October 15, 2020 Vol. 21, No. 22
In This Issue FOUR SEASONS
Four Seasons, by Kevin Box, in real life is located in front of the Center for Transformative Learning on the UCO campus, but this week is hidden somewhere in our paper. Email contest@edmondpaper.com with the correct location to be entered in the weekly drawing. For more information, see page 4.
A lifesaving milestone Integris logs 2020 kidney transplants
Edmond Schools superintendent to step down See Page 4
Dr. E.N. Scott Samara, Megan VinZant, PA, Bruce Jackson and Dr. Shea Samara
FRIDAY, October 16 Mostly Sunny High 66° Low 49°
SATURDAY, October 17 Sunny High 74° Low 55°
SUNDAY, October 18 Sunny High 73° Low 50°
The Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center is celebrating a major milestone. Surgeons with the institute recently completed the 2,020th kidney transplant performed at the hospital. “Originally, we were going to recognize the 2000th transplant,” says E.N. Scott Samara, M.D., the surgical director of the kidney transplant program at INTEGRIS. “But then we got to thinking – why don’t we wait and celebrate number 2,020 in the year 2020?” Samara has been with the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute for 34 years. He performed the very first kidney transplant at Baptist Medical Center in 1987. Dr. Samara and Dr. Shea Samara performed the 2020th transplant on Sept. 16. Bruce Jackson of Bethany was the lucky recipient. “It’s mind blowing to think they have done that many kidney transplants. That’s a lot of people with changed lives.” Jackson suffered from adult onset polycystic kidney disease, an inherited disorder in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within the kidneys, causing them to enlarge and lose function over time. His problems began in his early 40s when cysts started growing on both of his kidneys. At their worst, they reached the size of a watermelon! He had to endure daily dialysis
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treatments for nine hours each day. Two years after being placed on the kidney transplant list, he received the life-saving organ. “It’s only been three weeks out from the surgery and I’m living in a whole new world. On dialysis you are tied to a strict schedule. You have to plan ahead for everything. There is no deviating from the plan,” admits Jackson. “Now, I have a newfound sense of freedom and spontaneity.” “Bruce is a living example of the many benefits of transplantation,” says Samara. “The more people who donate their organs, the more stories like this we can tell.” Approximately 109,000 Americans are waiting on the kidney transplant list. Sadly, because of a shortage of donated organs, approximately 17 of these people will die every day without receiving a transplant. It’s a grim reality affecting families in Oklahoma and across the nation. With all the negativity associated with the year 2020, let’s take a moment to reflect on the 2,020 lives saved or extended due to kidney transplantation at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center – and may there be many more. For more health information see Healthier Edmond on pages 15 - 18.