Morning Medical Update: A Brother’s Kidney Donation Gave His Sister a Second Chance at Life

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:01]Coming up today, it was a life-saving birthday gift from one sibling [music] to another. Today, we meet the brother and sister now closer than ever after a kidney [music] transplant helps one build back strength, independence, and their life. [music] And meet the team of experts who helped make it all happen.

[00:00:20]>> [music] >> Good morning. I'm Jessica Lovell, and welcome to the Morning Medical Update.

[00:00:28]Bree Bauer has faced immense challenges over the past 2 years when a raging infection eventually took her limbs.

[00:00:35]She's worked hard to figure out a new way of doing things. But, she's doing it though with determination, strength, and in this case, patience. After a wait on the kidney transplant list, it was her big brother who stepped up big-time to help get Bree back to her life.

[00:00:52]>> She's always had a extremely [music] stubborn streak.

[00:00:56]>> Bree Bauer and her oldest brother, George, have a pretty typical sibling bond.

[00:01:02]>> [laughter] >> It's always been solid, but now it's [music] simply unbreakable.

[00:01:10]>> [cheering] >> This gift of life started with a sister [music] thrust into the national spotlight. In 2024, Bree nearly died after contracting [music] a rare infection 27 weeks pregnant with her youngest son, Bo.

[00:01:24]>> They're like, "We just need to do emergency C-section right now. We got to get him out."

[00:01:27]>> Bo was fine.

[00:01:30]But, in order to save her, doctors at the University of Kansas Health System had to remove Bree's limbs.

[00:01:37]Her family [music] felt helpless.

[00:01:39]>> Very, very difficult to just have nothing you can do [music] to change an outcome.

[00:01:45]>> There's going to be a way to do it. It's going to [music] take some time to figure it out.

[00:01:50]>> But, Bree is making what to many would appear impossible.

[00:01:55]>> There we go.

[00:01:57]And voila.

[00:01:58]>> Seem possible. [music] >> If I can't do something, I'll kind of look around and see what are my resources. I'm not going to let it um bring me down or make me feel sad.

[00:02:08]>> Mom to Barrett, [music] Brooks, and Beau.

[00:02:11]>> I love you, Mom.

[00:02:11]>> Thank you. Thank you.

[00:02:12]>> She's a wife.

[00:02:15]She's a content creator and a quadruple amputee.

[00:02:19]>> Whoa. That has been the hardest is just redefining [music] who I am as a mom.

[00:02:26]Let me see the club.

[00:02:27]Thank you.

[00:02:28]>> Life [music] is different now.

[00:02:30]>> I did it.

[00:02:31]>> Having two older brothers that would pick on [music] her, she would just fight.

[00:02:35]>> Yeah.

[00:02:36]There we go.

[00:02:37]>> Aggressively to the point that we're no longer picking on her cuz she [music] would hit with extreme force. Like you knew you weren't going to break her.

[00:02:45]And neither would this, hours of weekly dialysis >> [music] >> after the infection wore down Bree's kidneys.

[00:02:51]>> The biggest limitation it has is time, and you can't get back time.

[00:02:57]Um [music] either that being uh time where I don't feel, you know, crappy after dialysis. [music] Um time with my kids, time with my family.

[00:03:10]Um that is what dialysis is taking [music] away.

[00:03:14]>> She needed a kidney. Bree was placed on the transplant waiting list.

[00:03:19]>> [music] >> But if you know Bree, >> There is a video that we did just me and my girlfriends trying to [music] educate people and and having them ask me the same questions I've been getting online. But we really [music] just had fun with it.

[00:03:30]>> But it's a waiting game.

[00:03:32]>> Nationwide, uh I only [music] had an an 11% chance that they would find a match for for me.

[00:03:39]>> Bree was losing hope.

[00:03:40]>> Once my sister, she found out that she wasn't a match. When I learned that, I [music] was crushed because I really thought that that would be the perfect match. [music] >> Bree's birthday came. Still no kidney prospects.

[00:03:56]>> That day I had rehab and then I also had to do dialysis so I was just exhausted.

[00:04:03]>> That's when George FaceTimed from Colorado.

[00:04:07]>> Here's a coupon for one [music] pre-owned kidney redeemable at any participating KU medical establishment.

