Two Paths to Living Donation, 20 Years Apart
As a registered nurse (RN), Suzanne always felt called to help others. She may have acquired that trait from her mom, Michelle, who donated a kidney to one of her co-workers 20 years ago in Buffalo, N.Y.
“My co-worker, who is 10 years older than me, had been going through health problems, which affected his heart and then his kidneys,” says Michelle. “At the time, there was a boxer from Buffalo named Joe Mesi and he would promote organ donation on TV because his cousin needed a kidney transplant. I remember watching him and thinking to myself, “I can do that.’”
Michelle and her recipient, who now lives in Florida, call each other on their transplant anniversary every October.
“My recipient has three kids, and he was able to see them all get married and have kids,” says Michelle.
As fate would have it, Michelle eventually met Joe at a grocery store in Buffalo.
“I told him that it was because of him that I decided to donate a kidney,” says Michelle. “Suzanne had told me that it was because of my kidney donation journey that she would want to become a living donor one day.”
Suzanne’s Path to Living Donation
“Seeing my mom go through the organ donation process, I saw that it was not a huge ordeal, and it never limited anything for her,” says Suzanne. “My mom has no health problems, so seeing that firsthand was really helpful because you can get doubts in your mind like ‘Is this surgery going to change my life afterward?’ But it really didn't at all. I also got to see how my mom changed her recipient’s life for the better.”
Suzanne was a flight medic in the Air Force for eight years and after she served, she decided to pursue a degree in nursing. After she graduated, she applied for a job at an organ procurement organization and blood bank as a clinical donation coordinator, where she saw firsthand the effects of organ donation.
“Caring for end-of-life donors and hearing their stories from their families encouraged me to become a living donor,” says Suzanne. “Every day, I would be looking at the list for each organ and would read hundreds of recipient and donor names and see their ages. It was one of those things that just feels bigger than yourself. To know that my mom donated a kidney and as a healthy person I just felt called to donate when the time was right.”
Finding a Recipient
Suzanne eventually would donate a portion of her liver to a child she did not know. One day while on her lunch break at work as an RN in primary care, she scrolled through Facebook and saw a post from a mother who asked business owners to put up fliers that mentioned her son’s need for a living-liver donor. The child was a patient at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“I just knew that I had to call,” says Suzanne. “I knew from my mom that living-kidney donation was possible, but I didn’t know that option was available for liver, so part of me was also interested in that as a nurse. I called the mom, and I thought to myself, ‘I’ll just keep going until something stops me or until we do the transplant.’”
Surgery Day at UPMC
Suzanne began the testing process to potentially serve as a living donor in May 2023 and was deemed a match. In November 2023, Suzanne and Michelle, who served as her care partner, drove 3 and a half hours from Buffalo, N.Y. to Pittsburgh, Pa., for the surgery, with Abhinav Humar, MD, as Suzanne’s surgeon. Suzanne stayed at UPMC Montefiore for five days after the surgery. When an adult donates a portion of their liver or one of their kidneys to a child at UPMC, the donor has surgery at UPMC Montefiore, while the child has surgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
“Dr. Humar sat down with me before the surgery and again at my second appointment,” says Suzanne. “As a nurse, knowing that a surgeon is taking his time to sit down and talk to a patient just gave me a lot of confidence in him as a provider.”
Suzanne says she had an “incredible” living donation experience at UPMC.
“Transplant surgeons are amazing,” says Suzanne. “They do these surgeries so many times a day and they’ve been performing them for so many years, and they’re involved in so much research. I was blown away by the whole experience, it seems like transplant is really at the forefront of innovation in medicine, so it was exciting to be a part of that. I didn’t know that UPMC was so specialized in transplant, my nurses really knew what I needed before I knew what I needed. They were all very caring, sympathetic, and gentle.”
Staying at Family House
Suzanne and Michelle stayed at Family House in Pittsburgh for a week after the surgery. Family House is a nonprofit organization that offers lodging for patients and their families who must remain near a UPMC hospital for surgery or treatment of serious or life-threatening illnesses.
“Family House was great. It had the professionalism and cleanliness of a hotel, but it was also cozier and homier. They offered a full-service kitchen so you could buy your own food and cook it. There was also a free pantry of things that people left behind that you could just take, and they also offered informational events about transplant and care, and even therapy dogs.”
Life After Donation
Suzanne went back to work six weeks after the surgery, and it was during this time she felt back to her normal self.
“My transplant coordinator was so great, anticipating what I would need before I knew I needed it,” says Suzanne. “She wrote me a doctor’s note that said I could work reduced hours and take breaks for my first two weeks back to work. At first, I didn’t think I would need it, but I was so tired when I went back to work. She was so supportive.”
Suzanne and Michelle visit each other frequently, as they only live 20 minutes away from each other. In her spare time, Suzanne enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her husband, three children, three cats, and a dog. Michelle recently bought a house and has been making some home renovations herself and spends time with her two rescue dogs.
“I would do it all again,” says Suzanne. “I really helped someone and made a difference. It may seem like a giant ask of someone to donate a kidney or portion of your liver, but it’s a short amount of time in your life and a very safe surgery. UPMC surgeons are incredible people who live and breathe transplant. I would trust them with my children. Living donation is worth it.”
Suzanne’s treatment and results may not be representative of all similar cases.
