Joanne Jackson can finally have her cake and eat it too. Refusing to give up hope after a failed kidney transplant a few years ago, Joanne found out on February 7, 2003, her birthday, that there was a kidney match. "It was the best birthday gift I ever received," smiles Joanne. Now off of dialysis, Joanne will not only be able to celebrate her many birthdays to come, but her three-year old grandson's as well. She has also undergone a successful pancreas transplant as well.

Organ procurement coordinator Rod Davis has been with the UHS transplant team since 1988. He knew his liver enzymes were a little high, but he never thought he'd ever be in need of his own services. "It finally caught up with me I guess," says Rod. He was transplanted on April 1, 1997. In some ways his job experience made the ordeal easier. "I knew what to expect." But it also made it more difficult because he knew "what to expect" and he knew it was going to be a long hard road. "It's made me appreciate the important things a lot more," he adds. It's also helped at work. "I can help people understand they can get through this. They are going to be OK."

Jeff Received a bilateral lung transplant in December 2001. Prior to his transplant he was on oxygen and weighed 100 pounds as a 30 year old adult and would get out of breath chewing food and tying his shoes. Seven years later, "I weigh 140 pounds, work full time, I play golf and swim, I attend a Pilates class three time per week and I feel terrific!" Jeff states, "the team and University (from the surgeons to the post-transplant doctors to the nursing staff) have not only given me outstanding care (and saved my life) they have become very good friends."