Daughter Donates Life Saving Kidney to Her Father

We are so happy to share with you the story of Stephanie and her father Dino. We believe that this may be our first story in which an Annie and Isabel gown was worn by an organ donor and a recipient. We love to share incredible stories like this, especially when dignity, comfort, and style were not spared in a hospital!  

In 2014, when Stephanie learned of her father Dino's worsening kidney failure and need for a transplant, she knew that she would be tested as a potential donor. After suffering from chronic back pain for many years, and taking high doses of Ibuprofen, Dino learned that his kidneys were shutting down. His only options moving forward were dependence on dialysis or a kidney transplant. The average person waits seven years for a deceased kidney donor and Dino would surely face dialysis before a kidney would become available. That is when Stephanie stepped in to see if she would be a match for the father that she loves so much. Like father, like daughter ~ she was a perfect match!

"There wasn't a doubt in my mind that if I was a match I would donate to my dad. He and my mom have done everything to provide for me, my sisters, and our children (their grandchildren). This was the least I could do for him and honestly, I want him around and healthy for my children, niece and nephews. How often do you get the chance to give the gift of life to someone that did the same for you? I was honored to be there for my dad like he has always been there for me. "

We asked Stephanie what surgery was like to be a living donor and give an organ to someone else. She said: 

"I had never had surgery before so I really didn't know what to expect. I was full of nerves and anticipation right before, but I knew I was in good hands with the doctors, nurses, and staff at UCSF hospital. The actual surgery was a bit surreal. They get you ready and wheel you into the operating room and before you know it you are being wheeled out and surgery is done. Overall, the recovery has been fine. Right after surgery the biggest thing they want you to do is get up and start walking. I walked around the floor multiple times a day with my dad in our Annie & Isabel hospital gowns."

It has been three months since the transplant and we asked how she and her dad are feeling today.  

"For me, it took me about six weeks to feel back to normal. My dad now has his energy back and we have been amazed at how my kidney has made him feel so much better. From the moment he was wheeled out of surgery, we knew the kidney was working. His cheeks had color and he looked better right away. He is currently on anti-rejection medications so his body continues to accept my kidney. He is adjusting to their side effects, but overall he is doing great! We are both so lucky everything went so well."

Lastly, we had to ask if Annie & Isabel designer hospital gowns made a difference during their hospital stay.  

"After surgery, my body didn't feel like my own. Having items like my favorite face wash and lotion, cute slippers and my A& I gowns helped me just feel better. I actually used the A&I gowns that I had worn for the deliveries of two of my children, so it was great to wear them again and it brought back nice memories. What was so cool was that my dad got to wear one of the first A&I men's gowns too! He loved his camouflage hospital gown. It was fun for us during recovery to get together and walk around the floor in our A&I gowns. Everyone would compliment us and we definitely made an impression in our designer gowns.

 I truly believe that when you psychologically feel better it helps you to physically feel better."

We are truly honored to share this beautiful story of Stephanie and Dino. If you would like to share your experience wearing Annie & Isabel designer hospital gowns please email us at wecare@annieandisabel.com. 

Donate Life America - You Can Save a Life and Leave a Lasting Legacy

Yesterday, our post was about living donation and the National Kidney Registry, who helps promote and facilitate transplants for so many people awaiting kidney transplant. We shared the amazing story of Liane and her mother, who were part of a 21 paired cross-country kidney transplant exchange. The National Kidney Registry has changed the way people wait and endure years of dialysis while waiting for a donor. It is truly ground breaking and really built on love and the desire to help a loved one waiting. Please read yesterdays post if you missed it...we were truly inspired while writing it! 

Today, we wanted to quickly follow up with the most common type of transplants performed in the United States and the ones we see in our jobs as RNs, and that is donation after death. On Monday, on our Facebook page, we posted a poll regarding organ donation. We were surprised that the majority of those who participated, want to be organ and tissue donors and are actually registered on the DonateLife.net website! 

The Organization Donate Life America is a non-for-profit national organization committed to increasing organ, eye, and tissue donation. By going directly to their website, they will direct you to your individual states donation sign up page. The website is full of wonderful facts about donation and very inspiring stories... {get you kleenex}... We thought we would post this short video about John and his gift of sight.  

 video from DonateLife.net

As nurses, we see first hand how a failing organ can effect a person's life. All too often, I am working in the ICU trying to keep someone alive who has a liver that is rapidly failing. The only thing that will ultimately save this individual, is a liver transplant. Many times a liver will become available because of the great gift of another person who made their wishes known to their family, but sometimes that liver never comes and my patient will die in our ICU waiting.   

We encourage you to please visit Donate Life's website and educate yourself about organ donation. You can limit your gift of any organ or tissue you do not want to donate and can exclude use for research. Take the decision and stress away from your family, and make your wishes be known. To give you an idea of how many people are waiting to receive an organ, please see the statistics from the Donate Life's website below.