[00:04:13]I would be so much Bree and would feel absolutely honored to be part of this opportunity.

[00:04:18]Happy birthday, your big brother.

[00:04:22]>> [cheering] >> I still I still don't believe it.

[00:04:24]Honestly, once it really hits you [music] the first emotion you have is is you are guilty. You feel so guilty that this has to happen.

[00:04:33]>> [music] >> It's going to happen. It's see it's going to happen.

[00:04:36]>> George remembers unbelievable joy.

[00:04:40]>> You are a perfect match for your sister.

[00:04:42]I'm just like Like seeing it again.

[00:04:45]>> I love you, Bree.

[00:04:46]>> And in a matter of weeks Bree received her brother's kidney.

[00:04:53]>> You don't really get this many opportunities to do something meaningful. To have a chance to do something, make a sacrifice.

[00:05:00][music] You know, and and to have that be for a family member is just that much more impactful.

[00:05:08]>> Nice job.

[00:05:10]>> I am thankful for what I used to have.

[00:05:13]I'm thankful of the the things I accomplished before I [music] got sick.

[00:05:17]>> Can you see your dream board anywhere?

[00:05:19]>> And now I'm you know, I'm just really excited to see what I can accomplish now.

[00:05:26]>> And we are so excited to have Bree joining us from her home in View Cyrus.

[00:05:30]Always great to see you. Good morning.

[00:05:34]>> Good morning. Thank you for having me.

[00:05:35]>> Of course and we're so glad to have Bree's brother George also joining us from his home in Colorado. George, how you doing this morning?

[00:05:46]That's okay.

[00:05:49]>> Sorry about that. Yeah, I'm doing great.

[00:05:50]I'm uh glad to be here.

[00:05:51]>> Okay. Well, we're so glad to have you and we're so glad to have a big part of the team who made this transplant possible. Transplant surgeon and chief medical officer Dr. Shawn Kumar joins us. Uh director of transplantation Dr. Tim Schmidt and transplant coordinator Samantha Brenner. Glad you all could be here today.

[00:06:09]>> Thanks for having us.

[00:06:10]>> Dr. Kumar, how are you?

[00:06:14]>> Doing great. Thanks.

[00:06:15]>> Good. Good. Well, Bree, I want to start with you.

[00:06:18]Can you kind of explain what the biggest difference is in your health now that you've had the transplant? Like, what are you able to do now that you couldn't do before?

[00:06:30]>> Again, it has it's given me time to now focus on myself and my just creating my identity again. Um and focusing on my foundation and focusing on the kids without feeling like I'm going to, you know, pass out every time after I would feel like that after dialysis.

[00:06:57]Um and I I I just go back to time because that is one thing you can ever get back.

[00:07:04]Um and I feel good.

[00:07:07]Um people ask me, you know, if it was a an immediate thing where I felt better immediately.

[00:07:15]And it's true, but I still have lost four of my limbs. And so, it's I don't go back to, you know, normal. I'm still figuring that out.

[00:07:26]>> Yes, this new normal that you've been figuring out for the last couple of years. And you look great this morning.

[00:07:31]George, you've watched Bree's story unfold with so many unknowns along the way, but this was kind of something you finally had control of in a way. How How you make this decision? How did this all come about?

[00:07:44]>> Well, the decision to do it really wasn't something that was quote like made. Um you know, once we found out that it was a possibility that was sort of a foregone conclusion. We were just going to go ahead and move forward with it.

[00:07:55]Uh in terms of the control that we had, um the big thing was around really around timing. My my wife was due with our second baby. And that was going to be, you know, end of May. And so we found this out, you know, earlier in the year and just really trying to coordinate with the team to make sure that I would be capable of kind of being a a present, you know, father to a newborn, um and give myself enough time to recover from the surgery.

[00:08:20]>> Yeah, and we're going to talk a little bit about that this morning. And that's why we have Samantha, our transplant coordinator here to kind of kind of help navigate all this because this really starts with you. Explain your role as a transplant coordinator.

[00:08:32]Where does the search begin?

[00:08:34]>> Well, it has to start with the recipient. Um you know, Bree has to get the word out there.

