After an exceptionally rare diagnosis, a lifesaving bone marrow transplant and a near-fatal infection that pushed his body to the brink, Mike Sonnabend is not only alive — he's back to doing what once seemed impossible. 

Mike Sonnabend, a husband and father to three sons, enjoys being active — not just physically but also in the Rochester, Minnesota, community. The special education teacher and head coach of cross-country and track was preparing for an adventurous Scouting trip to the Florida Keys with his oldest son, Sam, and needed to complete a physical as part of the trip requirements.  

During the exam, his Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, Dr. Lori Bates, noticed that his spleen felt enlarged. Mike didn't think anything of it — he was feeling fine and had no symptoms. But after undergoing several tests and a bone marrow biopsy before leaving for his trip, he had a feeling he would come back to bad news.  

He was right. On July 3, 2014, Mike was diagnosed with a serious and complex disease consisting of leukemia — a cancer of the body's blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system — and a bone marrow failure disorder, where blood cells don't develop normally. It's an incredibly rare condition — with very few cases worldwide — and is incurable with standard treatments.  

Mike's hematologist, Dr. Mrinal Patnaik, explained that a bone marrow transplant, a procedure that infuses healthy blood-forming stem cells into the body to replace bone marrow that's not producing enough healthy blood cells, would be the most effective treatment.  

"I knew that I couldn't fight this on my own. My Mayo Clinic care team is the experts, so I let them take care of the fighting, and I focused on what I could control — my family, my mindset and my recovery." 

As news of Mike's diagnosis spread, his family, friends, colleagues and community members quickly rallied around him and offered support.  

A rare diagnosis becomes even more complex 

Mike was referred to Dr. Mithun Shah, a Mayo Clinic transplant hematologist to ensure he was physically prepared for the transplant.  

All was going well with Mike's pretransplant testing until a pulmonary function test showed his lung function was much lower than expected. Because bone marrow transplants involve extensive treatments with a long, complex recovery, unexplained lung issues could make the procedure too dangerous. 

"We have a rare disease, and now there is a unique lung presentation. Our culture of collaboration at Mayo Clinic is where we shine. I picked up the phone and called my colleagues in hematology, pulmonology, pathology and other specialties — and we worked together, in real time, to assess risks and adapt Mike's treatment plans," says Dr. Shah.  

Dr. Shah referred Mike to Dr. Vivek Iyer, a Mayo Clinic pulmonologist, to help diagnose and treat the lung problem.  

"Transplant patients often have complex medical issues affecting multiple organ systems, so different specialties often need to collaborate expeditiously to solve critical issues that could delay or even prevent a successful transplantation," says Dr. Iyer.  

A lung biopsy confirmed that Mike had eosinophilic pneumonia, a rare and serious inflammatory lung condition. When steroids failed to resolve it, Dr. Iyer prescribed a monoclonal antibody-based therapy typically used for severe asthma that stabilized his lungs and kept his transplant on track — until another barrier emerged: Mike's enlarged spleen began draining his energy and appetite. In December 2019, doctors removed the massive organ, allowing his care team to move forward with his carefully planned transplant approach that would treat his leukemia while protecting his lungs.  

It worked. Mike had a successful transplant in 2020.  

Driven by a mindset focused on progress, Mike was back to coaching, teaching and running within a time frame that was "absolutely incredible," according to Dr. Shah.  

"My approach was to take the next step, trust the process and keep moving forward," says Mike.  

That same resilience would become even more evident five years later, when his journey took another dramatic turn.  

From stability to a sudden, life-threatening turn 

It was April 14, 2025. Around mid-morning, Mike began to feel fatigued, feverish and disoriented. He left work early and went to lie down, setting an alarm so he could make it to track practice that afternoon.  

But Mike wasn't well enough to make it to practice. Sam, who coaches with his dad, remembers having a sinking feeling, especially because he hadn't heard from him.  

"My dad would never not show up without letting me or the other coaches know, let alone even miss a day," says Sam.  

Sam went home after practice to check on his dad. Mike had slept through his alarm, had a high fever and was disoriented. Sam and his mom took him to Mayo Clinic's Emergency Department.  

"I don’t remember much," says Mike. "I remember going to the emergency room, and then it went black." 

Doctors soon determined he was battling bacterial meningitis, an infection that triggered overwhelming sepsis. For transplant patients like Mike, whose immune systems are compromised and who no longer have a spleen, even common bacteria can become life-threatening. 

