Janelle Irwin Taylor
Talk about having a great boss.
An employer in Fort Myers recently gave the gift of life — by way of a kidney transplant — to one of her employees.
Now, doctors at Tampa General Hospital are hoping the two friends’ inspiring story can raise awareness for living organ donation.
Dr. Melanie Altizer is a Fort Myers Obstetrician and Gynecologist. Marianne McGiffin, a nurse, is her office manager and a friend.
Altizer traveled to Tampa General Hospital with McGiffin in February to donate one of her kidneys, a transplant that may very well have saved the woman’s life.
“I feel like I have been rejuvenated, I have so much hope,” McGiffin said during a news conference Wednesday.
Altizer had no idea her friend was so sick; she didn’t find out about the dire situation until McGiffin came to work one day looking ill. When she asked what was wrong, McGiffin explained she had kidney disease and needed a transplant.
The two later discovered they both had the same blood type, O+.
“When I started doing some research about living donation I was shocked at how safe it really is,” Altizer said.
The rest (as they say) is history. Doctors worked the same day to remove one of Altizer’s kidneys and then put it into McGiffin’s. The surgery for both was a success.
While it would be a touching story any time of year, April is also National Donate Life Month, which exists to raise awareness for both living and deceased organ donation. Most people are well aware that they can become an organ donor after they pass away, but few know they can save someone’s life while they are still alive. People are born with two kidneys, but they can lead healthy, normal lives with just one, making it an ideal organ for living donation.
That could apply to thousands but of people who are still awaiting donations.
“We’ve got more than 5,000 Floridians on the national organ transplant waiting list,” said Betsy Edwards, public affairs project manager for LifeLink of Florida.
Altizer became a doctor to save lives, but as the shirt she wore the day after her story confirmed, she had no idea she could be “super cool living donor.”
Altizer wants people to know it’s not a sacrifice.
“I think in a different way, it benefits me just as much because I can’t think of anything more powerful or meaningful than to be able to help give someone the gift of life,” Altizer said. “I’ve had a lot of great feelings in my life, but I can’t compare this to anything else.”
Tampa General has performed more than 10,000 transplant operations, according to Victor Bowers, executive director for the hospital’s Advanced Organ Disease & Transplantation Institute.
“There’s a huge need for donors,” said Dr. Victor Bowers, executive director of the Tampa General Hospital Advanced Organ Disease & Transplantation Institute. “We’re still fortunate, our waiting lists here are two, three and four years, but in some parts of the country they are years longer.”
Dr. James Huang, who performed this kidney transplant operation at TGH along with Dr. Heidi Pearson, said donations like Altizer’s are vitally important.
“A healthy kidney from a healthy person works better, it works faster, and it works longer,” he said.
