PATIENTS

I received alarming news in 2001 that I would need a kidney transplant in the future. After being placed on the waiting list for a kidney, my loving husband, Matt, donated one of his, and my life changed for the best. However, after taking even low doses of anti-rejection medicine, I suffered through many health issues, including skin cancer, high blood sugar, shingles, and chronic urinary tract infections as a result of the toxic drugs. Being removed from these drugs would be amazing, and I often wonder how long a donor kidney could last without them. I look forward to the ongoing progress of Dr. Leventhal’s promising clinical trial in regulatory T cell therapy and can only imagine the quality of life that future transplant recipients could have without being dependent on lifelong anti-rejection medicine.”