Supporting Transplant Patients: SBC & Donor Network West
Currently, more than 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant and, every 10 minutes, another person is added to the transplant waitlist.[1] On a daily basis, SBC supports organ donation through our HLA lab, which performs tests to detect things like donor-recipient compatibility and early transplant success/failure; and, with the help of our donors, through providing blood products necessary for performing transplant surgeries. However, these lifesaving procedures would, of course, not be possible without organ donors and all the organizations that make organ matching possible.
That’s why Stanford Blood Center is proud to work with Donor Network West (DNW) to further our joint mission of supporting local patients. DNW, part of the Donate Life network, is a nonprofit devoted to saving and healing lives through organ and tissue donation for transplantation and research. Specifically, the DNW team promotes organ, eye and tissue donation to the public; matches organs from deceased donors with patients on the transplant registry for Northern California and Northern Nevada; and conducts research to improve the outcomes of transplant surgeries. Most recently, they’ve started hosting blood drives with SBC as well!
Working with DNW, we have compiled a list of concrete ways that you can help transplant patients in your community and beyond. We’ve also worked with transplant recipients to tell their stories so that you can hear the real impact of your efforts and donations — take a look below for some extra inspiration!
How to Help
- Donate blood. Did you know that, for just liver transplants alone, the average surgery requires about 10-12 units (pints) of blood, according to DNW? SBC supports a number of local hospitals that perform transplant procedures regularly, including Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, which are nationally recognized for the care they offer. By donating blood regularly, you help ensure patients can get their critical transplants as soon as a matched organ becomes available.
- Register as a deceased organ donor. By registering as a deceased organ donor, you allow care teams to use your organs to support individuals whose lives depends on a transplant. As Donate Life states beautifully on their website, “At the end of your life, you can give life to others.” If you are not already registered, we encourage you spend a few minutes signing up here. Learn more about deceased organ donation on the Donor Network West website.
- Join the bone marrow registry. Thousands of patients in the U.S. with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell anemia or other life-threatening diseases depend on bone marrow transplants.[2] Like with organ transplants, bone marrow transplants need to be genetically matched to be successful, which can be very difficult to do. However, patients’ chances of finding a match are much higher the more individuals who sign up for the Be the Match registry! Learn more.
- Register as a living organ donor. Through living organ donation (usually kidney or liver), patients in need are often able to get the life-saving organs they require much faster and at a better quality than if the organ were from a deceased donor — of which there are unfortunately not enough. Since living organ donation is a serious procedure, anyone interested in becoming a donor is encouraged to do additional research and reach out to a local transplant center for more information.
Patient Stories
While donation of any kind, but particularly organ donation, can seem very foreign and at times impersonal, it’s essential to remember that there are real people behind the need, and real lives at stake without such generous donors. To help put a human face to organ transplantation, we’ve worked with our colleagues at Donor Network West to share the stories of a few of those patients whose lives have been saved by donation and who are using their second chance at life to do some pretty amazing things. Check out these stories below!
The Lees’ Story: Bound by Blood — and Liver
By Krista Thomas, Communications Strategist Gracielle Lee went into labor with her first and only child, Bryson, when she was just 22 weeks pregnant. At such a critical period, she, her husband Barry and their care team were anxious to delay delivery as long as possible. “Bryson’s likelihood of surviving at 22 weeks was very low so, if we wanted to save him, we’d have to stay at the hospital as long as possible, hopefully until at least 24 weeks to give him the best chance ,” she said. “The first couple of days were terrifying, just thinking about the...
Penny’s Lucky #8: How One Little Girl Beat Liver Failure and Became One of the Bay’s Youngest Transplant Advocates
Imagine being 23- and 24-year-old parents when you find out your new baby girl needs a liver transplant to save her life. That was the reality for Liz Lopez and her husband Rudy Heredia. It all started just two months after their daughter Penelope was born. Liz took “Penny” in for a routine checkup where it was discovered that she had jaundice, common among infants... but also a potential sign of liver disease. The liver is an organ about the size of a football (in an adult) that sits just under the rib cage on the right side of your...
Megan’s Story: Life in Color
If you ever met Megan Mehta, you’d be struck almost instantly by her energy, her vivacity. Megan was born with a lust for life and has spent the past five years reclaiming that energy after having spent ages 8 to 13 in a state she can “best describe as the color gray.” Thanks to the generosity of blood and organ donors, Megan was able to overcome heart failure and receive a life-saving transplant at age 13. Since then, she has taken every opportunity to live her life to the fullest, a life she now describes as “the color of sunshine,…
Carolina’s Story: Twin Hearts
Childhood: Sister Hearts Carolina Tejada was born in Cali, Colombia in 1978. She spent a happy, healthy childhood alongside her older brother, Juan Guillermo, and her twin sister, Catalina. At age 11, however, Juan Guillermo, who was three years older than his sisters, began experiencing cardiac symptoms that were later diagnosed as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes ventricle thinning and makes it much more difficult for the heart to pump blood. According to Carolina, Colombia’s medical infrastructure at the time wasn’t able to support his condition, and while her brother was able to travel to Houston to receive…
DYung’s Story: A New Liver, a New Life Mission
In 2007, DYung Lu was working full-time, going to school full-time, and getting very little sleep. Given his hectic schedule, he was unsurprised when he started to feel physical ill and worn down, but he continued to press forward. Then one day, he was lying in a hammock and one of the strings broke, sending him falling a few feet to the ground. He had a small cut and cleaned himself up, expecting to heal rather quickly. But, the next morning, DYung was alarmed to find that one of his arms had swollen to be even thicker than his leg….
