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Retired Firefighter Finds Joy by Sharing About the Impact of Organ Donation
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Firefighters often face dangerous situations in an effort to help others, and the physical requirements of the job can be extreme.
After 26 years as a firefighter, Cesar Alvarez’s knees were worn down and in need of surgery. Even after surgery, chronic pain remained. Eventually, medications prescribed to help ease his knee pain caused liver toxicity. Unable to continue his work as a firefighter, Cesar retired from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and moved to Peoria, Arizona.
After months of complete exhaustion, Cesar was diagnosed with end stage liver failure, added to the liver transplant list and referred to Mayo Clinic. Not long after his liver diagnosis, his kidney’s started to fail too.
A year later, however, Cesar received a liver transplant at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. “When I awoke from my transplant, I instantly felt better. I was wide awake, super hungry and had so much energy. I wanted to get out of bed and run,” Cesar says. His transplant was successful, and he was subsequently removed from the kidney transplant list.
Each year Cesar celebrates his new life that is made possible because of his liver donor. "I have committed to paying my gift of life back by volunteering countless hours to Donate Life Arizona, the nonprofit federally funded organ procurement organization that saves lives through organ, eye and tissue donation,” Cesar says. “Volunteering with them makes me happy and brings me joy.”
Give today to support the advancement of transplant research to help patients in need.
Sean C. Dowdy, M.D., is the chief value officer at Mayo Clinic and the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Associate Dean for Practice Transformation. He shares how quality serves as the foundation of Mayo Clinic’s approach, extending beyond patient care to include staff experience, health equity, and the cost of care.
Charlotte Markle's kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic was over 57 years ago on March 2, 1966, making her Mayo's longest-surviving transplant recipient. Marking its 60th anniversary this month, the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center is the largest integrated transplant center in the U.S.
Despite a record year for organ donation last year in the U.S., an estimated 17 people die every day waiting for a transplant. Yet Mayo Clinic transplant experts are optimistic that solutions to some of the biggest transplant challenges are on the horizon, thanks to new technology, research and innovations.