Congratulations

Today, all of us at the Tennessee Organ Donation Foundation offer our congratulations to all the great people at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Recently, doctors, nurses, and others there reached a remarkable milestone - their 2000th kidney transplant !! The truly remarkable thing about this milestone is that approximately half of these transplants were accomplished with living kidney donors.

Mayo Clinic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Mayo Clinic in Arizona began performing kidney transplants in 1999. With their 2000th, they become one of the top 10 largest kidney transplant programs in the country. The Clinic is also one of the leading centers for performing paired kidney exchanges, which help increase the pool of kidneys available for transplant.

Besides Arizona, the Mayo Clinic also has campuses in Florida and Minnesota where kidney transplants are performed, also. When you combine the number of kidney transplants performed at all the Mayo Clinic locations in these three states, the Mayo Clinic becomes the #1 kidney transplant center in the U.S. doing more kidney transplant than anyone. We congratulate them for that, too, and on behalf of the 2000 kidney recipients who have received the gift of life at one of their campus locations, we say, "Thank You."

Read entire article : www.YumaNewsNow.com article titled "Mayo Clinic In Arizona Completes 2000th Kidney Transplant"

30-Years and Counting

Orlando DeFelice recently reached a milestone - the 30-year anniversary of his heart transplant. It makes him one of the longest-living heart transplant patients ever. When he had his transplant in 1983, doctors felt he would die within four days if he did not receive one. Furthermore, the doctors said the odds he would survive five years after his transplant were only 50/50.

English: The old hospital building in Cape Town where the first human heart transplant was done by Dr Barnard in December 1967. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DeFelice is not alone in reaching the 30-year heart transplant mark. Others have already achieved it. In fact, an Ohio man reached the 31-year mark before dying in 2009. A British man reached the 30-year milestone last year. Additionally, several others who received heart transplants at John Hopkins, where DeFelice received his, are just a few years away from the 30-year mark.

The road to DeFelice's 30-year heart transplant anniversary has not been easy. There have been some bumps in the road. For instance, he had to have a kidney transplant in 2010 as a complication from his immunosuppressant regimen. He's also battled skin cancer. However, overall he has done well and is happy to be able to enjoy life again thanks to his new heart.

DeFelice still works as an accountant, plays golf, goes on walks, and bike rides. He is thankful for his transplant. He stresses the importance of organ and tissue donation saying, "You (the recipient) can go out and do the things you were planning to do before the disease got you."

Orlando DeFelice was fortunate to receive his heart transplant and a second chance at life 30 years ago. However, there are 119,000 Americans currently waiting on the same opportunity. Sadly, 19 of those waiting die every day simply because a match does not come in time. The good news is that you can help them receive the same second chance that Orlando did by registering as an organ and tissue donor.

To learn how to register, or for more information about organ and tissue donation, please visit our website, www.SaveLivesTN.org, by clicking here.

Read more : www.BaltimoreSun.com article titled "Hopkins Patient Marks 30-Year Anniversary of Heart Transplant"

Related articles

• After 30 Years, Md. Man Is One Of The Longest-Surviving Heart Transplant Patients (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• Man celebrates life with heart (abc2news.com)