Friday, September 22, President Biden signed the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act into law. “Everybody knows the system has been broken for years with heartbreaking consequences. Now with the president’s signature, we are taking significant steps to improve it,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre after President Biden signed the bill intoContinue reading “Reorganization of the U.S. Transplant System – October Update”
Author Archives: Dawn Levitt Author
Furry Friday – Blossom Possum
Next week, it will be six years since our giddy, goofy Beagle girl, Blossom Possum, took her final breath. October 17, 2017, was her last day on earth, but she lives forever in the hearts of those who knew her. We brought her home on February 11, 2011. I naively thought I was just goingContinue reading “Furry Friday – Blossom Possum”
Gratitude
I owe my life today to two people who I’ve never met, and never will. I received the gift of life in the form of a heart transplant on January 6, 2006. That miracle heart came from a young man named Roy. He was a teenager when he passed away, and his family made theContinue reading “Gratitude”
Furry Friday – Road Trip
The first week of October is a time of great celebration in our household. It’s our wedding anniversary as well as the anniversary of my second heart transplant. Every year, we return to Nashville for my annual heart checkup at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and we get to revisit our favorite places from when weContinue reading “Furry Friday – Road Trip”
Heart Transplant Anniversary
Next week is my five-year heart transplant anniversary! My Heartiversary! On October 4, 2018, I received the call from Vanderbilt University Medical Center telling me they had a heart that was a match for me. We went straight to the hospital around noon, and they set me up in a room. After we filled outContinue reading “Heart Transplant Anniversary”
Furry Friday – It’s Allergy Season
September has been a rough month for allergies in our house. My sinuses have been harboring an unwelcome infection for most of the month, and Gidget has upgraded her usual anxious paw licking to her special irritated paw chewing. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her paws, and they don’t look inflamed. Bruce, however,Continue reading “Furry Friday – It’s Allergy Season”
Xenotransplantation – the Future of Transplant?
Recently, a 58-year-old man received a heart transplant using a donor heart that came from a pig. This is only the second instance of a pig-to-human heart transplant. Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center performed the surgery on September 20, 2023. The heart came from a genetically modified pig grown by Revivcor, aContinue reading “Xenotransplantation – the Future of Transplant?”
Furry Friday – It’s a Pawty!
Today we had a birthday party for Bruce Wayne. Really, I have no idea when his birthday might be. We adopted him from the shelter on July 20, but there’s no way to know when he was born. It’s possible that the pet company Chewy knows more than I do, or they recorded my estimateContinue reading “Furry Friday – It’s a Pawty!”
Educate and Advocate
My experience with the medical system began when I was a young child running around like most little kids do, but I became very short of breath and tired after a brief bit of exercise. My pediatrician diagnosed me with asthma and gave me an inhaler. When I was seven years old, I collapsed whileContinue reading “Educate and Advocate”
Hard Truths about Organ Transplant
17 people die every day while waiting for an organ transplant that doesn’t come in time. Recently, a young transplant acquaintance passed away waiting for organs that never came. He received his first heart transplant as a young child, and I became online friends with his mother through transplant related groups. Around the same timeContinue reading “Hard Truths about Organ Transplant”
Dawn Levitt, Author 