Skip to contents
In This Issue:
The day before Chanukah, Laurie Cowan of Newton gave her younger brother the greatest gift possible—life. She donated a kidney to Larry Cowan, who suffered from end-stage renal disease and had just begun dialysis.
“This is life-changing from many angles,” said Larry Cowan, of Boca Raton, Fla., who felt “wonderful” days after the surgery.
Larry Cowan’s surgery marked BWH’s 100th kidney transplant this year—the most of any hospital in New England in 2006 and the most BWH has ever done in one year. Last year, the hospital performed 65 kidney transplants.
“We had more living donated kidneys this year and also more cadaverous kidneys,” said Stefan Tullius, MD, chief of Transplant Surgery. In addition, the rising use of organs from expanded criteria donors (older donors and those with kidney or other medical problems) is increasing the pool of organs available and the chances of survival for certain recipients.
Tullius performed the transplant surgery, and Sayeed Malek, MD, and Sanjaya Kumar, MD, performed the laparoscopic donor nephrectomy Dec. 14. The transplants involved collaboration among many BWHers, and those efforts were not lost on the Cowans.
“The coordination between our transplant teams really impressed us,” Laurie Cowan said.
“The experience of receiving care at the Brigham far exceeds its worldwide reputation,” said Larry Cowan. “From the team who checks people in, to the transplant team, to the nurses—everyone was great. The anesthesiologist in particular was great and eased my fears about the surgery.”
BWH’s transplant program is world-renowned and rich in history, as the first successful human organ transplant—a kidney from one twin to another—in the world was performed at BWH in 1954. Since then, more than 1,800 kidneys have been transplanted, and last year, BWH was approved to perform pancreatic transplants.
Laurie Cowan, a former vice president at Children’s Hospital, knew the team at BWH was among the best and urged her brother to receive care here seven years ago. Doctors managed Larry’s disease with medication, but a year and a half ago, he began to feel sick. It was time for a transplant.
Laurie stepped forward to help, and her blood type was a match. Last week’s surgery went smoothly, and the Cowans were discharged earlier this week. Larry plans to give back by raising awareness for organ donation, beginning by speaking about his experience to students in a communications course at Lynn University in Boca Raton, where he works in fundraising.
“I think we have a responsibility to advocate for organ donation from this point forward,” he said.