“How I Married My Kidney,” was the name of the presentation given at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Women’s Luncheon this month, in honor of the first kidney transplant performed at Memorial Regional Hospital. The transplant was the initial surgery of the recently announced kidney transplant program being developed for children and adults at Memorial. A woman received the kidney from a live donor, announced Sherry Alvarado, RN, administrative director of the Memorial Transplant Institute.
“This is a major accomplishment for Memorial Healthcare System,” she said.
During the first year, Memorial plans to do about eight kidney transplants, and eventually increase to about 30 or more.
During the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Women’s Luncheon, Alvarado spoke about the importance of organ donation. She said that many people need the organs.
“Don’t take your organs to heaven because heaven knows we need them here,” she said.
Businesswoman Sage Hoffman, the keynote speaker, spoke about her experience of donating a kidney to a friend who she later began dating and ultimately married.
“I am a living donor and I have one kidney,” she said. The couple was married in India and now live happily, and healthily, in Miami.