Within hours, multiple organs began failing. His kidneys shut down, his blood pressure crashed and his body's clotting system began breaking down. He was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), where his condition became so dire that his family was called in to prepare for the worst. 

Mike's care again became a full-scale, multidisciplinary effort. Specialists across Mayo Clinic mobilized simultaneously — including experts in critical care, infectious diseases, nephrology, transplant medicine, vascular medicine, rehabilitation and more, meeting in real time to exchange ideas and make quick decisions together. 

"Mayo Clinic’s team-based approach is critical in situations like this. We needed everyone's expertise to give Mike the best chance of survival," says Dr. Shah.  

For Mike and his family, that collaboration was visible every day. 

"There was so much brainpower in that room, you could almost feel it," Mike says. "You could see the wheels turning. Everybody was trying to think of every possible thing to save me." 

Sam, who had since become a nurse after being inspired by his father's earlier cancer journey, helped guide the family through the most difficult moments.  

"Mayo Clinic did a great job of individualizing our care and really being there for us as a family," says Sam. "They gave us all the time we needed to ask questions — I felt like there wasn't a time clock on any of our interactions." 

Mike's journey was precarious, and at several points, his survival remained uncertain. But through relentless determination — and the coordinated expertise of dozens of Mayo Clinic specialists — Mike made another extraordinary recovery.  

Survival fueled by resilience and expertise 

"That was one of the toughest cases of my life," says Dr. Shah of Mike's most recent hospitalization. "Him pulling through and walking out of the ICU was one of my most satisfying moments." 

One year later, Mike feels good. He has his strength back, is exercising and is almost back to 100%.  

"I shouldn’t be here. I threw so many rare situations at my care team, and each time, they saved my life," says Mike. "There's no way you can get expertise like this anywhere else. It's incredible." 

Sam is grateful for the time he spent with his dad throughout his healthcare journey. 

"My dad is resilient, strong and the bravest person I know," says Sam. "I could tell he was scared, but he would always say, 'I have to keep going. I have to keep listening to the doctors. I have to keep taking my medicine, and eventually I am going to get out of it.' And despite all the odds, he did it."  That mindset — paired with his multidisciplinary care team working together — helped transform what could have been an ending into an extraordinary comeback.

The post Against extraordinary odds: A life saved more than once appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

PHOENIX — Researchers at Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, have developed a real-time monitoring system designed to give transplant teams a more complete picture of a donor liver's health during machine perfusion. Published in Nature Communications, the study represents an important step toward more accurate evaluation of donor livers, laying the groundwork for future advances in organ preservation and transplantation.

During machine perfusion, a donor liver is connected to a device that pumps oxygen-rich fluid through the organ while outside the body.

"Machine perfusion is opening the door to a future where we don't just evaluate organs, we treat them and even improve them before transplant," says Michelle Nguyen, M.D., a transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and co-corresponding author of the study. "But to get there, we first need better ways to understand how an organ is performing in real time. That's what this technology is built to provide."

Today's monitoring methods rely on manually collecting fluid samples from the organ every 30 to 60 minutes, testing them on point-of-care devices or sending them to a laboratory for analysis. Those periodic snapshots may miss important changes occurring between samples. Detecting biochemical changes or signs that organ health is declining early allows clinicians and perfusionists to intervene before permanent damage occurs.

To address this challenge, researchers developed a new wireless sensor platform that continuously measures glucose, lactate and pH in both the perfusion fluid and bile; streaming results to the care team in real time.

In the study, the sensor's measurements closely matched standard laboratory testing while also detecting brief biochemical changes between routine sampling intervals. The findings suggest that real-time monitoring of bile, in addition to perfusion fluid, may provide valuable information about the health of the donated liver that current approaches may be unable to detect.

"Every organ donated is incredibly valuable," Dr. Nguyen says. "By giving transplant teams a clearer understanding of an organ's health, we're working toward a future where more donated livers can safely reach the patients who need them most."

Researchers note that larger studies will be needed to further evaluate the technology and its potential to improve donor organ assessment. Looking ahead, the team is working to expand the sensor platform to capture additional markers of organ health, creating a more comprehensive assessment panel. Researchers also plan to adapt the technology for other organs, including the kidney, heart and lung.

The study was co-led by Dr. Nguyen and Yangzhi Zhu, Ph.D., of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation.

For a complete list of authors and disclosures, review the study.

