable. “I never thought about drinking again. It was kind of like a switch flipped.” She immediately started doing advocacy work while she was recovering and is now a mentor with the American Transplant Foundation, an advocate for the American Liver Foundation, and an Ambassador for UNOS. She is determined to fight the stigma and raise awareness so people don’t have to suffer alone or feel such immense shame, like she did. She has been writing back and forth with her donor’s family, and they are planning to meet. She feels immense gratitude for her young donor but also guilt. She manages all the uncertainty of having a transplant by noticing what she can do instead of can’t do.
“My life is so full now…now I don’t do anything that doesn’t make my life feel full.”

Two Months to a Lifetime: a Story of Sobriety and Survival

Emma is 31 years old and a native of Florida. She had worked as a bar manager for most of her adult life. She describes, “I always was too enthusiastic of a drinker and drank more than my friends,” but things got worse during COVID. It was difficult to be home for months, and she found herself just doing shot after shot all day. After COVID, she quit drinking on and off but kept falling back into binge drinking. She would drink around the clock, get very sick, and then stop for a bit. She started having symptoms of liver disease but didn’t really know much about this and convinced herself they were “normal,” even when she started turning yellow, couldn’t stop vomiting, and became so confused she couldn’t do her job. She finally went to the emergency room when she was having trouble breathing. Her oxygen saturation was 54%, which is dangerously low, and she had a bloodstream infection, basically on the brink of death. She was told her only chance of survival was a liver transplant, and she didn’t leave the hospital until this happened. Her team at @tampageneralhospital took a chance on her because it’s still not common to do transplants in people who don’t have an extended period of sobriety – Emma had less than two months. Emma didn’t have a lot of (or any) time to learn new coping strategies. She found the help of her therapist, support groups, and a recovery app invaluable. “I never thought about drinking again. It was kind of like a switch flipped.” She immediately started doing advocacy work while she was recovering and is now a mentor with the American Transplant Foundation, an advocate for the American Liver Foundation, and an Ambassador for UNOS. She is determined to fight the stigma and raise awareness so people don’t have to suffer alone or feel such immense shame, like she did. She has been writing back and forth with her donor’s family, and they are planning to meet. She feels immense gratitude for her young donor but also guilt. She manages all the uncertainty of having a transplant by noticing what she can do instead of can’t do. “My life is so full now…now I don’t do anything that doesn’t make my life feel full.”@americantransplant Check out this list of recovery resources that she compiled: https://linktr.ee/elillibridge?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAab5o2lL1-cdFYPQRMJy3Ns9mqsAwlOcsY8lJiFlPvzsTFlRLeEhRxz8mY_aem_KmL_bcgC7DHIzg1YvsnELgAlso listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yPv16c6bl9Al4oYs6Iqih?si=0db7c872ef9c42a2 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/transplant-talks/id1775090608For more information on organ transplantation: https://www.americantransplantfoundation.org www.livingliverdonation.com Follow us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/american_transplant_foundation/ https://www.facebook.com/AmericanTransplantFoundation/ https://www.tiktok.com/@americantransplant https://x.com/amertransplant

Proving them Wrong

Matison Deaton is a remarkable woman, with perseverance that most cannot even imagine. She was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 1 1/2 years old, so her life was filled with lots of doctors’ appointments and all kinds of things that kids just shouldn’t have to experience. She knew from a young age that she may one day need a lung transplant. Her doctors didn’t tell her she had kidney disease – she found out from her “after-visit summary” and later learned she would need both a double lung and a kidney transplant. Mattie also found out from her notes that she was estimated to have 5-7 years left to live. It was 6 years into this span that she finally found a transplant center willing to take a risk, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). This was only after being rejected 13 times from other centers, due to being thought to be “too high risk” because she had a multi-drug-resistant lung infection. Mattie says that it was almost “out of spite” that she kept trying…and because she didn’t want others to have to go through what she did. “One day, you guys could be wrong.”  And they were.
Mattie offers insight into what it is like to navigate the complex emotions of receiving a gift that is someone else’s loss…to feel excitement and hope mixed with grief that is not her own.  Recovery was so difficult that, at one point, she felt regret. But, about 6 months later, she was moving forward. She describes what it is like now to be able to change her own sheets, to laugh without worrying about vomiting, and finally, to dance. She also talks about navigating the uncertainty of figuring out how to build a life that is not just filled with illness. 
 
