UCI Giving Day 2021

Invest in Future Kidney Transplant Patients and Living Donors

This year for Giving Day, we are calling on you to help ease the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our community of kidney transplant patients. Here are some examples of how your gift can directly support our future transplant patients and living donors.

• Post-transplant Patient Care Tote Bag ($150) - Many of our Kidney Transplant patients and their families are challenged with meeting the costs of necessary at-home monitoring equipment that helps patients transition back home after their transplants. This tote bag is filled with essential supplies such as a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, water bottle, and UCI Health kidney-shaped pillow (signed by their care team).
• Living Donor Recognition Plaque ($100) - Living kidney donations provide the ultimate gift of life. Help us celebrate these selfless heroes with a beautiful plaque prepared and delivered by the UCI Health care team, family and friends.

Your donation, of any amount, helps us provide the items above and makes all the difference to this unique patient population and the family and friends that care for them. 

In the weeks leading up to Giving Day, many have stepped up to provide challenge gifts to double the impact of your generosity. Thank you to Janice and Dan Herman as well as Dr. James Doti!

Join Janice and Dan Herman (read more about their story below) and Dr. James Doti in partnering with the UCI Health Kidney Transplant Program to build a brilliant future. 

Donor Spotlight 

Janice Herman had just given birth to her son, Josh. Her mother was on dialysis, waiting for a kidney donor to replace one of the kidneys damaged by Polycystic Kidney Disorder (PKD). While Janice was in the hospital, her mother’s nephrologist suggested that she be examined for the genetic disorder. 

A sonogram revealed cysts in Janice’s kidneys, she had inherited PKD. The genetic disorder causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys, which can reduce kidney function and can lead to kidney failure and other complications. It is the fourth leading cause of kidney failure, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

The diagnosis launched a 34-year journey that ended with her receiving a kidney from a living donor, her younger brother, Dan. He was the only one of four Herman siblings who did not inherit PKD. Her older sister died of PKD complications and a younger brother has also undergone a kidney transplant. 

The four Herman siblings – Dan, Jan, Laura and Rob.

 Janice's transplant was performed in October 2019 at UCI Medical Center, home to Orange County’s oldest and largest kidney transplant program.

Having Dan as a living donor lowered the risk of rejection and the probability the organ would function better and longer than a kidney from a deceased donor. Dan’s living donor gift also allowed nephrologist UCI Health kidney transplant program director Dr. Uttam G. Reddy to time the transplant to take place before Janice required dialysis, which also improving the outcome. 

The first time Dan and Jan saw each other post-surgery. They were relieved and happy both were doing well.

 "I thank God I was blessed with not having the disease and having two good kidneys – one that I could give to her,” he says. “It was never a question of, ‘would I do this?’ It was, ‘All right, let’s just do it and hopefully it works.’ ”

It worked. Today, Janice is doing well.

“Having the transplant before I got on dialysis made the process easier on me. By being a living donor, Dan saved me from a long kidney transplant waiting list as well as many potential complications. Every day I count my blessings,” says Janice.

The siblings are also grateful to the UCI Health team that managed their care. As an expression of that gratitude, they are making a matching gift on UCI Giving Day. They hope the generosity of others on Giving Day will double the value of their gift.  

Questions 

Contact Jen Staudenbaur, Director of Development, at jstaud@uci.edu or 215.518.0902 to learn more about our Kidney Transplantation program and opportunities to support.