When a person’s kidneys fail, there are two forms of treatment available: dialysis and transplant.

While dialysis replaces some of the functions done by healthy kidneys, a successful kidney transplant offers people suffering from kidney failure a much better quality of life, considerably greater freedom, increased energy levels and a less restricted diet.

“Studies show that people who receive kidney transplants live longer than those who remain on dialysis,” says Radi Zaki, MD, Co-Chairman of the Department of Transplantation, Division of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation, at Einstein Healthcare Network.

Of course, waiting for a kidney transplant isn’t as simple as scheduling a surgery.

There are currently more than 100,000 people waiting for lifesaving kidney transplants in the United States, with someone added to the list every 14 minutes and an average wait time for a kidney transplant around three and a half years.

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On a recent afternoon, a couple of nurses from Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia went to an apartment in the city’s Northeast. They scrubbed it clean, hung curtains and art work, and arranged all the furniture they’d either purchased or collected from coworkers:  bed and kitchen set, sofa, chair and lamps. They put away the dishes, pots and pans, the sheets and towels and toiletries, and everything else they’d gathered.

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Think about the last time you had to wait for something. Perhaps you were stuck in traffic, waiting to hear about a new job or looking forward to a vacation. You may have been a little impatient, anxious, or excited, but those emotions were short-lived—so was your wait.

Now imagine what it’s like to wait for a life-changing organ, eye or tissue donation. For the thousands of Americans on the national organ transplant waiting list, the wait can be excruciating. Every 10 minutes, another name is added to the list.

Nearly all Americans are aware of the benefits of organ donation, but less than half of them are registered organ donors. Why are so many people reluctant to donate?

Two of the main reasons are:

• Concern that the medical professionals who care for registered organ donors won’t save their lives.
• A person’s religion prohibits organ donation.

These concerns are simply not true.

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There’s no question that the offering of an organ for a transplant—a kidney, liver or a pancreas—is a priceless gift. As a transplant social worker at Einstein Healthcare Network, Danielle D'Aguanno, LSW, MSW, is on a mission to ensure the gift reaches its fullest potential.

D’Aguanno specializes in working with transplant patients. It’s her job to help patients know what to expect before the transplant, support them emotionally while they wait, and supply them with the information and assistance they require after the implant, so that that gift can keep on giving.

Patients can be very ill to start with, and their pre-transplant illness poses its own set of issues. Even after the transplant occurs, challenges persist, in the short term and sometimes longer. There can be emotional highs and lows for both patient and caregiver, recovery can take a while … and then there is the lifetime commitment to taking immunosuppressant drugs, without which the body might reject the transplanted organ.

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Center for Organ Disease and Transplantation staff members Jennifer Orawsky; Kieta Harrison, RN; Erin Fischer, RN; Jenelle Thompson; and Debbie Steffler, RN.

The Center for Organ Disease and Transplantation recently hosted its annual Patient Education Day, an event for staff members and patients to come together and celebrate life.

The holiday-themed celebration was festive and joyous, as staff served lunch to attendees, and living donors and donor recipients shared their touching stories with the group of more than 100.

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