Small, cheerful, and jam-packed with energy, Mackenzie Hooker doesn’t immediately come across as a child who’s been in and out of the operating room since the day she was born. This 12-year-old has a lot more to do than think about her kidneys—she’s a cheerleader, a lover of makeup, and a YouTube fan. Plus, right…
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After a 48-year career, transplant nurse Gigi Spicer finally retired in the spring. That lasted for 20 days. “I got a call from Tulane saying they knew I retired and asking if I wanted to take up an interim position helping to rebuild their transplant institute,” she said. “It’s an interim position though; I do…
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“Maria was born the queen bee,” remembers Susie Diaz fondly. Her little girl was the youngest of three, with two older brothers aged 7 and 9 at her birth in December of 1981. “She was just so cute, and much more feisty than our boys.” The queen bee stayed close to her hive at first,…
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For Wallace Green, prevention would have made all the difference. “I had kidney disease at a very young age and of course, I wasn’t aware of it,” said Wallace, now 64 and a two-time kidney recipient. “It wasn’t until my kidneys started to fail that I knew there was a problem.” In his retirement, the…
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A good friend gives you what you need when you need it. A great friend accepts that rule with no limitations. Mary Stokes has such a friend in Heather Cordasco, and that friendship saved one life and inspired countless others. When Mary’s persistent kidney disease took a sharp turn for the worse in 2016, she…
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