My brother and I live in Austin. In 2021, my brother was dying in need of a kidney. We sought to apply to University Health in San Antonio for my brother to receive my kidney. My brother received a liver back in 2013 and we had nothing but good things to say about the clinic and knew of no better place to go.

I was devastated that I was turned down over and over to be a kidney donor for medications and weight. I found Laurie at the transplant center and she let me do the entry survey without my medicines and contacted my general practitioner. On the weight, I had prayed about that. I knew that over the past 20 years, I had been getting heavier and heavier even when I had been cutting back. This time, I kept on losing weight consistently without any effort on my part.

Over the past year, I applied over and over again and the amount of weight to be lost was made greater. Finally, I was accepted and allowed to do test after test. I have lost count of how many times I went to Quest in Austin and the University Hospital in San Antonio. Juan at the transplant clinic said I was accepted. It took us three tries for the surgery. My brother catches Covid and then the Covid would cause his bleeding ulcers, which could have killed him.

We were at the hospital at 7:00 A.M. and I was out of surgery at 9:00 P.M. that night. When I woke up in a darkly lit recovery room, his doctor came in and I thanked her for all her work. The nurse wheeled me to my room and I could not stop crying. The doctor said my kidney looked very good. I have learned from Mom that his arteries she had to connect to have a lot of plaque. They are watching him. The very Doctor who performed his liver transplant in 2013 has been checking on him and has come to speak with me. He started the clinic in San Antonio. We have been blessed with very kind nurses, and techs and even the cleaning lady was very sweet.

Laurie, whom I first talked to, had given a kidney to a stranger many years ago. She was a nurse in hospice care and now works as a transplant handler Nurse. They broke open a bottle of champagne since I was the Juan's first living kidney donor. There are 700,000 people needing a kidney in the United States. Last year only 42,000 people got a kidney. My brother has been very blessed to receive a liver and a living kidney. What a rare bird indeed. With all these obstacles (getting accepted, Covid infection, and bleeding ulcers) my brother and I faced, Juan and Laurie have helped me work through all the dead ends and roadblocks to a successful transplant. Juan made himself available to me even on his day off.