Living Transplant: Patient Stories | Organ Donation | Medical Experts

Courtney and Brittany sit down with  living liver donor, Melissa Sidhu  to talk research ethics, biliary atresia, and the privilege of good health.   With honesty and  humour , Melissa talks about her brother’s reluctance to accept her as a donor, her fear of post-donation depression, and  the challenges of having a mother who knows too much about surgery. Warning: This episode contains excessive...

Courtney and Brittany sit down with the hilarious Trevor Hanagan to discuss   his journey to becoming a non-directed living kidney donor  and his 16-year career in UHN security.  With humour and vulnerability,  Trevor  discusses   working security in hemodialysis, convincing his mother  and partner  that donating was a good idea,   and  the ‘high’ of  the non-directed donor process.  Also in this...

Courtney and Brittany are joined by Michael Ward, Provincial Lead of Donor Family Services, Trillium Gift of Life Network, Thanatology candidate (Association for Death Education and Counselling) and  former   Funeral Home Director.  Michael guides our hosts through the process of letter exchanges between donor families and the recipients of their loved one ’s  organs. In addition to reading a few...

In this bonus episode, Living Transplant shares four stories of transplant, organ donation and the holiday season, all woven around an insightful interview with Stefan Pankiw, Spiritual Care, UHN. A heads up, this episode runs the gamut of emotions! From Hallmark movies and receiving the gift of life on Christmas Eve, to finding purpose through the loss of a loved one and eating latkes on the tran...

Floral  d esigner and living donor kidney transplant recipient Claudia Morgan shares her experience living with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) ,  postponing  the  reality of kidney failure  for a trip to Paris, and turning to her church for help with finding a living donor.  Claudia  speaks openly about  life on dialysis  -  including the bond you form with your ‘dialysis family ' -  as well as h...

Dr.  Gary Levy and Charmaine Beal walk Courtney and Brittany through the history of the Ajmera Transplant Centre (previously the Multi-Organ Transplant Program) and its astounding number of world f irsts.  Dr.  Levy   talk s  candidly about his determination to find a treatment for  end-stage  liver disease,  sleeping in the ICU, recruiting  Dr.  Heather Ross,   and  his  dislike for the word ‘no...

Courtney and Brittany talk transplant with living liver donor Sonia Munoz, and her father and transplant recipient ,  Jaime.  This hilarious duo  walk  our hosts through  their whirlwind transplant experience that began in 201 7 , when Jaime was told he had three months to live.  From chaos and uncertainty  to recovery  and  reflection , Sonia and Jaime share their story with honest y, authenticit...

Courtney and Brittany sit down with Dr. Deepali Kumar, transplant infectious diseases physician in the Ajmera Transplant Centre, to talk transplant and COVID-19. This episode was recorded June 2020. For the most recent updates on COVID-19 in Canada, please check with Health Canada https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html For specific transplant related questions or specific health concerns, ple...

Colleen Shelton, nurse manager for the multi-organ transplant coordinators in the Ajmera Transplant Centre, explains what’s kept her with the transplant program at UHN for over 25 years, including the unpredictable nature of working in transplant and being the one to make “the call.” Colleen walks Courtney and Brittany through the process of a patient’s first transplant workup call and shares some...

Hosts Brittany Cole and Courtney Mahrt interview Kadeem Morgan, a 23-year-old double lung transplant recipient living with cystic fibrosis (CF). Kadeem talks about growing up with CF – a rare genetic disease that predominantly affects Caucasian patients – as well as feelings of euphoria and guilt after transplant, and the collective rebelliousness that permeates the CF community. Why Being a Black...

Living Transplant takes listeners behind the scenes of North America’s largest transplant program - the Ajmera Transplant Centre at Toronto General Hospital. Join hosts Brittany Cole (Bedside Nurse, Ajmera Transplant Centre) and Courtney Mahrt (Communications, Centre for Living Organ Donation at UHN) as they explore transplantation through the perspectives of frontline staff, researchers, innovato...