Two hard-to-match transplant patients 400 miles apart are starting 2024 with renewed hope for living long, healthy lives thanks to their combined efforts. hospitals in texas.
The Solid Organ Transplant Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and the University Health Transplant Institute in San Antonio collaborated to find a matched living kidney donor for the failed patient.
In Dallas, Jorge Mendez, 50, a foreman at an auto factory, needed help. life-saving transplant.
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Mendez was undergoing dialysis, which has a significant impact not only on a person’s quality of daily life, but also on their long-term health.
According to his doctor, it was important to find a transplant before he was no longer eligible for a transplant.
Rebecca Worden, second from the left, volunteered to donate her kidney to her mother, Ann Weiner, 71, of San Antonio, far left. And Svetlana Balmeo Stockdale, 28, (far right) volunteered to donate her kidney to her colleague Jorge Mendes, 50, who was standing next to her. (University Health/UT Southwestern)
Mendez’s colleague Svetlana Balmeo Stockdale, 28, offered to donate her kidney to her friend, but unfortunately she was not a suitable candidate.
Meanwhile, 400 miles away in San Antonio, 71-year-old Ann Weiner also needed a kidney transplant.
She had been undergoing dialysis after waiting about two years for a kidney donor.
Doctors said Winner’s biggest hurdle was that she had abnormal antibodies, which made matching her with a donor extremely difficult.
“Patients’ access to lifesaving transplants should not be limited by geographic or organizational boundaries.”
Weiner’s daughter, Rebecca Worden, wanted to donate a kidney, but it was not a match.
“Mr. Winner would have become weaker and his condition would have worsened over time,” Dr. Parsia Vagefi, a UT Southwestern transplant surgeon who led the Dallas surgical team, told FOX News Digital.
“She said she had almost given up hope of getting a transplant.”
Rebecca Worden (left) volunteered to donate her kidney to her mother, 71-year-old Ann Weiner (right) of San Antonio. But Worden was not a match, so Winner’s medical team in San Antonio worked with another team in Dallas to find donor replacements for each patient. (University Health)
Leaders from both institutions began working together to find matches outside of local transplant networks.
After learning he was a poor match for his friend, Stockdale, a potential donor to Mendez, received a surprising phone call.
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“Shortly after they told me my kidney was not compatible, UT Southwestern called me and said, ‘We can’t donate it to Jorge, but we can exchange it for someone else,'” she said. said in a statement. to Fox News Digital.
As it turned out, Stockdale matched with Weiner, San Diego’s grandmother, and Warden, who was planning to donate to his mother, matched with Mendez.
put an amazing plan into action
Medical teams in Dallas and San Antonio began donor exchange plans for their respective patients.
”[After finding the matches]The discussion began: “When should we start the surgery?” How are organs transported? How are organs tracked? ” Dr. Elizabeth Thomas, a transplant surgeon at the University of Health who led the San Antonio transplant team, said in comments sent to Fox News Digital.
Jorge Mendez, 50, left, received a replacement for his failing kidney after medical teams in San Antonio and Dallas searched beyond their own networks to find a matching living donor. Svetlana Balmeo Stockdale, 28, is pictured on the right in a yellow gown matching Mendes. She is walking with Mendez after she underwent surgery at UT Southwestern in Dallas. (Southwestern Utah)
The transplant team ensured that the donated organs were transported safely and transplanted as quickly as possible through a “carefully planned surgical schedule and chartered flights,” the hospital said in a statement.
”[The transport] It could be tracked minute-by-minute on the plane through tags attached to the boxes used for transport. [the kidneys]” Thomas said.
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“This is important because we want to minimize the amount of time the organ is out of the body without blood.”
On August 31, 2023, after “exquisitely timed surgeries and close collaboration,” Winner and Mendez received the new, functioning kidneys they needed to save their lives, the hospital said.
On August 31, 2023, after “exquisitely timed surgeries and close collaboration,” Winner and Mendez received the new, functioning kidneys they needed to save their lives, the hospital said. (UT Southwestern/University Health)
“There are different ways to do an exchange, different reasons to do an exchange… it never gets old,” Dr. Baghefi told FOX News Digital.
Only a quarter of the transplants performed at UT Southwestern are from living donors, but Vagefi hopes to expand that number because living kidney donations last longer for the recipient. said.
“It’s really great to be a part of this and build partnerships with people who are working towards the same mission in different cities,” he said. “We crossed geographic boundaries to help these families.”
Thank you for the new hope
Because of the life-saving transplantMendez was able to hold her new granddaughter when the baby was born in January.
“When I hugged her, tears came to my eyes,” he said in a statement. “Now I can live a little longer and be with my girlfriend.”
He later wrote to the donor: “Thank you so much. I owe you the world.”
“I don’t think I saved anyone’s life. I think I could have given Jorge’s family more time with him.”
“I felt like they would never find a donor for me, but they did,” Weiner said.
A card sent to a donor in Dallas said, “I can never repay you.”
Stockdale, who had intended to donate to her friend Mendez, spoke in a statement to Fox News Digital about what being a donor meant to her.
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“I don’t think I saved anyone’s life,” she said. “We think it’s about giving Jorge’s family more time with him.”
”[For Winer], whatever she hasn’t accomplished in her life yet, whatever she wanted to do eventually, I hope she can accomplish it. Life is too short not to realize your wildest dreams. ”
Winner, a retired nurse anesthetist, later wrote Stockdale a letter thanking him for his kidney care.
The hospital said the transplant team ensured that the donated organs were transported safely and transplanted as quickly as possible through “carefully planned surgical schedules and chartered flights.” (UT Southwestern/University Health)
“Thank you for giving me my life back,” she wrote.
“I thought my strange antibodies wouldn’t allow me to get a transplant, but you came along. I wish you luck.”
Weiner’s daughter Warden, who had intended to donate to her mother but agreed to donate to Mendez in exchange for her mother undergoing a transplant, also expressed her gratitude.
Dr. Parsia Vagefi, a transplant surgeon at the University of Texas Southwestern, led the surgical team in Dallas. (Southwestern Utah)
“At the end of the day, I’m glad I was able to help not one, but two people,” she said in a statement.
Currently, both transplant recipients are doing well.
Weiner has returned to work part-time as a nurse anesthetist and plans to retire at the end of July.
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Mendez also returned to work. “I feel great,” he said.
“Patient access to life-saving transplants should not be limited by geographic or organizational boundaries,” Scott Bennett, vice president of UT Southwestern’s Solid Organ Transplant Program, said in a press release. .
Dr. Parsia Bajeffi of the University of Texas Southwestern, in collaboration with the University of San Antonio Health, led a surgical team in Dallas that saved two patients with kidney failure. (Southwestern Utah)
“It was rewarding to see the collective ‘can-do’ spirit of two highly regarded programs come together to make it happen,” he added.
Kidneys are the organ with the highest demand for transplantation.
a healthy person Experts say that if you donate one of your two kidneys, you can live your entire life.
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According to the National Kidney Foundation, the average life expectancy of people on dialysis is 5 to 10 years.
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