###

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

About Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
Mayo Clinic Transplant Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive transplant programs in the world. With programs in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, Mayo Clinic provides seamless, coordinated care across adult heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. Guided by a commitment to innovation, research and education, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center delivers world-leading outcomes, compassionate patient care and advances that shape the future of transplantation worldwide.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post New technology could improve donor liver evaluation before transplantation appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Tony Wazwaz was told he had days to live — until an innovative treatment approach at Mayo Clinic brought his heartbeat back into rhythm.

Tony Wazwaz is in his kitchen, cooking for his family. Clipped to his belt, two battery packs hum softly, powering the mechanical pumps inside his chest. One helps move blood to his body. The other to his lungs. Together, they do the work his heart no longer can. He takes his medications, sees his healthcare team regularly, and follows the routines that now keep him alive.

"It isn't easy," Tony says, "but I've never been more grateful."

Not long ago, his doctors in Minneapolis told the 44‑year‑old husband and father of two that no further treatment options remained. After months in and out of the hospital, his condition worsened as both sides of his heart began to fail. Fluid filled his lungs. Swelling spread through his body. Medications and temporary support devices no longer worked.

He was not a candidate for a heart transplant. Doctors told him he had about 10 days to live, and to go home to say goodbye to his family.

"That was the end of the road. There was no more road," Tony says. "But something inside me told me, 'You've got to keep fighting.'"

A new road ahead

Watch: Mayo Clinic performs its first dual mechanical heart pump procedure, giving father of two a path to transplant

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (2:54) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.

At his mother's urging, he asked for a referral to Mayo Clinic. He made the call, got in the car and they drove to Rochester, Minnesota. He arrived in cardiogenic shock, a life-threatening condition in which the heart can no longer pump enough blood to sustain the body.

Within minutes of reaching the emergency department, his heart stopped.

"I flatlined," he says. "But when I woke up, I was in the ICU at Mayo Clinic, surrounded by a team already working to find a way forward."

Leading that team was Dr. Mauricio Villavicencio, surgical director of Heart and Lung Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Villavicencio and his team moved quickly to stabilize Tony, ultimately placing him on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, a form of life support that circulates blood outside the body, allowing the heart and lungs to rest.

"ECMO can keep you alive," Dr. Villavicencio says. "But it doesn't get you out of the ICU. The goal is to find a way to transition to something that allows the patient to recover, leave the hospital and move forward."

For many patients, that path involves a left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, a mechanical pump designed for long-term use that helps the heart move blood through the body. But those devices are designed to support the left side, the heart's main pumping chamber. Durable options to support the right side of the heart are limited. When both sides of the heart are failing, as in Tony's case, there are often no viable treatment options.

'Sign me up'

Dr. Villavicencio proposed something that had never been done at Mayo Clinic: implanting two durable LVADs, one to support each side of Tony's failing heart. He believed the paired devices could get him off ECMO, out of the ICU and potentially onto a path toward heart transplant eligibility.

Around Tony, a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, cardiologists, intensivists and nurses weighed the risks. They had spent weeks at his bedside, adjusting care and closely tracking his condition.

"Tony pushed the balance to do it," Dr. Villavicencio says. "And that really made it happen."

For Tony, the choice was clear.

"Sign me up," he says. "I knew this was my chance. From the time I arrived, it wasn't just one doctor, it was the whole team around me. They took the time to talk to me and get to know me. I trusted them."

A bridge to the future

Inside the operating room, the challenge was precision. Each pump had to be carefully balanced. Too much support on one side could overwhelm the other. Too little could send his organs into failure. Throughout the procedure, Dr. Villavicencio and the team adjusted the devices until his circulation stabilized.

With both pumps in place, blood flow steadied through his body. In the days that followed, his condition improved, marking a turning point in his recovery. Weeks after the surgery, Tony returned home.

Now, back in his kitchen, the rhythms of daily life have resumed as he rebuilds his strength and works toward a goal that once felt impossible: becoming eligible for a heart transplant.

"Going to Mayo Clinic saved my life," Tony says. "Dr. Villavicencio gave me another chance and I'm going to make the most of every minute."

The post Mayo Clinic performs its first dual mechanical heart pump procedure, giving father of 2 a path to transplant (VIDEO) appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a previously unrecognized way the kidneys regulate water balance — an advance that could lead to improved treatments for polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and other disorders. The study, led by Fouad Chebib, M.D., a nephrologist at Mayo Clinic, is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The findings build on decades of scientific understanding by revealing an additional pathway the kidney uses to control water balance. Until now, the body's ability to concentrate urine — and prevent dehydration — has been thought to depend primarily on the hormone vasopressin. Dr. Chebib's team discovered an alternative mechanism that operates independently of that system.

