Miami Nursing Department professor makes a decision that changes lives
Organ donation to infant spurs new friendship and partnership between two hospitals
Miami Nursing Department professor makes a decision that changes lives
Giving has always come naturally for Miami University’s Anna Ressler, assistant professor in the Department of Nursing. But a decision she made last year to help a faculty member who needed a liver transplant would begin a journey that changed multiple lives and initiated a first-time cooperative effort between two major hospitals, an immense act of giving that even she could not have originally imagined.
It started when her friend and Miami Nursing Department co-worker Deb Beyer, associate professor, was told she’d need a liver transplant due to liver cancer. Inspired by Miami Nursing Chair Stephanie Nicely, who donated a kidney to her brother several years ago to help him fight polycystic kidney disease, Ressler stepped forward as a possible donor.
Her decision meant rounds of testing at UC Health to determine if she was a match. Ultimately, Ressler did not prove to be a perfect match for Beyer’s particular case. But the transplant team at UC Health made another request: Would she consider donating altruistically (to someone she didn’t know) instead? It turned out she was a match for an infant who was being treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Ressler said she was surprised by the sudden change of plans, but pretty quickly came to the realization that she would say yes, even for someone she had never met.
"I felt that if I was ready to do this for a friend, why wouldn’t I do it for someone I didn’t know?" she said. "This was a baby that needed a chance at a healthy life."
Because of her background as a nurse, she also understood the full picture of what she was about to undertake — major surgery and partial removal of a vital part of her body, her liver. It would also mean close to a week in the hospital and a lengthier recovery at home.
"I’m not going to lie," she said. "I was pretty petrified. I went through all these scenarios in my mind. I knew the risks and knew what my recovery would look like. But I figured if I was scared, imagine what those parents were going through," she said of the recipient’s family.
Only a small fraction of liver transplants each year, roughly 15 percent, are due to donors giving to someone they do not know, according to the "Journal of Gastroenterology." Anonymous organ donation is an example of extraordinary altruism, sociology scientists say. It is considered a rare quality.
Ressler said her tradition of giving goes back to her earliest memories. Her family was active in charity work through their church, and as a young parent, she also opened her home to five foster children. So her decision to become an organ donor was no surprise to anyone who knew her. They would describe her as one of those rare individuals with extraordinary altruism.
Nicely described it this way: "The majority of people in that situation would have walked away," she said of Ressler’s decision to donate after being asked to give to a stranger. "This is the amazing thing about her story, and it speaks volumes about the kind of person she is."
Procedure breaks new ground in partnership for transplants
For the transplant team at UC Health, Ressler’s donation meant not only the chance to save the life of someone waiting for organ donation, which is always significant. But it also meant the opportunity to forge a new partnership between UC Medical Center and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to treat children waiting for organ transplants.
Dr. Cutler Quillin, the transplant surgeon who worked with Ressler, described how the partnership unfolded.
"Normally, the same surgeons do both surgeries," he said. "They work on the donor and the recipient in the same hospital. We had talked about the possibility of working together in the past," he said of Cincinnati Children’s. "But it had never been the right time.
"We felt it made more sense to do the adult surgery in an adult hospital and then the team at Children’s can complete the process at their hospital. During Anna’s surgery, the transplant team at Children’s was watching (via video feed) in real time and their patient was ready to receive the transplant as soon as we completed our surgery.
"The process worked very well. Hopefully this will be the start of many more collaborations between our two programs,"Quillin said. "It could provide the potential for more growth if we work together."
New friendships form
Ressler’s donation spurred multiple new bonds, including a new friendship with her recipient’s grateful family.
Schae Holt, whose infant son, Chip Holt, was born with critical liver malfunction, said she was thrilled when she learned that a donor had stepped forward within days of his name being added to the transplant list.
“Chip was born with biliary atresia,” Holt said. “His biliary ducts did not form completely. He was jaundiced and needed to have his liver removed.
“I was so grateful and happy when we got the call that he had a donor,” she continued. “She didn’t need to do what she did. She did it anyway,” Holt said of Ressler.
At first, Ressler did not plan to meet Chip and his family. She hesitated, thinking it might be better to remain anonymous. But she eventually changed her mind, and a new friendship blossomed between the two families.
“It’s been weird how much we’ve clicked,” Ressler said of Holt and Chip. “Now I have this new family as part of my life. She sends pictures and updates about Chip.”
The two were highlighted at a ceremony celebrating Donate Life month in April at UC Medical Center. They were also honored at a Cincinnati Reds game.
Now that the surgery and hospitalization are well behind her, Ressler said she feels back to normal. The only reminders of her donation now are the photos of a smiling Chip, who is healthy and growing due to her generosity.
By the way, Ressler’s intended recipient, Deb Beyer, also received a donated liver and is doing well.
“It was unique how the ball rolled toward this outcome,” Ressler said. “I didn’t go into this thinking I would donate part of my liver to someone I didn’t know. But that’s how it turned out.
“It’s so true that with great risk comes great reward.”
For more information about living organ donation, go to this link with UC Health, or this link at the Health Resources and Services Administration.
