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As a med tech with a medical laboratory science education, Natasha Leon, MLS(ASCP)SBB (sister in law of our 2025 Histotechnologist of the Year, Nicole Leon), of Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin feels very comfortable with healthcare procedures. She spent most of her career in a hospital setting doing transfusion service, and has since moved to the blood donor side of the field.
However, when her personal and professional lives collided, she got a crash course in the organ donation area of healthcare, which Leon shares in the NSH When Worlds Collide Through Organ Donation webinar.
While Leon understood what was happening when her mother was diagnosed with renal failure in 2022, her medical training didn’t prepare her for the feelings she’d experience when she learned a kidney transplant would be necessary to save her mother’s life. Although the family had previously celebrated the fact that a biopsy revealed the matriarch no longer had active ANCA vasculitis, a visit to the nephrologist quickly changed the festive mood.
“When we showed up at the nephrologist, he kicks it off with what the next steps are for preparing for end stage kidney disease. I thought, ‘Okay, I guess we all probably have to at some point in our life.’ Then he followed up with choosing your type of dialysis and attending an educational session surrounding your type of dialysis,” said Leon. “Then the final kick to the midsection of that appointment was him talking about getting on the transplant list. The devastating news of hearing that—and the quick unknowns of rejection, the surgery, and getting a donor—meant we started off from tears of joy because this was no longer active to tears of fear of the unknown.”
The data shows those fears were justified: There are about 90,000 people around the country waiting for a kidney at any given time, and they may wait three to five years for a suitable donor. And every day, 11 people won’t outlive that wait.
The Patient Journey Begins
After the shock set in, the family quickly sprang into action to get Leon’s mother on the transplant list. She also moved from practitioner to patient by offering to become a donor herself.
Leon went through a grueling process of doctor’s appointments, tests, and medical thresholds she had to meet to be approved as a kidney donor. She dealt with a parade of professionals—from nutrition to social work to finance—who educated her on every aspect of the process and how becoming a kidney donor would truly impact her life. She was even assigned a mentor who had donated a kidney and could answer Leon’s candid questions: How long would she be in recovery? What limitations might she experience after the surgery? Would she still be able to go out and enjoy a few drinks at happy hour? During these discussions, the mentor would prepare Leon for what to expect as the patient.
She learned a lot along the way, including the fact that potential organ donors are connected with a third party they can check in with throughout their journey.
“That was just to ensure that I’m pursuing this process on my own and not being coerced, bullied, or pressured,” Leon said. “They checked in probably three or four times throughout this process. It was a safe space and if I felt bullied or pressured, I could back out. I would say ‘I don’t want to.’”
Leon stayed the course, and there were several twists and turns in her patient journey. To find out more details about her experience as a patient, the clinical specifics of her mother’s diagnosis and care, and where the family stands today, watch the NSH When Worlds Collide Through Organ Donation webinar.
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