Advancing Your Health

Just before New Year’s Day of 2012 you couldn’t find Dr. Nicole Turgeon, Emory kidney and pancreas transplant surgeon inside Emory Hospital walls as she normally is. Instead, Dr. Turgeon was taking time out of her holiday schedule for a cause she really believes in– organ donation. Dr. Turgeon jetted off to Pasadena, CA on December 29, 2012 to help decorate the Donate Life float for the Rose Bowl Parade. "Although a small gesture, I wanted to pay tribute to the families who so selflessly give the gift of life to others," she says of the experience. "I have seen the float on TV over the past several years and had wanted to participate. I was able to make it work this year with the incredible support of my family." Each year for the past six years, Donate Life has decorated a Rose [...]

Emory University Hospital transplant nurse Allison Batson has spent many years caring for patients in need of a life-saving organ transplant. She has seen many patients’ lives saved because of the gift of organ donation … and many others lost because a matching organ simply could not be located in time. Recently though, Allison was not only in the position to provide care and comfort at the bedside of a transplant patient in desperate need of a kidney transplant, she selflessly gave of herself – literally- by becoming an organ donor to 23 year-old Clay Taber of Columbus, Georgia. Clay graduated from Auburn University in August and is soon to marry his college sweetheart in a few months. While he has been eagerly looking toward his [...]

Organ transplant rejection is a fear for many people faced with a possible need for transplantation. For this group of transplant candidates, some good news has come from recent research taking place at the Emory Transplant Center. Emory’s research shows that a new immunosuppressant protocol could convince a transplant recipient's immune cells to switch sides by converting cells that normally recognize and attack transplanted organs to cells that control the immune response instead—and protect the grafted organ. This may give patients a better chance of avoiding rejection of the transplanted organ and help them wean off anti-rejection drugs over time, reducing the rate of long-term complications after transplant. Emory’s Dr. Mandy Ford, assistant professor of surgery, is the senior author on the study, published this month in [...]

David Duncan has many reasons to be thankful this holiday season. He recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of his kidney and pancreas transplants, and both organs are functioning with no signs of rejection. He no longer needs debilitating dialysis treatments thanks to the kidney transplant and is free from the insulin he had to take from the time he was diagnosed with diabetes at age 12 to age 39, when his pancreas transplant cured his unstable disease. But he is most thankful to the donor family who gave him a second chance at life. “My surgeons left me with something else, too—a funny bone,” he says, cracking one of his many jokes. David has made it his life’s work as a minister, telling humorous, inspirational stories to children, and as a motivational speaker for LifeLink with the motto, "Any day above [...]

When Julie Allred heard that Emory was exploring alternate treatment options for patients with "brittle" or unstable type 1 diabetes, she didn’t realize that she would be the first to receive her transplant via a minimally invasive transplant technique in the interventional radiology suite at Emory Hospital, instead of the operating room. Julie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10. She got her first insulin pump in 1992 and has used several different types of pumps over the years. Despite her efforts to carefully watch her diet and test regularly, she developed many problems over the past couple of years with unstable hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Living with hypoglycemia affected Julie’s ability to do many of things she enjoyed. She was constantly worried about how she could or would be affected by the unpredictable changes in her blood sugar, including being caught unaware at night while asleep. Julie [...]

There are many things a mother can pass along to her daughter, but it takes a unique generosity—not genes—for a mother to give her daughter a kidney. In June, Angie Dudley, owner of the blog, Bakerella, and creator of cake pops, received her second kidney transplant from none other than her own mother, Sandy Cunningham. Although this is not Angie’s first transplant experience, she says her mother has, from day one, offered to be her organ donor. Angie was diagnosed with Focal Sclerosing Glomerulonephritis (FSGS) in April of 1991 after a routine doctor visit led to kidney biopsy. It was found to be heavily scarred, and by October, Angie was undergoing dialysis and on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. “My mom was very proactive in trying to get on the [donor] list,” Angie said, but doctors suggested they wait for a kidney from a [...]

In February of this year, we shared with you a story of two amazing people, Kevin Jordan, a 19-year-old Wake Forest University baseball player, and his coach, Tom Walter, aka Coach Tom. To bring you up to speed, 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, 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 [...]

Not many people can say they’ve had multiple hearts in their lifetime, but one grateful Emory Transplant Center patient can and is now working to make it possible for others to say the same. On Sunday, July 17, over 400 guests attended the first annual “Angels of Life” Hair and Fashion Show held by Three-13 Salon, Spa and Boutique of Marietta. The event raised over $31,000 for the Georgia Transplant Foundation and was planned by Lester Crowell, Emory patient and managing partner of Three-13 Salon, to help fellow transplant patients and to commemorate the salon’s 37th anniversary. According to Crowell, Three-13 Salon has a strong history of philanthropic work, from donating to Ronald McDonald House to volunteering their time for the Cobb County School Systems. But after undergoing his second heart transplant, the business’s managing partner decided he ought to [...]

Telemedicine, now that is a word that either sounds from the future, or a phone call you get right when you sit down for dinner. At Emory though, telemedicine and organ transplantation are two medical innovations that work symbiotically to improve access to health care, patient outcomes, and the overall well-being for our Emory transplant patients. Beyond providing consistent care at Emory’s Transplant Center, it is imperative that transplant patients have adequate follow-up care for a successful post-transplant recovery.  Transplant patient, Ken Sutha, winner of multiple medals at the National Kidney Foundation’s U.S. Transplant Games, is living proof of the importance of follow-up care. Via telemedicine, Emory physicians stay in contact and provide guidance in keeping transplant patients like him healthy. Patients [...]

Each year, Atlanta magazine recognizes the top doctors in the metro Atlanta area as ranked by a thorough physician-led research process. The 2011 Atlanta Magazine Top Docs list included 318 doctors from across the Atlanta area and across specialties, highlighting the cream of the crop in specialties ranging from pediatric to geriatric services and everything in between. We’re very pleased to announce that not only can you find over 100 of the doctors recognized this year here at Emory, seven of them are our very own transplant team members! Our Emory Transplant Center and its physician team are unique in that they are part of a multidisciplinary team providing care in seven core transplant specialty areas: kidney transplant, pancreas transplant, heart transplant, hand transplant, ...]