(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A Zion man is now the second to undergo a unique surgery at Northwestern Medicine.
In late 2019, Harry Stackhouse began to feel under the weather. After a few months of symptoms, he met with his doctors at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, where he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and the bad news didn’t stop there.
“That led to one kidney failing and the other one was only working at 2%. Immediately, he put me on dialysis,” he said.
After several years, his daughter Trewaunda convinced him to take one of her kidneys.
“You start to see the downside effects of dialysis. For me, my whole thing was for him to get back to doing the things he enjoys doing without being tired,” Trewaunda said.
The now 74-year-old became the second patient to undergo an awake kidney transplant at Northwestern Medicine last month, which involves a spinal anesthetic rather than general anesthesia.
“I didn’t feel anything. I’ve never had any pain with this procedure. I wake up, I walk a mile, I take my meds, I do my labs and everything is fine.”
The first patient to undergo the awake kidney transplant at Northwestern was 28-year-old John Nicholas of Chicago in May of this year.
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