The Mayo Clinic experience and patient stories Play Video "No other hospital could help me…" – Elmo, cardiovascular & transplant patient Play Video Play Video Play Video Play Video Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of Mayo Clinic transplant patients. A journey of resilience and hopeJoshua Abelson, a 63-year-old aviation sales and supply chain professional, has faced numerous health challenges with remarkable resilience. Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Joshua now resides in Jacksonville, Florida, where he continues to inspire others with his story. Joshua's transplant journey began in 2009 when he first noticed symptoms that led to a diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD), specifically pulmonary fibrosis, after numerous X-rays and scans. This diagnosis marked the start of a long… Britiny's teamBritiny Schultz Britiny Schultz can't wait for fall. A huge football fan, she's looking forward to cheering on her favorite teams. It's something many fans take for granted — not Britiny. She's able to keep cheering, thanks to her doctors at Mayo Clinic and the incredible gift of life from not just one, but two organ donors. Britiny and her nieces and nephews The South Dakota native says she closely follows two teams: "The Bison… Heart transplant patient finding motivation through competition, music and the Mayo Clinic communityMark Forbess playing the piano in the Mayo atrium The fall It was Good Friday 2023. Mark Forbess was just leaving Mayo Clinic in Florida after his first appointment as a new patient at the heart failure program, when everything went black. "I found myself on the pavement in front of Mayo Clinic," says Mark. "I was emerging from unconsciousness. Everything was dark. I opened my eyes to see that my face was pressed onto… No Place Like Home: David Elder's Post-Transplant Care a 'Blessing'When David Elder’s back started to hurt in the fall of 2022, he thought his recurrent spasms had returned. But when medication didn’t help like before, his doctor sent him to the ER – and soon after, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a treatable but incurable form of cancer that had caused several painful breaks in his spine. “It just hit us out of nowhere,” he says of the diagnosis. “It was shocking.” Five… Celebrating transplant: A new life of song and serviceEditor's note: The following was written and submitted by David Bradshaw. He shares his journey from COVID, to transplant to gratitude for a second wind, including the part Mayo played in his journey. Imagine sailing through life for 68 years — the picture of good health — without major illness, disease or hospital visits. That was my life ... until COVID-19 hit me in January 2021. What seemed like a bad case of flu morphed… Celebrating a remarkable liver transplant journeyFor her one-year anniversary, Luana Q., a Mayo Clinic patient, shares her liver transplant story. Luana was the 4,000th patient to receive a liver transplant since the program began at Mayo Clinic in Florida in 1998. For her transplant, the team used normothermic regional perfusion to preserve the donated organ. This innovative approach uses a machine to pass blood through organs in a donor's body after the heart has irreversibly stopped beating. The procedure also… Trust and timing: How a bone marrow transplant gave a man extra birthdays to celebrate"I started writing my first book at the age of two. It's gonna be published at the age of four. Not bad for a little kid, huh?" But Dean Weitenhagen isn't a child prodigy with a five-year plan. He is a 70-year-old commercial real estate broker with a new lease on life — and a new "birthday" he celebrates — thanks to a lifesaving stem cell transplant for acute myeloid leukemia. Dean's new birthday, and his… Love, a lifesaving transplant and a weddingJohn and Stacy Reiser met at the perfect time. She needed his heart, and he needed her kidney. John and Stacy Reiser joke that their life is like a Hallmark movie — a classic boy meets girl, falls in love and gets married. Except in this Hallmark movie, the girl also saves the boy's life. Their story goes like this: Stacy, a diabetes educator at Mayo Clinic, stumbled across John's profile on a dating app… Share your experience Share your Mayo Clinic transplant experience with others using social media. 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