Stories of hope and second chances.<\/p>\n
Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, is observing National Donate Life Month.<\/p>\n
To kick off the month, transplant recipients shared their stories about how those lifesaving procedures are giving them something many don’t get: more time.<\/p>\n
“It depends on the generosity of another human who literally donated a part of them, living or deceased, and that is peculiar to transplantation,” said Dr. George Rofaial, chief of transplant surgery.<\/p>\n
The event featured stories from those performing the transplants, those receiving them and the dad of a donor who gave his organs after his passing.<\/p>\n
The recipients who spoke talked about their second chance at life.<\/p>\n
“It took me over a minute to recognize our first liver patient. I couldn’t recognize her, she looks amazing,” said Rofaial.<\/p>\n
Kelsey Gallagher was the first liver transplant recipient in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
“That meant lifesaving transplant care can happen closer to home for people who need it,” said Gallagher.<\/p>\n
For her, the transplant meant time.<\/p>\n
“I get a second chance at life. I get to spend time with my daughter and watch her grow. I get to have more of those memories I wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for organ donation,” she said.<\/p>\n
For Phyllis Glover Cucchiani, she says her transplant was unique because of her age and where the gift was coming from.<\/p>\n
“I received two kidneys at one time, pediatric kidneys from a 14-year-old, which is not normal,” said Glover Cucchiani.<\/p>\n
She’s sharing her story for those who find themselves in a similar situation.<\/p>\n
“So many people don’t realize the benefits of going on the transplant list and how it can elongate your life and keep you off dialysis longer,” she said.<\/p>\n
Both women shared their gratitude to the people who they may never know the name of, but think of frequently.<\/p>\n
They say while they may never know their stories, they’re on a mission to make them a part of theirs.<\/p>\n
“Organ donation can turn loss into hope,” said Gallagher.<\/p>\n
LVHN has more on its transplant services online here,<\/a> or how to become a living donor.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stories of hope and second chances. Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, is observing National Donate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,69859,3806,69857,4588,69856,69858,57437,69861,69860,69855],"class_list":["post-153758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-donate-life-month","tag-jefferson-health","tag-kidney-transplant","tag-lehigh-valley-health-network","tag-liver-transplant","tag-living-donor","tag-organ-donation","tag-patient-story","tag-second-chance","tag-transplant-recipient"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}