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Patient Stories
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Erosalyn Deveza and Aliana Deveza
A Daughter’s Gift to Her Mother Saves Two Lives
Just 42 years old, Erosalyn Deveza was drifting toward death. Her kidneys were barely functioning. She was constantly exhausted. She had vertigo and vomited frequently. She was tethered to a home dialysis machine for eight hours each night as she slept. A kidney transplant was the only thing that could save her, but it was unlikely to happen in time in the United States. No one on Deveza's side of the family could provide an organ through a living donation, doctors said, because all were at risk for the same kidney disease. It was too dangerous to leave any of them with a single kidney. Other [...] -
Michael Rubenstein
Hoping to Save Limbs and Toes, California Moves to Curtail Diabetes
Dr. Alexander Reyzelman treats diabetes patient Michael Rubenstein. Photo by David Gorn/CALmatters The word "amputation" threw a chill down Michael Rubenstein's spine. The 67-year-old diabetic from San Mateo still winces at the thought. "They told me I'd need to cut it off right about here," he said, sawing his hand across his left shin. Two months after that diagnosis, he's on an exam table at the Center for Limb Preservation at UC San Francisco, his leg still whole, the threat of gangrene and amputation gone and his mood a lot less bleak and fearful. "Yeah, it turns out I didn't need [...] -
Andrea
Bay Area Girl Undergoes First-Ever Pediatric Heart Transplant At UCSF
CBS SF Bay Area (KPIX) reports on the first-ever pediatric heart transplant at UCSF. The surgical team was led by Peter Kouretas, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of surgery and surgical director of Pediatric Heart Transplantation at UCSF. The first-ever pediatric heart transplant at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital may have just saved a young Bay Area girl's life. It's been tough for 11-year-old Andrea to keep up with other students during gym class in Walnut Creek. "I would feel short of breath, I would need to take a break more often than other people would," she says. Andrea has a [...] -
Richard Schielke
Survivor On the Margins: Historic UCSF Transplant Patient Without A Home
Survivor on the Margins I first noticed Richard on a Wednesday before my 8am lecture, sitting in a corner of the nursing building's food court. Or rather, it was the first time I really noticed him, because I realized I had seen him sitting there before, looking ahead contentedly with his hands folded on the table in front of him. Richard, it turns out, is a historic patient at UCSF; one of the first people worldwide to receive a kidney transplant. Born with renal failure in the early 1960s, Richard received his transplant at UCSF in 1971 at age ten, at a time when such procedures were [...]Story Tags: Kidney Transplant -
Brad Dell
One Year Ago Today, Surgeons Hit the Reset Button on My Life
Brad Dell relives the exhilirating and captivating events leading up to his lung transplant surgery at UCSF on its one-year anniversary. His riveting account appears at Cystic Fibrosis News Today. Jan. 14, 2017 was the worst day of anxiety I'd had in the five months of waiting for my lung transplant. A frantic, nearly palpable tension was in the air. After five confident months believing the "light at the end of the tunnel" was rebirth, rather than death, I suddenly broke. I simply didn't think I had the strength to make it to transplant. I refused to communicate with my parents most of [...]Story Tags: Lung Transplant - Mansfield Doi
Surgery Wellness Program Eases Path to Surgery
My father Mansfield Doi was undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, a procedure used to correct a narrowing in the bile ducts. The advantage of ERCP is that it is non-invasive, but after repeated procedures showed limited effectiveness, his UCSF gastroenterologist suggested surgery. He was referred to Dr. Hobart Harris, Chief of the Division of General Surgery at UCSF, who determined that medically he was a candidate for surgery. However, because of his age – my dad is 86 - Dr. Harris encouraged us to coordinate with the UCSF Surgery Wellness Program, which was a[...] - Lorelei Batty
A Complex Procedure for Life-Threatening Pancreatitis
A Complex Procedure for Life-Threatening Pancreatitis One morning in December 2014, Lorelei Batty woke up screaming in pain and sick to her stomach. Emergency room doctors in her hometown of Santa Maria, Calif., thought the 3-year-old had the flu and sent her home. But Lorelei didn't improve over the next week and a half, and a far more serious diagnosis soon came in: pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas that's rare in children and can be difficult to treat. After spending most of the next nine months in seven different hospitals with deteriorating health, Lorelei finally[...] - John Maduell
Conceptual Artist Retains Limb Against Long Odds
In his 33-year career as a conceptual artist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, John Maduell illustrated futuristic technologies few others could imagine. But he never envisioned the toll diabetes and vascular disease would take on his body—or that one day he might lose his legs because of these problems. Maduell's troubles started two years ago when he developed a diabetic ulcer on his left foot. "Before I knew it, I was in the hospital, with three toes amputated," he says. Still, the wound didn't heal, and Maduell, who now lives and paints in Modesto, was told removing the[...] -
Richard Wodrich
Chico Resident Richard Wodrich Receives Lung Transplant at UCSF Medical Center
The Chico News and Review reports on the journey of Richard Wodrich to the double lung transplant he received at UCSF Medical Center for treatment of irreversible and incurable chronic lung disease. The transplant was performed by Dr. Jasleen Kukreja, Surgical Director of the UCSF Lung Transplant Program. Longtime local bluegrass musician Richard Wodrich loves to sing and play guitar, but that became progressively more difficult over the last decade or so, to the point where he had trouble just breathing—let alone playing music. About four years ago, he was formally diagnosed with chronic [...]Story Tags: Lung Transplant - Allison & Quinn Mendez
Living Proof that the Gift of Life Is Possible
Our story began on March 5, 2012. We were almost 26 weeks along with our second child, a son. The pregnancy had been uneventful; however, at our 20 week ultrasound our obstetrician was not able to get a clear view of our son’s heart. He told us that from what he could see, his heart appeared fine but he would like a follow up ultrasound in six weeks. We felt no cause for alarm and were pleased that our doctor was being so thorough. On the day of the follow up appointment, our doctor informed us he saw a large collection of fluid in our baby’s chest around his lungs. I also had too much[...]Story Tags: Fetal Surgery