[00:08:40]>> I can't go out there and seek people. Um but once she gets the word out there, um they call me. Um I guide them through the process and um just kind of help them um go through the evaluation and hopefully get approved and then um schedule the surgery and and coordinate all of that.

[00:08:59]>> And pretty typical to check out siblings, correct?

[00:09:02]>> Yes. And and yeah, all of her siblings, you know, and a lot of family members, um you know, rushed right in to, you know, try to donate to her.

[00:09:12]>> So, what made finding a match in Bree's case unique because of her circumstances aside from finding a living donor, she was also on you know, the waiting list.

[00:09:22]>> Yeah, and and so um Bree has a or she had a high antibody level um likely from like blood transfusions, um being pregnant. Um so she was just harder to match. So I always advised anyone that called for her that there's a good chance that you won't be a direct match and that we would have to do paired which she did actually have a friend in paired and nothing had kind of came up and then I got George's cross match back and I was just so shocked that he was a match and a perfect match.

[00:09:55]>> excited to make that call to George.

[00:09:56]>> I was so excited to tell him, yeah.

[00:09:59]>> Yeah, George you remember that call well, right?

[00:10:02]>> Oh yeah, very much so. We were I was on a actually a hike with my wife at the time and I mean it was like a perfect day and the call came through and we just sat there and paused for a good 15-20 minutes sort of in disbelief that it actually happened.

[00:10:17]>> Right, and all along Bree not knowing any of this quite yet. So we're going to get to that part of the story in a moment. But Dr. Smith, you were Bree's surgeon. Knowing Bree's complex case, what considerations needed to be taken ahead of surgery, during and after surgery?

[00:10:31]>> Well yeah, she's been through a lot so she's had multiple operations on lots of different things. So anytime you have a reoperation it's complex and then the blood flow to the new kidney comes to from the blood vessels that go to the leg and if you don't have that there then the blood vessels get smaller. So we had to do some challenging surgery just to get the space for the kidney and then the blood vessels were challenging.

[00:10:57]And then her core strength she that's all she has her core strength and we have to go through the core muscles and so she has to recover from that as well with the core.

[00:11:05]>> And we're looking at actual video from inside the OR that day both with our doctors and Bree and George. Dr. Kumar, we always say that you have one of the most stressful jobs at our entire hospital cuz you're operating on a perfectly healthy patient like George, right?

[00:11:21]>> Yeah, it's it's uh it's a true honor to do this, right? I you know, doing an operation on a you know, on someone that doesn't need an operation Um, that sort of violates our first premise of first do no harm.

[00:11:34]Um, we're doing harm, but we're we're doing that willingly um, to save someone else's life. So, it's an honor to to uh, to do these cases and you know, George is a hero to his sister, that's for sure.

[00:11:48]>> And I have to um, kind of call you out a bit. You're a little emotional watching that story. Um, what does it mean to you to to watch this unfold and just to be here today with all of us together um, talking about Bree and George?

[00:12:02]>> Yeah, you I think something got in my eye. I don't know what you're talking about there, Jess, [laughter] but um, you know, it's it's hard not to internalize these stories. You know, I'm I'm a big brother.

[00:12:12]Um, so, you know, I'm really close to my sister and I know you it makes you think about some of your family ties and you know, to see George being a big brother to his sister is just a really touching story. So.

[00:12:25]>> Well, I may tell a few people today I may Kumar cry. I hope you don't mind.

[00:12:29]>> No, it was it was George and Bree, not you, Jess.

[00:12:32]>> It's totally [laughter] his fault.

[00:12:34]We're going to blame Bree today. I like that. So, um, explain how you both work together those side-by-side. The the separate ORs to make sure that this kidney transplant is pulled off successfully. Explain kind of what's going on in there.

[00:12:48]>> Um, well, you know, here you see the donor operation going right right now.

[00:12:53]Um, we you know, Dr. Schmidt and I have been working together for a number of years.

[00:12:58]Um, we probably don't want to share how many as we've gotten older, um, this is you know, we we basically know each other's moves and the timing of these operations and what works for preparation of the kidney to be donated in next door and here you see Dr. Schmidt bringing the kidney from one OR to the [clears throat] next. So, we time that operation. Obviously, the donor, George in this case, went back earlier.

