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Living Donor Kidney Inspired to Host UMMC Living Donor Folow-Up Clinic Fundraising Concert
Marla Blackwell
In 2008, Marla Blackwell donated a kidney to her mother. During her first visit to UMMC, her social worker put her in touch with Lee Adams, who had donated a kidney the year before. Adams is also the person who created the UMMC Living Donor Follow-Up Clinic Annual Benefit Concert.
Marla felt compelled to help Lee with the event and has been involved ever since. This year, Marla will assist in hosting the fourth annual Night with Nashville fundraising concert on September 8 in Falling Waters, WV.
Marla Blackwell
There were plenty of hugs to go around when six patients involved in a triple kidney swap conducted at the University of Maryland Medical Center met for the first time on July 8, 2011.
Read the story and watch the video.
Father Donates Kidney to Save Son's Life
Matthew Colantuno
Watch Nicole Colantuno discuss her family's experience at the University of Maryland Medical Center while her son Matthew received treatment for multiple congenital conditions, including a distended bladder and lower urinary tract obstruction, that eventually led to the toddler receiving a kidney transplant at 18 months of age. Matthew's father donated the life-saving kidney to his son.
Non-Directed Kidney Donor Meets Recipient and His Family
Drew Sollenberger Meets Transplant Recipient Ethan Hatton
Since birth, Ethan Hatton has battled multiple congenital conditions that eventually caused his kidneys to fail, making a kidney transplant necessary. When Drew Sollenberger expressed his desire to become a non-directed kidney donor, doctors at UMMC found his kidney to be a perfect match for Ethan and immediately arranged the transplant.
Watch a video to see the first meeting between donor and recipient. Watch all related videos to learn the whole story.
Becoming a Non-Directed Kidney Donor
Drew Sollenberger
Drew Sollenberger recently made the important decision to become a non-directed kidney donor. Because of his altruism, the two-year-old child who received his kidney was given a second chance at life.
Watch a video to learn more about his experience and the steps other individuals can take to become non-directed organ donors. Watch all related videos to learn the whole story.
Father and Son Kidney Transplant Success Story
Carlos Chambers (right) with his father Thomas Dunkins, III.
On October 28, 2009, Carlos Chambers received a life-saving kidney transplant that put an end to his need for continuous dialysis treatments and gave him back the strength and energy he had before being diagnosed with kidney failure just a few years ago.
What made this life-saving gift even more special to Carlos was that his new kidney was donated by his father, Thomas Dunkins, III. Watch the video to learn more about their experience.
Ken Smith
Since 1980, Ken Smith, a resident of Ocean Pines, Maryland., had been coping with numerous health problems, including elevated levels of liver enzymes, Type 2 diabetes and pancytopenia. In 2004, Ken was diagnosed with liver and kidney failure. His local gastroenterologist referred him to UMMC for evaluation, where it was determined he needed both a liver and kidney transplant.
In 2008, Smith had the transplant and two years after the surgery, he has made a full recovery and is able to enjoy a full life with his family and friends.
Brian Broadwater
After 6 ½ years of being on dialysis, Brian Broadwater received a kidney transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center on Valentine's Day, Feburary 14, 2010. Now, Brian says the transplant has given him a second chance at a normal, happy life.
Fernando "Tony" Brady and Ken Kuiper
Tony Brady (right) with kidney donor Ken Kuiper.
When Tony Brady was absent from an annual conference, business acquaintance Ken Kuiper looked into why. He learned that Tony was on dialysis and needed a kidney transplant. Ken got tested, was a match, and donated a kidney to Tony at UMMC.
Tony and Ken, whose families have become very close since the transplant, are determined to educate others about the importance of living donor transplants.
Read Tony's and Ken's moving accounts of their experiences.
Two-Way Kidney Exchange Success Stories
Kidney donor Nancy Miller (left) with kidney recipient Cindy Wickesser
Nancy Miller's decision to become an altruistic living kidney donor changed the lives of two families – one in Maryland, and the other in Minnesota. This ultimately led to a two-way kidney swap which took place on January 7, 2010, between UMMC and the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota.
Miller, of Glen Burnie, Md., started this process by deciding to be a non-directed living donor. She originally offered to donate a kidney to Cindy Wickesser, of Sykesville Md., after learning that she was in kidney failure from her husband Craig. But when they found out they were not a match, Miller and Wickesser entered UMMC's Paired Kidney Exchange Program.
