A family party was going on and Ramon was trying to be upbeat. But pale and exhausted from a rapidly deteriorating kidney condition and repeated dialysis, his future looked bleak.
Suddenly Daniels heard herself saying: “Rudy, I’m going to give you my kidney.”
She’s convinced God put the words in her mouth.
Divinely guided or not, Daniels has never doubted that she did the right thing. In fact, she declares, if she had another kidney to give to help someone in need, she would do it all over again—and she’d want to have the same surgeon: Dr. Sammy Vick of Urology Consultants, an expert in urologic surgery and live-donor kidney transplantation at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital and a highly respected professional with the Texas Transplant Institute’s Donor Nephrectomy Program.
Vick specializes in removing kidneys from donors and making the procedure as safe, painless and unintimidating as possible. He customarily uses the laparoscopic method in these procedures—something far less invasive than traditional open surgery.
His expertise is much in demand and much respected—and not just by the Methodist transplant team but by physicians in many parts of the country and abroad where he frequently travels under the auspices of Ethicon (it’s a Johnson & Johnson drug company philanthropic project) to train others in the intricate surgical procedures.
“Dr. Vick is a caring person and a remarkable surgeon,” Daniels says. “When I told him I wanted to donate my kidney, we talked about what to expect and the doctor was very honest and forthright about the risks. But from the moment I met him, I felt confident.”
Daniels went though health checks to be sure she wasn’t diabetic, didn’t have hypertension and that her heart and overall physical condition were strong. And the transplant got on track, eventually joining (although not in the way that was expected) the more than 1,200 live kidney donor transplants that have been facilitated by the Texas Transplant Institute to date.
“Our live donor transplant program is the biggest in Texas,” Dr. Vick points out, noting that he’s involved in about 100 procedures per year.
It’s best if a family member can give a compatible organ, the surgeon goes on to explain. There’s usually less chance of rejection. If that doesn’t work out, transplant teams aim for another match, ideally seeking living donors as organs from such individuals are generally considered healthier and preferable to those from brain-dead and deceased donor sources.
The United Network for Organ Sharing working through the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network normally coordinates the flow of available organs, advising individuals on the transplant list when a match shows up.
But the list is long and the criterion for patient selection is tough. Kidneys usually go to the sickest patients with the most urgent needs. Sadly, in many cases organs just don’t surface in time to prevent an individual already on the decline from sinking into debilitating illness. So, if a Good Samaritan like Daniels can step forward to help a relative or friend it truly can be a godsend, significantly increasing chances for survival.
“I just wish we had more people willing to donate organs,” Vick reflects. “It’s one of the most unselfish acts … a true service to medicine.”
By the tender age of 13, the Houston-born surgeon decided one day to enter the medical field. Likely the career appealed because he was fighting health problems himself (he’s diabetic) and, understanding the challenges of illness, hoped to help others.
Vick graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, completed his surgical internship and residency at affiliated hospitals and went on to open his private practice, Urology Consultants, in San Antonio in 1995. Then, intrigued by transplantation, he branched out into donor technology, mastering the latest laparoscopic methods.
Dr. Francis L. Wright, director of abdominal organ transplant at the Texas Transplant Institute, considers Vick’s expertise excellent insurance in the operating room. “Taking a kidney from a live donor is a demanding procedure that requires the utmost care,” Wright explains.
“When someone is generous enough to step forward and offer an organ, the last thing you want are complications. That’s why it’s so important to have a skilled individual handling the donor side of the procedure—someone who realizes the responsibility.”
The responsible role Vick plays in transplantation can’t help but be stressful, although he loves his patients and the job. To relax he retreats to his ranch in the Texas Hill Country or spends quality time with friends and family (he has a daughter, Channing, 18, and a son, Brady, 11). Then he returns to his practice refreshed.
Vick is proud of his 90 percent success rate in donor operations. Generally speaking, in fact, the success rate in transplantation has greatly increased thanks to modern methods and very effective anti-rejection drugs that were unavailable in the 1950s when kidney transplants were first attempted. And it’s not just kidneys that are being successfully transplanted these days. The list includes hearts, pancreases, livers and lungs among other body parts—remarkable surgical efforts that are offering hope where it didn’t exist before.
Ramon now has hope for a brighter future, thanks to Daniels’ gift of life. True, her organ eventually proved to be incompatible with his system, but it opened the way to becoming part of the Texas Transplant Institute’s Donor Exchange Program where they met a mother who needed a kidney and a daughter who was willing to give one.
The mother got Daniels’ kidney—it was a perfect match; Ramon got the daughter’s. It was a big day in surgery for Vick and the Methodist transplant team.
And patients and donors are doing just fine.