28,663 people were given a second chance at life last year!

PLEASE REGISTER YOUR WISHES TODAY & help us spread the word by posting on your Facebook page and/or Twitter page. If we encourage just one person to sign up, it could save the lives of many! If could be your loved one in need of an organ, eye, or tissue transplant someday.

{ WEBSITE - WWW.DONATELIFE.NET }

{ FACEBOOK - DONATE LIFE }

{ TWITTER - DONATE LIFE AMERICA }

 You can leave a lasting legacy of life and give the ultimate gift...

The gift of LIFE!

Liane Becomes a Living Organ Donor To a Stranger To Save The Life of Her Mother

I will never forget my darkest day as a mother thus far, when my 2 year old son George was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. As I sat by the side of his ICU crib for three days as he lay unconscious, I prayed for my sweet boy to wake up and act like the energetic and sweet boy we loved. It was surreal being on the other side of the bedside. I was usually the ICU nurse who was comforting the mother, not the other way around. The masses of doctors and nurses came in and out and were preparing me for the worst. They suspected that George was having seizures from the infection that surrounded his brain and we would not know his ultimate prognosis until he woke up. They thought there could be a chance that he would lose his hearing from this...I didn't care about hearing loss...we could learn sign language... I just wanted to be able to take my son home, back to our beautiful family life we had started together. I felt helpless, which is a terrible feeling for a mother and more so for a nurse who knew all the possibilities of complications that come along with bacterial meningitis. That feeling of wanting to save your child from the pain and suffering they are experiencing is unfortunately one of the realities that so many parents have to deal with when their child is sick. George spent 2 weeks in the hospital and I'm so thankful  to be able to say that besides being deaf in his left ear, he is just as normal as any little boy his age. He wears a hearing aid, or "magic ear" as he likes to call it.

The nightmare experience with our little George made me realize that, as a parent, I would have done anything to help make our son well again... and so I want to share the story of another parent, Garret, and his wonderful idea that has saved many lives. This was an idea that was born out of parent's love for his child and the same desire to save her life. It is also the story of Liane, who would do anything to save the life of her mother.

Last spring, we received an order from my college roommate Vanessa for one of our college girlfriends Liane, who was going to be donating her kidney to a complete stranger. I reached out to Liane and learned that she was going to be part of a 21 paired cross-country kidney transplant exchange....and she would be donating her kidney in return for her mother to receive a kidney that was a good match for her. These surgeries would be performed at UCSF, where I work as a RN, and are made possible because of an organization called the National Kidney Registry.

I wanted to know more about how these paired kidney exchanges worked, since many of them were being performed at UCSF, and when I read about Garret Hill, the founder of the National Kidney Registry, I knew exactly how he felt when he found out 36 hours before surgery that he wasn't a good match for his 10 year old daughter who suffered from kidney failure. It is a terrible and helpless feeling to watch you child suffer. Garret used his extensive background in business and software development and founded the National Kidney Registry. This allows willing donors, who might not be a perfect match for their loved one in need, to donate their kidney and in return their loved one will receive a kidney. This registry has decreased transplant wait time for their patients from up to 51 months to 11 months per their website and have been responsible for 276 transplants to date. They project to facilitate over 2,000 by the year 2013. We encourage you to watch Katie Couric's coverage of the National Kidney Registry on CBS Evening News below. With organizations like the National Kidney Registry, the success with live donor transplantation could be endless.

Here is a picture of Liane and her mother. We are happy to report that both Liane and her mother are doing well! Because Liane agreed to be part of a kidney exchange, her mother received a kidney in the 21 live donor chain. Talk about paying it forward! 

On the day that Liane so selflessly gave one of her kidneys at UCSF Medical Center, she celebrated the occasion in our Annie designer hospital gown. Here is what she said about wearing an Annie & Isabel hospital gown.

"A wonderful friend gave me an Annie & Isabel pink hospital gown prior to donating a kidney and being hospitalized. I can't tell you how cute, practical, and comfortable it was. I wore it the whole time I was in the hospital and every nurse commented on how cute it was. I love how it covers all the important "areas" unlike the coventional hospital gowns. It is a definite must have for any woman who has to spend and time in the hospital. I love my gown and still wear it at home as jammies!"

~Liane, Hawaii

Tomorrow we will have another post about organ donation. Please stop by and learn about another way to give the ultimate gift.... the gift of life! YOU could save a life or many. 

Here is a diagram of the cross-country kidney exchange that Liane and her mother were a part of. If you want to learn more about The National Kidney Registry, please visit these sites and help spread the word about living donor donations.

NATIONAL KIDNEY REGISTRY 

{ WEBSITE }

{ TWITTER }