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Nurses experience a range of emotions when caring for patients. Her nurse Jennifer Stasieluk was no exception. This was especially true when the patient was the mother.
Stasieluk stepped up not once but twice as a living organ donor for her mother, Marzena. daily nurse is proud to nominate Jennifer Stasierk as Nurse of the Week.
Stasieluk’s mother needed a new kidney. She was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2015 and required dialysis. But for a kidney transplant to be successful, he first needed a liver.
Her mother’s liver disease, which had been under control for over a decade, worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic and was so severe that a kidney transplant failed.
Stasieluk, a nurse who has cared for patients during the most difficult times, including Covid-19 and cancer, was willing and even eager to donate a kidney to her mother. They did all the scans and tests and it didn’t work.
They had the same blood type, but Stasielk’s mother said “very sensitive” She had numerous antibodies to foreign tissue. This is a factor that makes the organ more likely to be rejected and makes finding a match much more difficult.
“She needed a new liver to do a kidney transplant. But her liver wasn’t sick enough,” Stasieluk recalls. “So they put their hands up and were like, ‘I’m sorry.'”
But then, in January 2020, a new idea was introduced with an appointment with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Doctors suggested that Stasielk’s mother take a piece of the liver from a living donor.
Stasieluk insisted that she be tested, and despite her mother’s objections, she did not refuse to answer.
“The morning I got the call that I had a match, I kicked her door open. I said, ‘Mom, I’m Match. Packing up. Surgery is in six weeks. I couldn’t believe it was a match.”
On June 25, 2021, Stasielk gave his mother a liver leaf. She spent five days recovering in her hospital and her mother spent her 11 days. For living donors and recipients, her liver had the unique ability to regenerate in a matter of weeks, and her mother and daughter’s recovery was successful.
Stasieluk’s mother had to stay on dialysis and desperately wanted a normal life.
After the liver transplant, Stasielk was preparing to donate the kidney to a stranger as part of a kidney transplant. pair donation And had another blood test and tests. But then came the surprise. Because of the effect Stasierk’s liver had on her mother’s immune system, she was able to give her mother a kidney.
“I never thought in a million years that I would be a direct match,” says Stasieluk. “I was thrilled with it. I knew I was in good hands. So on June 25, 2021, I gave her a big leaf of my liver. And she’s been a year. Later she gave me a kidney.”
Dr. Tim Sin Tanner, director of transplant surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, who performed liver transplants for the Stasielks, has been studying the effects of liver transplants on the immune system. Although not in typical order, heart transplantation can reduce organ rejection.
The Stasierks are the first to recognize that the liver’s influence on a patient’s immune response enabled subsequent kidney transplants from the same donor, Tanner said. I will write a case report.
“She donated organs to the same person twice a year, so she saved her mother’s life twice,” says Dr. Tanner. They say donors are heroes, but unfortunately there aren’t enough organs to give to everyone who needs them.
About 106,000 people across the country are on a national transplant waiting list, according to the WHO. Joint network for organ sharing.
Stasieluk explains that she works long, late shifts as a nurse helping patients and their families during the pandemic. She had dark days with few answers, and sometimes hope was hard to come by.
“Losing a patient to Covid was devastating. I felt so helpless,” she says.
But donating organs to her mother twice gave her strength.
“Just knowing there is something I can do and not feeling hopeless…just having the power to do something and help her and save her life, it was amazing. .”
Nominated for Nurse of the Week! Every Wednesday on her DailyNurse.com, nurses make a difference in the lives of patients, students and colleagues.it is recommended to nominate a nurse The next Nurse of the Week features the people who have made an impact in your life online and in our weekly newsletter.
Renee is an editor and content strategist at Daily Nurse. When she’s enjoying life disconnected from the digital world, Lenny is out on the trails photographing wildlife and birdwatching.