"The kidney's ability to regulate water is one of the most fundamental processes in the body," Dr. Chebib says. "It's not every day that you uncover a new way it carries out that function."

Polycystic kidney disease is a common inherited condition that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys over time, gradually reducing kidney function and often leading to kidney failure. It affects millions of people worldwide, including an estimated 140,000 people in the U.S. with the most common form, autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD). Many patients eventually require dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Watch: 1940s-era drug shows new promise for kidney disease

Dr. Chebib's team studies how kidney cysts grow in PKD using lab-grown cell models. As part of that work, they tested compounds expected to worsen the disease process by increasing cellular signals linked to cyst growth. One of those compounds was probenecid, a drug first used in the 1940s to conserve limited supplies of penicillin by reducing its urinary excretion.

"We thought this drug would make the disease process worse," Dr. Chebib says. "Instead, it did the opposite."

Rather than promoting cyst growth, the drug slowed it. After repeating the experiments multiple times, the team realized they had uncovered something important.

Further investigation revealed that probenecid affects how kidney cells handle urate, a molecule commonly associated with gout. Inside the cell, urate acts as a signal — triggering a chain of events that helps move water channels to the cell surface. This allows the kidney to reabsorb water and concentrate urine without relying on vasopressin, the hormone traditionally thought to control this process.

"This represents a distinct pathway from what is described in traditional physiology models," Dr. Chebib says. "It demonstrates that the kidney has an additional mechanism to preserve water."

For patients with PKD, the discovery could address one of the biggest challenges of current treatment. The only approved therapy, tolvaptan, works by blocking vasopressin, which slows cyst growth but causes patients to produce very large amounts of urine — often 6 to 7 liters a day. That side effect can be difficult to live with and leads some patients to stop treatment.

In preclinical studies and a small clinical trial, adding probenecid reduced urine volume and nighttime urination while preserving the treatment's effectiveness.

After taking probenecid, patients' urine volume dropped by about 30% on average, and they went from waking up several times a night to urinate to about once per night. Many also reported improved quality of life.

"The goal is to preserve the therapeutic benefit of tolvaptan while reducing its burden," Dr. Chebib says.

Despite these promising results, researchers are not planning to rely on probenecid as a long-term solution. The drug is decades old, affects multiple systems in the body and is not widely available today. Instead, the team is using what they learned to design more targeted therapies.

"Probenecid helped us uncover the mechanism," Dr. Chebib says. "Our goal is to take this insight and develop therapies designed specifically for this pathway."

For Dr. Chebib, the work is rooted in early inspiration. He was drawn to kidney research after his father developed PKD.

"This has been a long and deeply purposeful journey," he says. "It started with a personal motivation and led to something that could ultimately benefit patients."

For a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding, see the study.

JOURNALISTS: Soundbites with Dr. Chebib are available in the downloads below.

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About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

Media contact:

• Sharon Theimer, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Researchers identify new kidney pathway with help from 1940s-era drug, may improve polycystic kidney disease treatment (VIDEO) appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

PHOENIX — In a study published in the Liver Transplantation journal by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, Mayo Clinic researchers found that a new proactive treatment protocol for alcohol use disorder after liver transplant resulted in a 0% heavy alcohol relapse rate among patients who followed the protocol, compared with a historical relapse rate of approximately 25%.

"The results were greater than we expected," says Channa Jayasekera, M.D., Mayo Clinic transplant hepatologist and senior author of the study. "Among the 21 patients in the study, none relapsed to heavy alcohol use within one year. Although this was a small cohort, having no relapses is incredibly encouraging that we have found an effective intervention."

Researchers defined heavy alcohol use as binge drinking — five or more drinks for men or four or more drinks for women on a single occasion — or drinking alcohol more than four days per week. This standard definition reflects a level of alcohol consumption associated with damage to the transplanted liver and other negative health outcomes.

New protocol aims to prevent alcohol relapse after liver transplant

Alcohol-associated liver disease is now the leading indication for liver transplantation in the U.S., and many patients requiring urgent transplantation do not have time to complete traditional alcohol treatment programs before surgery. Historically, transplant care has often focused on monitoring patients after transplant and intervening only after relapse occurs.

