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Methodist Dallas Medical Center
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Winter 2014 – 2015
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The team behind the care
The Methodist Dallas staff — coordinators, laboratory personnel, nephrologists,
surgical and intensive care teams, and others — rose to meet the unexpected
demands of multiple organ offers in one weekend. “This is precisely what our
expanding transplant program requires,” Dr. Fasola says. “The response was
immediate and exemplary.”
Joanne Gonzalez Marti's journey to health took faith,
patience, and a literal journey to Methodist Dallas.
Each year, more than 10 percent of
Methodist Dallas’ kidney transplant
patients come from Puerto Rico.
“Our patients from Puerto Rico take
comfort in knowing they will receive
excellent care in Dallas, then return home
to the support system that carried them
through dialysis and made them healthy
enough to get a kidney transplant,” Dr.
Dickerman says. On Holy Saturday, Joanne
Gonzalez Marti was one of those patients.
Diabetes takes its toll
When the call came from Dallas, 54-year-
old Joanne was at home in San Juan,
Puerto Rico, about to begin scrapbooking
with her best friend, Virginia Fernandez.
“It was April 17, Holy Week,” Joanne
recalls. “They called at 8:30 in the morning
and said I had a kidney and it was a
perfect match — but I had to be in Dallas
that night!”
Joanne’s kidney failure was the result of
late-diagnosed diabetes that had damaged
her kidneys. Her positive attitude and
faith-based conviction that she would
someday get a new kidney sustained
her through 3½ years of infections,
challenging food restrictions, and
exhausting dialysis.
“Sometimes I couldn’t go to church
on Sunday because I was destroyed from
dialysis on Friday,” she recalls.
Finally, the wait was over. Joanne,
accompanied by Virginia, made it to Dallas
by 11 p.m. The business coordinator who
assists patients from Puerto Rico picked
the women up at the airport and arranged
for their accommodations. Joanne’s surgery
was scheduled for Holy Saturday.
“I met Dr. Dickerman and realized how
knowledgeable he is,” Joanne says. “That
made me very comfortable. Remember,
I wasn’t in my country — my family was
in Puerto Rico. It was hard, but I felt
extremely safe.”
After a successful surgery, Joanne
returned to friends and family in
Far from home, but feeling safe
Puerto Rico. Today, life shines even
brighter because Joanne knows she’ll be
around for her loved ones, including a
child with special needs.
“I hope someday to thank my donor’s
family personally and tell them what this
means to me,” she says. “In that family’s
tragedy of losing their loved one, I am alive.”
Acts of heroism
While their patients are quick to praise
Drs. Dickerman and Fasola, the surgeons
say the donors and their families are the
true heroes.
“If they don’t say yes — and they don’t
have to say yes — none of this could
happen,” Dr. Dickerman says. Dr. Fasola
agrees: “In the midst of deep grief, these
sorrowful families were still strong enough
to consent to the ultimate gift their loved
ones could give: the gift of life.”