David Feldman and Court Blatchford
Kidney recipient David Feldman (left) meets his donor, Court Blatchford
David Feldman, who recently received a new kidney, met his donor, Court Blatchford for the first time on January 22, 2010, exactly a month after the transplant. The meeting took place at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Four-Way Kidney Exchange Success Stories
On November 2-3 2009, UMMC transplant surgeons completed a four-way kidney exchange involving eight patients from four states. Read their heartfelt stories as they describe how the kidney exchange changed their lives.
Michelle Middlekauf
Baltimore resident Michelle Middlekauf recently donated a kidney to her father at UMMC. She was among the first have a scarless, single-incision kidney removal surgery. UMMC is the third hospital in the United States to offer this procedure, in which the kidney is removed through the navel.
Hear what Michelle, whose only sign of surgery when she left the hospital was a Band-Aid on her belly button, has to say about her experience.
Don Musick with vascular surgeon Dr. Rajabrata Sarkar
In 1999, Don Musick came to the University of Maryland for a kidney transplant. Ten years later, he returned when his transplanted kidney began to fail due to complications from an earlier aortic aneurysm bypass operation. His local doctors told him that he couldn't receive another transplant and that there were no more surgical options -- he would need to be on dialysis for the rest of his life.
Musick refused to give up and turned back to the University of Maryland, where he had surgery that resolved the vascular problem and restarted his inactive kidney.
Kristen McLoughlin
On April 15, 2009, Kristen McLoughlin became the first kidney donor at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) to undergo kidney removal through a single opening or incision, in the belly button.
UMMC is the first hospital in Maryland and third in the U.S. to offer this new procedure – called single incision laparoscopic surgery -- which leaves patients with no noticeable scars.
Carmen Munoz, right, with donor Pam Davison
When Carmen Munoz began her search for a kidney transplant center, finding a place with expertise in polycystic kidney disease (PKD) played a major role in her decision to choose the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Carmen was multi-listed at nine hospitals but she says she choose UMMC not only because of the superior medical care, but also because of her friend, Jamie Cadiz, another PKD patient who had also undergone a kidney transplant at University of Maryland in 2006.
Emily Biondi
After an organ transplant, patients face the road to recovery. Emily Biondi has taken that road at such a brisk pace that she has become a track-and-field athlete since receiving a kidney transplant at the University of Medical Center in 2003.
This summer, Emily attended the U.S. Transplant Games in Pittsburgh where she competed as an athlete and sang at the closing ceremony.
Rick Bounds
In July 2007, Rick Bounds underwent a kidney and liver transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center. It's hard to believe that less than a year later, he would compete in a triathlon, complete with swimming, running and biking. But that's what the 53-year-old Essex man did in May, when he participated in the Pocomoke City Triathlon.
Bounds used the triathlon as a fundraising opportunity for the University of Maryland Medical Center's Transplant Program. He says that since he has been given a second chance at life, he wanted to give back.
Emily and Norman Biondi
Norman Biondi of Ellicott City donated one of his kidneys to his daughter, Emily, who was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 19. The successful transplant surgery took place on December 19, 2003, at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
In an effort to honor and thank her father, Emily submitted an essay expressing what her father's kidney donation meant to her. Emily's essay was one of five selected from among more than 150 contest entries nationwide in the Ride of a Lifetime essay contest. The prize, to participate in the 2007 Rose Parade, was awarded to Norman.
Jamie Cadiz, center with her husband Jesse, right, and her son Jarrett, left.
After struggling with the effects of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) for over 10 years, Jamie Cadiz was in end-stage renal failure and needed a kidney transplant but she also faced an additional challenge -- finding a transplant center that would take her case.
She finally found that place at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
1000th UMMC Kidney Donor Helps Brother-in-Law on the Road to Recovery
Kidney donor John Gatten, left, with his brother-in-law recipient Dennis Negley.
On the same day that he donated a kidney to his brother in law, John Gatten became the 1000th donor at the University of Maryland Medical Center who had a minimally invasive kidney removal.
John Gatten gave a kidney to his brother-in-law, Dennis Negley. The kidney removal and transplant were performed on August 31 at the Medical Center, which has performed 1,000 minimally-invasive kidney removals from people who have donated a kidney to a family member or friend-- the most of any hospital in the United States.
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