Patients who relapse after transplant face a higher risk of serious health complications and may not be eligible for another liver transplant, making relapse prevention a critical part of long-term care.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona developed and studied preventing alcohol-related complications after transplantation, or PACT, a first-of-its-kind multidisciplinary protocol designed to proactively prevent alcohol relapse after transplant. The protocol combines anticraving medication, frequent patient follow-up, alcohol metabolite testing, and coordinated care from transplant hepatologists, surgeons, addiction counselors, psychiatrists and pharmacists.

Watch: Dr. Channa Jayasekera discusses Mayo Clinic PACT study

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites with Dr. Channa Jayasekera are in the downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name super/CG: Channa Jayasekera, M.D./Transplant Hepatology/Mayo Clinic.

"While a liver transplant can cure alcohol-related liver disease, it does not treat alcohol use disorder," says Dr. Jayasekera. "We increasingly understand alcohol use disorder as a chronic medical condition that deserves proactive treatment, just like other chronic diseases. Our goal is to give patients every possible tool to protect their health and preserve the gift of transplantation."

Researchers say the findings could help reshape how transplant centers nationwide approach addiction treatment after liver transplant and help reduce stigma surrounding alcohol use disorder.

"These patients are often young and have a long future ahead of them after transplant," says Dr. Jayasekera. "If these findings are replicated at other centers, this approach could become a game changer in transplant medicine."

Dr. Jayasekera notes that larger studies and replication at additional transplant centers will be important next steps.

For a complete list of authors and disclosures, review the study.

###

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

About Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
Mayo Clinic Transplant Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive transplant programs in the world. With programs in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, Mayo Clinic provides seamless, coordinated care across adult heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. Guided by a commitment to innovation, research and education, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center delivers world-leading outcomes, compassionate patient care and advances that shape the future of transplantation worldwide.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic study finds new post-liver transplant protocol results in 0% heavy alcohol relapse rate appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Eveline Pitone is celebrating her family and her health this Mother's Day. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she faced challenging symptoms and uncertainty about her future.

Following a bone marrow transplant, she is now in remission and rediscovering the life she once feared MS might take away.

Watch: A mom's MS diagnosis leads to treatment that put the disease on pause

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (2:15) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.

"At the end of a really long day of moving, my arm went numb. And then it moved into my leg, and then it moved into my face," says Eveline Pitone.

The sudden onset of symptoms sent Eveline to seek care near her home in Philadelphia.

"On Jan. 4, 2018, they said, 'You have MS,'" Eveline explains. "My first thought was my kids. Am I giving this to my kids? Is this something that I'm passing down? Am I going to see my kids grow up?"

Eveline noticed balance issues, vertigo and other symptoms. She stepped away from work to focus on her health.

"I used to be impacted by debilitating fatigue," Eveline says. "I would go to bed at 7 at night. I would wake up in the morning at 6 and felt like I hadn't slept."

She went through years of standard therapies to treat multiple sclerosis.

"I continued to have new lesions that showed up on my scans," Eveline says.

"Every time it got to the point that I would go to a scan, I knew, I just knew."

"Despite proper treatment in good hands, she continued relapsing," says Dr. Ernesto Ayala, a Mayo Clinic hematologist and oncologist.

Eveline learned about autologous bone marrow transplantation, and she turned to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion.

"In any patient with autoimmune disease, some of the immune cells that we have are misguided and targeting your own body," says Dr. Ayala. "Lymphocytes direct most of your immune responses. So a proportion, a small proportion, of those lymphocytes, is targeting your own body structures."

Autologous bone marrow transplantation has been used to treat severe autoimmune diseases for more than 20 years in patients who do not respond to other treatments. The process uses chemotherapy, then the body's own stem cells to reduce the effects of the disease.

"We allow the patient to start anew, to start from zero, to start producing new cells, new lymphocytes that have not been sensitized to the body and that will respect the body," says Dr. Ayala.

"A lot of patients were experiencing eight to 10 years of remission, which, there's a lot you can do in eight to 10 years," Eveline says.

Eveline went through treatment in August 2024. Now, over a year later, Dr. Ayala says she's free of disease.

"Her MRIs are clear. She only has the scars from the previous lesions," he says.

"Slowly I'm letting this reality, that this is my new reality, sink in, and that it's here to stay," Eveline says.

Now in remission, Eveline is feeling less fatigued, experiencing more with her family and has returned to work.

