Advancing Your Health

The Emory Transplant Center played a role in a 6-chain kidney swap that will forever bind 6 individuals.  Maya Cosola wanted to donate a kidney to her aunt but was not a compatible match.  So she agreed to be a part of paired donor kidney exchange program that allows incompatible donor and recipient pairs to be matched with other incompatible donor and recipient pairs, allowing kidneys to be exchanged between these pairs. A match between pairs was arranged, and Maya’s kidney was flown to someone in North Carolina, and thus began the 6-chain exchange across 4 states. Share their touching story in this video from Fox 5 below:

Visit the Emory Kidney Transplant Program website for more information on the Emory Paired Donor Exchange program.

Related Resources:

• One Good Transplant Deed Leads to 6 Changed Lives

The latest data from OPTN/UNOS of adult organ transplants performed in 2012 show that the Emory Transplant Center performed 426 transplants, making it the largest transplant center in the state and the 10th largest in the country. If we add the 60 pediatric transplants performed at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, the ETC is the 5th largest transplant center in the country. Of course, the ETC is much more than these numbers, but volume is one indication of just how busy our center is — and our programs are growing. In 2011, Emory performed 360 adult and 70 pediatric transplants. That means the total number of transplants increased 13% from 2011 to 2012. Each program is growing, too. The kidney program expanded from 204 transplants in 2011 to 230 in 2012, and the liver program grew from 93 transplants in 2011 to 111 in 2012. There were 11 kidney and pancreas transplants at the [...]

In recognition of Donate Life month, the Emory Transplant Center was honored to have a very special speaker share an extraordinary story – one that touches the very heart of what it means to give the gift of life even in times of heartbreak.

Scott Haggard shared with Emory physicians and staff the story of his sister, Terri Haggard Wade – a loving 48 year old wife, mother, sister and daughter – who spent her professional career as a nurse.  And as part of the medical profession, Terri knew the importance of organ donation.  As a matter of fact, when her son was learning to drive, Terri said that before he could drive on his own, he would need to register to become an organ donor.

It was March of 2009 when Terri was rear ended in an automobile accident.  She began to experience headaches, and when they continued after a few weeks, Terri decided to go to an urgent care

The gift of giving is rewarding on many levels. Giving doesn't have to be monetary or flashy; in fact, taking the extra step to register and give the gift of life can be the most rewarding gift ever.

Take for example two of our patients, Kevin Jordan and Coach Tom Walter. In 2011, Kevin was diagnosed with ANCA vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder that typically leads to almost immediate kidney failure. At the time, Kevin was an all-star baseball player being actively recruited by both Wake Forest University (WFU) and Auburn University, but he was faced with an illness that could potentially change his future, not only in baseball, but in life. Kevin opted to join the crew at Wake Forest, but as his condition worsened, it became clear to both Kevin and Coach Tom that something would need to be done.

With only a 15% chance of a non-family member making it through the organ

April is when we as a nation recognize National Donate Life Month. To celebrate the gift of life and organ donation here in Atlanta, Emory is hosting a number of activities and events. We take this time to honor organ donors, the families who make the crucial decision to donate a loved one's organs, and the relatives, friends and others who donate living donor organs to transplant recipients. Here are the activities we have planned during Donate Life Month:

• Thursday, April 18, 2013 — Swing Easy, Hit Hard Charity Golf Tournament

Book your favorite foursome in this benefit golf tournament and support the Emory Transplant Center and Georgia Transplant Foundation. Event info and registration > 

(Kirk Franz, the recreation manager for the city of Johns Creek, and his family and friends first organized the Swing Easy, Hit Hard Charity Golf Tournament in 2010 to support

Since 2003, April has served as National Donate Life Month and provided the health and transplant communities with an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help support and raise awareness around organ donation. Currently more than 115,000 men, women and children are awaiting organ transplants to save their lives. They’re in need of hearts, kidneys, livers, lungs, and other organs which can all be transplanted if donors were available, giving them a second chance at life. Understandably, potential donors may have reservations about organ donation, but we've compiled a list of pros and cons to help you with your decision of the gift of life. Pros:

• ONE organ donor can save up to EIGHT lives. There are nearly 115,000 men, women and children waiting for an organ transplant in the U.S. By registering to become an organ donor, you can help save

Sherrell Gay

If you remember reading about kidney transplant recipient Ken Sutha and his participation in the U.S. Transplant Games, you might also remember reading about Sherrell Gay, who received her heart at the Emory Heart Transplant Center and also participated in the games. In fact, Sherrell celebrated the 8-year anniversary of her transplant procedure during the Games’ closing ceremonies.

Although Sherrell (who’s originally from Waynesboro, GA) received her first heart transplant a decade ago, for the past 18 months, she has been on the waiting list for another heart due to allograph vasculopathy, a fairly common long-term complication from heart transplant. Allograph vasculoplasty is known more commonly as chronic rejection, which can develop in transplanted hearts at any time – soon after transplant or many years later. The small vessels in the heart become

Our Emory transplant surgeons help facilitate the tremendous gift of organ donation and renewed life by performing approximately 60-70% of all heart transplant procedures in Georgia each year. On an annual basis, approximately 50 new Georgia adults receive heart transplants each year, and recently, over 100 of our Emory Heart Transplant patients and their families gathered together to celebrate this gift of life. Watch this heartwarming Fox 5 News piece and meet some of our patients whose lives have been changed thanks to their heart transplant procedures. [...]

Ed Mann and Felicia Henderson on a recent visit to the Emory Transplant Center.

As a physical education teacher, every day Ed Mann helps keep the children of Mount Zion Elementary School in Carrollton, GA in tip-top-physical condition, but ironically, his own health has been suffering for the past three years. In 2009, Ed was diagnosed with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that resulted in a decline in his heart and pulmonary health initially, but then, took a toll on his kidneys. As a result, six hours of every one of Ed’s days was spent undergoing dialysis treatments. And despite his declining health and ongoing medical needs, he still didn’t missed a single day of work.

After seeking a kidney donor via traditional methods to no avail, one day a few months ago, Ed had an idea that he called “a shot in the dark,” but it was a decision that proved to be much more

The team at the Emory Transplant Center has performed more organ transplants in the state of Georgia than any other transplant center. Because the Georgia community trusts the expertise of our transplant team, we have performed some of the most complex transplant procedures in the area. Our team performed the first hand transplant in the state of Georgia and the Southeast, for example, and we’ve performed over half of the multi-organ transplants in Georgia. While you’ve seen us share stories like that of Jo Ellen Kimball and her double lung transplant, multi-organ transplants are rare, making up just over 1% of all transplant procedures conducted in Georgia since 1988. But even more rare, is a double transplant involving a heart and a liver, with only 60 of these procedures having been performed in the U.S. And even more rare, a triple transplant, involving the transplantation [...]