For more information on organ transplantation:
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.org
www.livingliverdonation.com 
Follow us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/american_transplant_foundation/
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanTransplantFoundation/
https://www.tiktok.com/@americantransplant
https://x.com/amertransplant 

Transporting Life

Nic grew up around airplanes his entire childhood - his parents started a charter company right after he was born. He has always wanted to learn to fly, but he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition that required open heart surgery at the age of 15. This meant he was unable to get a pilot medical certificate, so he pursued a sports pilot's license to fly for fun. He became a nurse practitioner and has been working in an ER in rural Iowa for the last 5 years. After years of good health and lots of testing, he was approved for a flight medical certificate. After completing many levels of training, he and his father took their first organ transplant flight. He says, "After that, we were sold on flying with a purpose." In 2023, he and his father transported 243 organs for transplantation.
 
For more information on organ transplantation: 
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.orgwww.livingliverdonation.comFollow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTikTokX

Mariela Dances

Mariela started dancing when she was 12 years old in Ecuador. She trained in the conservatory and then moved to New York City to attend the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. For her, dancing is like breathing, is part of her culture, and is a way of meditation.  In 2014, she ended up in the hospital with liver problems, but no one really knew what was going on. Mariela and her family thought it might be related to her emotions and sadness, “something from the soul.” After years of mysterious symptoms on and off, she was eventually diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis.  Mariela shares her difficulty navigating the U.S. healthcare system and what it is like to be someone with chronic illness in a society that doesn’t understand and where healthcare is not a basic right. At first, she didn’t want a transplant – she didn’t feel deserving, and she didn’t want to be cut open. But she realized how much her students and sister were hurting, and “I realized how much I was loved. Love made me change my decision.” By the time she was listed for a transplant, she only had to wait 2 weeks until being matched with a deceased donor liver. She describes her transplant as a series of miracles for which she is very grateful.
For more information on organ transplantation: 
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.orgwww.livingliverdonation.comFollow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTikTokX

One Kidney and the Boston Marathon

Mike is a business owner, tattoo artist, and marathoner. He ran the Boston Marathon just 32 days after donating his kidney to a stranger. The same strength and determination that led Mike to pursue sobriety more than ten years ago led him to not even think twice when he learned his friend and running buddy needed a kidney. He donated a kidney anonymously at University of Colorado Hospital‬ to receive a voucher from the National Kidney Foundation which moved his friend to the top of the waitlist for a kidney from a matching living donor. He says, "It felt right...I had no anxiety or hesitation."
For more information on organ transplantation: 
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.orgwww.livingliverdonation.comFollow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTikTokX

Miss Tampa Part 2

Casana Fink is an author, entrepreneur, Miss America Contestant, and organ donation advocate. Casana knows she wants to be a living donor at some point but isn't sure on the right timing. In this episode of Transplant Talks, co-hosts Anastasia Henry and Rachel Davis, MD, talk through this decision with Casana Fink. They discuss the differences between living kidney versus liver donation and explore various concerns and considerations.
For more information on organ transplantation: 
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.orgwww.livingliverdonation.comFollow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTikTokX

Miss Tampa Part 1

Miss Tampa, Casana Fink, is an author, entrepreneur, Miss America contestant, and organ donation advocate. After her father received an organ transplant in 2013, she has devoted herself to championing this cause. Anastasia Henry, Executive Director of the American Transplant Foundation joins psychiatrist and living liver donor, Rachel Davis, MD, to talk with Casana about her own experiences, her advocacy work, and some fun beauty tips!
For more information on organ transplantation: 
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.orgwww.livingliverdonation.comFollow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTikTokX

Molly and Lydia's Story - Living Liver Donation

Lydia donated more than half of her liver to her childhood friend, Molly, just a few months ago.  They are both incredible people, and their story is one of perseverance, strength, and the strongest kind of friendship. Due to their religious beliefs, they did not want to receive blood products, and they had the utmost confidence in their surgeon, Dr. Abhi Humar, and his team at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
For more information on organ transplantation: 
https://www.americantransplantfoundation.orgwww.livingliverdonation.comFollow us on social media:InstagramFacebookTikTokX
 

Exploring the Psychology of Altruism

🎙️Audio only (Originally published April 9, 2024)
Season 1, Episode 6
Dr. Marsh, a professor of psychology and an altruism researcher at Georgetown University, collaborates with our Director of Psychological Services, Dr. Tyler Branagan, alongside our host and psychiatrist, Dr. Rachel Davis.
Together, they delve into the driving forces behind altruism and how it manifests in the actions of living donors!