"I forget I have MS," she says. "I am doing things and going through life the way I used to before I was diagnosed. That heavy weight that was sitting on my shoulders, that was hanging over my head, it's not there. It feels freaking amazing. Freaking amazing!"

Related posts:

• Mother refuses to give up on son and finds a way forward (VIDEO)
• How innovation is shaping the future of transplant care (VIDEO)
• Multiple sclerosis fuels artist’s work (VIDEO)

The post A mom’s MS diagnosis led to treatment that put the disease on pause (VIDEO) appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

When Ruby Norland of Las Vegas decided to donate a kidney to her 29-year-old son, Ramiro Alvarado, she assumed determination and love would be enough. But after a series of evaluations at another transplant center, Ruby heard the word she feared most: no. 

"I cried out of anger and frustration," she recalls. "I felt devastated and helpless." 

Even though Ruby was a match, she was told her case was too complex. She had a small kidney stone and unusual anatomy. Instead of one artery, the right kidney had two, with the main artery branching very close to the aorta. Although her left kidney was not complex, Ruby was told the risks were too great to leave her with a single kidney that had a stone. 

That's when Ruby was referred to Mayo Clinic. 

Watch: Mother refuses to give up on son and finds a way forward

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (2:43) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.

The path forward to donation

Ramiro had been on dialysis for eight months, three to four hours a day. For him, it was physically and emotionally challenging. "When my mom first offered to donate her kidney, I was stunned. I could never have asked anyone to do something so profound for me. She decided almost instantly, without a second thought," says Ramiro. "Donating an organ is not just a medical act. It is an act of love." 

During her first call, Ruby remembers the coordinator pausing before responding, not to say no, but to say that Mayo wanted to take a closer look. The Mayo Clinic team reassured her that their technology and surgeons were well equipped to handle complex cases like hers, offering hope instead of focusing on obstacles to donation. 

Experience meets complexity 

The transplant team evaluated her kidney stone risk, studied her anatomy in detail and worked through what donation would mean for her long-term health. The outcome was one other centers hadn't reached: Ruby was approved to donate her left kidney, while keeping the kidney with complex anatomy and the small stone, along with a long-term plan to reduce future risk. Mayo Clinic Transplant Center physicians have studied predictors of future kidney stones and have helped develop donor guidelines.   

"My test results didn't show a high risk of recurring kidney stones, and I felt confident about keeping my right kidney," says Ruby. When Ruby received the call that she was approved, she cried again, but this time out of relief. "When I told my son, he didn't believe me at first," she says. "Then it sank in, and we just held each other."   

The transplant itself was a success. "The testing was thorough, and the team was honest about the risks," Ruby says. "That made me feel prepared, not afraid."  

"It is our responsibility to not only identify but also comprehensively understand risks for potential donors, ensuring that decisions are guided by the expertise of our clinical team as well as input from the donor. Often, complex donor anatomy leads to denial at other centers. However, our approach at Mayo Clinic allows us to assist many donors successfully," explains Dr. Carrie Jadlowiec, medical director of the Living Donor Program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.  

"My care team never minimized my risks," Ruby says. "They just refused to stop at no." 

Ruby says the moment that stays with her most is waking up after surgery and hearing that her son's new kidney was already working.  

Her recovery was smooth, and today she's back to hiking, practicing hot yoga and strength training and looking forward to her first Mother’s Day after the transplant.  

For Ramiro, having more energy, freedom and a renewed sense of gratitude for everyday moments that once felt out of reach drives his days. "I am not just surviving anymore. I am living again," he says. "There was a time when I avoided looking too far into the future because it felt like a privilege I could not count on. Now, I find myself making plans and looking forward to what comes next." 

For Ruby and her son, the transplant is no longer the center of the story; it's the turning point. What remains is many more Mother’s Days in their future together. And for Ramiro, every day reminds him of the incredible gift his mom gave him. 

Becoming an organ donor

Living kidney donation is available at all Mayo Clinic sites, where multidisciplinary teams prioritize patient needs, even in complex cases. Ruby's story is just one example of what's possible, thanks to the Transplant Center's support from Mayo Clinic's depth of expertise. This collaboration enables Mayo Clinic to care for patients facing extraordinary challenges while advancing transplant medicine. 

Learn more about Living Kidney Donation at Mayo Clinic. 

