Heidi Flanagan:     The transplant coordinator role begins after a patient's been referred to our program and insurance is cleared. And then I start the process with a lot of education and helping patients start to navigate the process of going down an evaluation pathway. And it can take several paths, but we do a lot of testing and a lot, a lot of education with patient and family.

Lori Franssen:      A lot of things are happening to them and it's our job as coordinators to really help them and educate them on what to expect, and that really helps to kind of quell some of their fears.

Martha Perkins:     And then on the post-transplant side, we are really trying to get them through the rigorous testing that they need to make sure that their graft is doing well, to make sure they're tolerating all the different medications we have them on, to make sure they're coping with everything they need to manage with all their new medications they're on after transplant, and that they themselves are mentally and physically doing well. And then we help them manage any symptoms they do have after transplant.

Lisa Williams:      I'm a registered nurse and what I do is I talk to all people who come forward to be a kidney donor to a loved one or a friend. I ask them some questions over the phone, do an intake form, help them through the process. I essentially become their person of contact, their person to talk to, just their overall person really at UVA.

Martha Perkins:     On an emotional level, my patients are my extended family. I have been in transplant for almost seven years, and I've done both pre and post-transplant, to the patients that I have, I've literally had them since the day they walk in the door for the most part. And I really do consider them family.

Heidi Flanagan:     UVA's really their transplant family. This is somebody that they're going to follow up for the rest of their live, so it's not "We're just going to come to fix her arm and once the arm's fixed, not see." We see them for the duration.

Lori Franssen:      They really look to us as their guides and as someone that they can trust throughout this process.

Lisa Williams:      I love being able to tell somebody, "You've been approved to be a donor," especially when it comes to their loved ones. They get very emotional and very excited about that.

Martha Perkins:     I'm all about giving people a second chance in live and when I see somebody that was on death's door three weeks ago, six months ago, two years ago, and watch them coming in or just hearing about how great they're doing and they got to hold their granddaughter or grandson or got to walk their daughter down the aisle, it's just what I live for. It just makes my day, so it's why we do what we do.`