March is National Kidney Month, and surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital, known as Mass General, have transplanted a kidney from a genetically engineered pig into a 62-year-old man. The new kidney began producing urine shortly after the surgery last week, and the patient’s condition has improved significantly. Doctors expect the patient to be discharged soon.Continue reading “New Xenotransplantation Milestone for Kidneys”
Tag Archives: Immunosuppressant drugs
Ten Financial Assistance Programs for Transplant Medications and Medical Costs
There are many programs designed to assist transplant recipients with the high cost of transplant related medications. Aside from the programs for Medicare recipients (see previous post) there are several programs administered by non-profit organizations and private groups. The American Transplant Foundation offers grants for recipients in need. This program provides support to solid organContinue reading “Ten Financial Assistance Programs for Transplant Medications and Medical Costs”
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”
RX Buyer Beware
Have you ever thought about the medications you take and where they come from? You don’t have to be a transplant recipient to take prescription medication. Most people, especially those of us above a certain age, are taking something for high blood pressure or cholesterol or other chronic ailments. Every month, we fill our prescriptions,Continue reading “RX Buyer Beware”
The Personal Cost of Transplant
Thus far, we have discussed the history and the pricing of immunosuppressive drugs. What we have not discussed is the deeply personal cost of transplant. Nearly every one of us transplant recipients has experienced some level of impact on our lives caused by these drugs. The impact on my own life has varied over theContinue reading “The Personal Cost of Transplant”
The High Cost of Transplant
In this series, we have discussed the development of immunosuppressant drugs to prevent the rejection of solid organ transplants. However, another major issue is the cost and availability of these drugs, as well as the cost of the transplant itself. Under the American healthcare system, anyone undergoing an organ transplant must have some sort ofContinue reading “The High Cost of Transplant”
A Brief History of Immunosuppression
Before I became a full-time recluse and transplant advocate, I used to be an analyst in a corporate job, crunching numbers and creating charts and graphs in my bland gray cubicle. The powerful urge to dig through data and statistics remains with me, and I have been digging deep into online data on the historyContinue reading “A Brief History of Immunosuppression”
CBC Interview
“To live as a transplant patient is to live with death every day.” This was the closing phrase I said in a recent interview regarding the life and legacy of Amy Silverstein and the ongoing need for improvement in anti-rejection medications currently available to the transplant community. January 2024 will mark eighteen years since IContinue reading “CBC Interview”
Truth in Transplant
Recently, the brilliant author and two-time heart transplant recipient Amy Silverstein passed away. In one of her last messages, she asked that members of the transplant community contact the American Society of Transplantation (AST) to insist that they push for improvement in the immunosuppressant drugs currently in use. I wrote this letter in response toContinue reading “Truth in Transplant”
Dawn Levitt, Author 