Related posts:

• How innovation is shaping the future of transplant care (VIDEO)
• Transplant Center at Mayo Clinic in Arizona sets a five-year national record for solid organ transplants (VIDEO)

The post Mother refuses to give up on son and finds a way forward (VIDEO) appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

For patients with type 1 diabetes and end-stage kidney disease, a simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant eliminates the need for dialysis and insulin injections by restoring insulin production and curing diabetes. Some people with type 2 diabetes may also be eligible.

For nearly four decades, 49-year-old Nakia Odom of Phoenix lived with type 1 diabetes, a disease that slowly took more than his health. It took his independence, his mobility and the tap dancing that once defined him.

Nakia was taught tap dancing by his grandmother, and it became an early passion. He even got to dance with tap legend Savion Glover at the Apollo Theater in New York. But a diabetes diagnosis at age 13 forced him to shift his focus from the stage to his health.

"Diabetes was livable at first," Nakia says. "But as I got older, it took more and more." As he approached his mid-20s, his health began to deteriorate. He had to give up tap dancing and eventually, playing football and basketball.

Diabetes to kidney failure

By his mid‑40s, diabetes-related complications had led to kidney failure. Nakia began dialysis at age 46, endured multiple surgeries, lost a toe to infection and developed sepsis, leaving him unable to walk or bear weight on his feet for months.

Nakia leaned into his faith. He also began to explore kidney-pancreas transplantation — but his case was too complex for most transplant centers.

That changed when he was referred to Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where transplant teams specialize in caring for patients others may turn away. Mayo Clinic is a leader in kidney–pancreas transplantation, with outcomes that meet and often exceed national averages. The team is also advancing the field through innovations such as robotic-assisted transplants, using minimally invasive techniques to support complex procedures.

Watch: Kidney-Pancreas transplant restores life without diabetes, the Nakia Odom story

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (2:21) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.

Last spring, Nakia received a simultaneous kidney–pancreas transplant. "The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that the brain fog was gone," he says. "I wasn't in pain. And every day since, it's gotten better."

Now, one year post‑transplant, Nakia no longer needs insulin or dialysis. He's active again and has returned to tap dancing for the first time since 2001.

"My goal was always to dance again," Nakia says. "Dancing is how I connect with God."

Organ donors

His story reflects both the promise and the urgency of organ donation. More than 90,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a kidney transplant, and around 2,500 are on the list for kidney–pancreas transplants. For many, the wait can stretch three to five years or longer. 

Nakia is deeply aware of the gift he received. "I pray for the donor's family every day," he says. "Their loss gave me my life back. Without their sacrifice, I might not be here today."

Now, the sound of Nakia's second chance is the rhythm of his tap shoes touching the floor once again — showing how his transplant didn't just restore his health; it gave him back something he deeply loved. 

"This is the best thing that's ever happened in my life," he says.

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic Transplant performs record 2,065 organ transplants in 2025
• Robotic kidney transplant, when innovation meets family (VIDEO)
• How innovation is shaping the future of transplant care (VIDEO)
• Mayo Clinic Minute: What to expect as a living kidney donor

The post Kidney-pancreas transplant gives tap dancer new life without diabetes (VIDEO) appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — In a study published in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation Open (JHLT Open), Mayo Clinic researchers found that remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a feasible and effective way to detect early health changes and support care decisions for lung transplant recipients during their first year after discharge from the hospital.

Lung transplant recipients require intensive, ongoing monitoring after transplant to detect complications such as rejection or infection.

"Many of these patients live far from the transplant center, making frequent in-person follow-up challenging," says Cassie Kennedy, M.D., co-senior author and medical director of the lung transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "In recent years, we have transplanted patients from 25 states, including Hawaii. RPM allows us to stay closely connected to our patients — no matter where they live — after they return home and respond quickly when changes occur."

While remote patient monitoring has shown benefits in other patient populations, evidence in lung transplant recipients has been limited.

Throughout the 12-month study, researchers monitored 116 lung transplant recipients who lived a median distance of 234 miles from Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Patients used a home device kit to track symptoms and physiological data, including lung function, vital signs and weight, with results transmitted to their electronic health record and care team.

When abnormal values were detected, alerts were generated and reviewed by the clinical team to determine next steps. In total, nearly 470 alerts were triggered during the study. Most alerts were managed with continued monitoring, while about 1 in 4 prompted changes in care, including earlier clinic visits, diagnostic testing, medication adjustments or emergency evaluation.

"Just as important, when no abnormalities are detected, patients can be reassured and remain at home," says Dr. Kennedy.

