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Diagnosis – Many diseases can destroy organs or other necessary body parts. More than half of heart transplant patients were normal and healthy until they caught a viral infection (a cold or flu) that attacked the heart. Vital organs, such as hearts, lungs, livers and kidneys, must be replaced for a person to live. Tissues can help someone return to a normal life.
Referral/Evaluation – When a doctor decides a patient needs a transplant, that patient goes to a special transplant center to be evaluated. Patients are put on the national transplant waiting list if they meet medical, psychological and financial requirements. Medicare pays for all kidney transplants and some heart and liver transplants. Some, but not all, insurance companies pay for transplants.
Waiting List – Depending on how sick a patient is, he or she may have to wait from one day to many years for an organ. Patients who need kidney transplants generally can be kept alive with a dialysis machine. Medication and heart-assist pumps can help patients waiting for transplants, but those who need a heart, lung or liver will eventually die without a transplant.
The Call – When a donor's organ matches the type needed by a patient waiting for a transplant, the transplant surgeon is called. The surgeon makes sure that the patient is in good condition for surgery. If so, the surgeon accepts the organ for the patient and the patient goes to the hospital/transplant center immediately.
Transplant – When a patient is approved for surgery, the process to prepare his/her body for the transplant may begin at the same time as the donor's surgery. This saves time because donated organs cannot survive very long outside of the body.
Recovery and Survival – Some patients go home within days after receiving a transplant. Others stay longer. Because the human body naturally attacks newly transplanted organs, patients must take drugs to prevent their bodies from rejecting or destroying their new organs. Cyclosporine and prednisone are examples of anti-rejection drugs. Most recipients live normal and active lives after transplants. However, they must take medicine and have regular checkups for the rest of their lives.
Writing to the Donor Family – Many recipients write letters to donor families to let them know how well they are doing. Most feel very grateful that someone they have never met saved their lives. However, this letter is very difficult for some recipients to write and they may never be able to find the words to express their gratitude.

Shan (with his transplant surgeon, Marlon Levy, M.D.)

Pancreas islet cells recipient – November 11, 2005, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas

Shan with transplant surgeon Marlon Levy

Shan Wolff (left) and Marlon Levy, M.D., are more familiar with organ donation than most. After all, Shan is a donation clinical specialist for LifeGift and Dr. Levy is a transplant surgeon and medical director of the islet cell transplant program at Baylor Health Care System. As fate would have it, Shan received an islet cell transplant that Dr. Levy performed.

For people with diabetes, fluctuations in blood sugar levels can, over time, lead to blindness or heart and kidney failure. Islet cell transplants can help prevent these dangerous fluctuations. Insulin-secreting islet cells from a donated pancreas are injected into the recipient’s liver where they can anchor and begin producing insulin.

After living with diabetes for 23 years, and on the waiting list for more than 14 months, Shan received his islet cell transplant in November 2005. Shan and Dr. Levy were colleagues for years before Dr. Levy performed Shan’s transplant and both have great respect for one another.

When it comes to working with LifeGift, Dr. Levy says, “We are all absolutely aligned with the goal of maximizing organ donation and maximizing the benefits of transplantation.”

Now, in addition to a working relationship and a good friendship, Shan and Dr. Levy share another special bond -- that of doctor and patient.