Focus on Service:
Organ Donation & A Life of Greatness
 LifeNet Health Clinical Services Director Lisa Stanzione met Robbie Key five years ago when Robbie began working at LifeNet Health. The two became friends and Lisa quickly grew to admire her co-worker's, humor, kindness and passion for her work. Lisa and her coworkers knew about Robbie's deep concern for her daughter Mandy who at age 19 had been diagnosed with a disease that shut down her kidneys. In fact, shortly before joining LifeNet Health, Robbie had donated a kidney to her daughter but to the family's great disappointment, Mandy's body had rejected it. As Mandy's health deteriorated, so did her spirits.
In 2009, Robbie and Mandy shared their story with the entire organization at a LifeNet Health collaborative meeting. Lisa remembers it well. "Robbie explained how difficult it was as a mother to have your child give up on living, and she tearfully urged the hospital staff attending the conference to picture Mandy as that "someone" on the waiting list when they refer potential donors to LifeNet Health."
Sitting in the audience, Lisa began to think—"maybe I could be that someone." She knew there was a strong likelihood that she wouldn't be a match for Mandy "but at least I could offer some hope." After talking with Robbie and Mandy and with her family's full support, Lisa contacted the Virginia Transplant Center at Henrico Doctors' Hospital in Richmond in July 2010 to begin her donor evaluation. "The good news was that I was found to be in excellent health and suitable for kidney donation," says Lisa. "The bad news was that Mandy and I did not match, which I knew was a possibility from the very beginning.
Mandy's only hope, Lisa knew, was to find a matching kidney through the National Kidney Registry. To get into the system, however, requires entering as pairs—one donor and one recipient—so that chains of matching pairs can be formed. "It meant that if we found a match for Mandy, I would need to donate to a stranger so Mandy could receive a transplant," says Lisa who had no second thoughts about her decision. In March, Lisa and Mandy joined the National Kidney Registry and had both DNAs entered into the system.
The phone call came that summer. The Virginia Transplant Center at Henrico Doctors' Hospital reported a match for Mandy and after a few schedule changes, the surgeries were set for August 10. "In addition to being a mother, wife, nurse and transplant professional, living donor is now part of my identity," says Lisa. She learned that her recipient was a female in her thirties who lives in California. "She's doing great," she's happy to report.
Mandy's transplant was also a success. "She looks and feels like a different person," says Lisa who believes organ donation creates a life of greatness. "It was an honor and a privilege to have participated in Mandy's life of greatness," she says. At LifeNet Health, we consider it an honor and a privilege to work with dedicated people like Lisa who demonstrate every day what a life of greatness is truly all about.
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