Nearly half of hospitalizations among patients with available monitoring data were preceded by an RPM alert within the prior week, suggesting the system may help identify early signs of clinical deterioration and support earlier intervention.

"This study shows that a multiparameter, at-home monitoring approach can be successfully implemented in a high-risk population and generate actionable data to support clinical care," says Ali El Mokahal, M.D., first author and pulmonary and critical care medicine fellow at Mayo Clinic.

In addition to supporting earlier detection, the program demonstrated strong patient participation and ease of use. Of the 116 patients enrolled, only 15 discontinued participation during the study period.

"These findings provide important real-world evidence supporting the use of remote patient monitoring in lung transplant recipients," says Kelly Pennington, M.D., co-senior author and pulmonologist in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mayo Clinic. "As these models evolve, they have the potential to transform how we deliver transplant care — expanding access, reducing burden and improving outcomes for patients."

The team will continue to monitor RPM program participants while exploring opportunities to expand this approach across Mayo Clinic sites and transplant programs.

For a complete list of authors, review the study.

###

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

About Mayo Clinic Transplant Center
Mayo Clinic Transplant Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive transplant programs in the world. With programs in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, Mayo Clinic provides seamless, coordinated care across adult heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas transplantation. Guided by a commitment to innovation, research and education, Mayo Clinic Transplant Center delivers world-leading outcomes, compassionate patient care and advances that shape the future of transplantation worldwide.

Media contact:

• Kelley Luckstein, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

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A routine screening turned into a life-changing diagnosis for Angela Tripido. After learning she had stage 4 colorectal cancer that had spread to her liver, she faced months of treatment, multiple surgeries and uncertainty about what came next.

When the cancer returned, a liver transplant offered a new path forward.

Watch: A routine screening reveals stage 4 cancer, leads to life-changing transplant

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video (2:35) is in the downloads at the end of this post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script.

Screening

"I have lived a super healthy life. You know, always been an athlete, always working out," says Angela.

"I ended up having my, what I would just call, 50th (birthday) screening colonoscopy. The nurse said, 'The doctor will be over in a minute. We're just getting your husband.' I knew immediately that wasn't good," she says. "(The doctor) showed us some pictures and said, 'You have stage 4 colorectal cancer."

Additional imaging showed the cancer had spread to her liver.

Near her home in South Florida, Angela began treatment with chemotherapy and a series of surgeries to remove tumors.

But the cancer returned.

"(Another institution) identified some recurrent lesions in the liver," says Dr. Kris Croome, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon. She was not felt to be resectable because she didn't have adequate liver left."

That's when Angela turned to Mayo Clinic for another option.

"She was an excellent candidate for our liver transplant," says Dr. Croome. "She was otherwise a very young, healthy person, and so we felt that if we were able to do a liver transplant, we would be able to clear her of her disease."

"As scary as everything was that was on the plate of what was coming, I want to live, and I want no tumors in me," says Angela.

The wait

Once Angela's disease was confined to her liver and she completed a comprehensive evaluation, she qualified for transplant and was placed on the waiting list.

"My phone rang," Angela remembers. "The voice on the other end said, 'I'm calling to see if you are interested in liver that we believe will be a perfect match for you.'"

After an anxious night with little sleep, transplant day arrived on July 7, 2025. She remembers the final moments with the surgical team before the procedure began.

"I always say to the team, right before they put me under, 'Thank you all for taking really good care of me.' And there was this nice gentleman next to me, one of the nurses, and he was like, 'We've got you, don't worry,'" says Angela.

Good news

The surgery was a success.

"What the transplant has given me is there's a lot more hope for longevity — not having chemo in me, quality of life," says Angela.

Nearly a year after her transplant, Angela is getting back to the life she loves. She and her husband have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. They're traveling again and raising awareness in the community.

"We were involved in a charity run locally to promote screening for colon cancer with one of the local health groups, and had the opportunity to run into her," says Dr. Croome. "Just to see her out and about enjoying her life disease-free, I think, really is why we do all this."

Angela also carries deep gratitude for the organ donor who made it possible.

"You can give someone a chance at a longer life and a healthier life, and that's a miracle," she says. "I will be writing that letter and thanking that family, and I hope they know what it's given me."

Related stories:

• How innovation is shaping the future of transplant care (VIDEO)
• Mayo Clinic Q&A: What is life like after an organ transplant or donation?
• Mayo Clinic Minute: How liver transplant is transforming care for patients with advanced colorectal cancer

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