鈥業t鈥檚 a whirlwind鈥�: Transplant nurse gets kidney transplant at hospital where she works
Heidi Prodoehl might know the inside of Froedtert's transplant center in Milwaukee better than anyone else.
"I'm just, like, interconnected multiple ways," she told sister station WISN.
The West Bend wife and mom of two young kids has been a transplant nurse at Froedtert for more than a decade. But on this particular day in December, she's not the one checking the vitals; she's a patient, bringing WISN with her exclusively to her first post-op appointment after getting a kidney transplant.
"She would be kind of a poster child of people who come in and do well," said Froedtert surgeon, Dr. Terra Pearson. "She would be the poster child. She's doing amazing."
"I'm doing really well," Prodoehl said. "I got my drain taken out. I got a staple taken out because the wound is looking really good."
Earlier this month, Prodoehl was wheeled off the same floor she works to cheers from colleagues who have become much more.
"They're my family. They know everything. They were well-informed about everything going on. They knew ahead of time," Prodoehl said.
WISN first introduced us to Prodoehl in 2020 when she found herself on the transplant list for the second time in her life. Born with a rare genetic disorder, she needed her first transplant, a new liver, in 2005.
Christmas came early this month when just days before starting dialysis, a match was found.
"The night actually, I got the call and came in, everyone was like running down the hallways, excited and congratulating and hugging me. And I was so happy, so happy. It was me that was coming in for this organ," she said.
Back on the mend, but not quite back to work, she's using the recovery time to share her story of the importance of organ donation.
"Yes, like Christmas. Especially right now, like, this is amazing because, you know, that person or whoever, whoever that was, I wouldn't be sitting here today talking to you guys had it not been for them. It's just amazing," she said.
In hopes of encouraging others to give the gift of life.
"One out of every six people know somebody who has needed or is on a transplant list," Pearson said. "Which means that the life you save can be your next-door neighbor or even your family."
To be connected with organ donation resources near you, click .