[00:13:20]We got started and at some point during the case, usually Dr. Schmidt will pop his head into the room and see where things are and then he'll make his decision when the recipient comes back.

[00:13:30]>> We want to show that moment when you remove George's kidney finally. I think we want to take a look at that when we can.

[00:13:36]Um, you know, and just what's happening.

[00:13:38]I would ask Dr. Schmidt cuz cuz you're waiting literally just feet away to take it from there. So, tell us what happens in your OR. Um, how long it takes?

[00:13:47]What's what's going on next door?

[00:13:49]>> Yeah, depending on the challenging challengingness of the recipient, we timed to bring back that patient at a certain event during his OR so we don't have her in the OR too long and we don't have the kidney out of the ice too long. So, we brought her back, got everything prepared, and then Sean was ready to take out the kidney.

[00:14:10]So, when I get the kidney, I have to cool it down with the preservative and then prepare it to sew back in by uh dissecting the blood vessels and make sure it can have a place to go. So, it's just a lot of moving parts, but it seems like it's seamless now cuz yeah, it's been about 20 years that we've worked together. I feel like I don't know. It's a long time.

[00:14:31]>> [laughter] [gasps] >> Well, Bree, I have to ask you because you took to social media to educate on kidney donation. Explain why that outlet was so important for you and kind of what was your takeaway from it.

[00:14:45]>> I mean, it it still is important for me to try to get this out there cuz there are hundreds of thousands of people that still need kidneys, but when it was more personal for me, um, and at that time, uh, before I really put out the word, I thought none of my siblings matched. Um, but little did did I know George had, you know, a couple more tests to complete.

[00:15:14]Um, and that I was on the news, you know, in tears saying, uh, that I needed a kidney.

[00:15:22]Um, and it sounds like, you know, a lot of people came forward, um, but then we learned that George was a uh, perfect match. And when we perfect match, I was like, nah, doctors don't use that word.

[00:15:37]There's nothing that's ever like But this was perfect.

[00:15:40]>> Perfect. It was perfect, perfect surprise.

[00:15:43]Dr. Schmidt, explain for those who don't understand kidney disease and just its specific challenges for patients. Kind of educate us on it.

[00:15:51]>> I think the big thing is kidney disease, when you get to dialysis, impacts quality of life and time, the two things that Bree was talking about. I mean, if you have to spend 9 hours a week on a dialysis machine and you feel terrible before and you feel terrible after, well, you've lost three or four days of your life out of seven.

[00:16:09]So, time is a big problem, fatigue, and just, you know, you don't feel like you have enough energy. So, the impact on your quality of life is, uh, significant with kidney disease.

[00:16:21]>> Samantha, who out there makes a good match? How could somebody, perhaps watching our program today, learn more about living donation?

[00:16:30]>> Um, well, there's, you know, lots of resources, um, online, um, at KU. Um, they would give us a call, um, you know, if anyone was interested or just wanted information about kidney donation.

[00:16:42]Um, as far as making a good match, I think that's just kind of up to DNA.

[00:16:48]Um, but the most important thing is being healthy and being able to live your life, you know, with one kidney.

[00:16:53]Um, and that's kind of our main focus for a donor.

[00:16:56]>> George, I have to ask you, just emotionally, what has this experience been like for you? And then explain how you're doing physically now.

[00:17:04]>> Well, emotionally, it during this entire thing, like the the volume, I guess emotionally got turned up. You just look at you look at your family, you know, your wife, your child, uh, with a bit more uh, uh, um intensity cuz you kind of realize that you're going into a situation where things will become more fragile.

[00:17:26]Um physically, I mean, if if you didn't tell me I had donated a kidney, if I didn't know, I wouldn't know. Um that you I feel, you know, totally back to normal. Um outside of just occasionally checking, you know, I have a rambunctious 2-year-old that will jump on me periodically you know, during recovery, so I'm still kind of terrified I'm going to blow out a hernia or something.

[00:17:47]Uh but other than that, doing great.

[00:17:49]>> Fantastic.

[00:17:50]Dr. Comer, I know you have to get going here in just a couple of minutes, but before we let you go, I have to ask you, you know, what do you want the big takeaway to be from Bree and George's story today? Cuz I know you always explain who the real hero is in these cases, and I just wanted to give you a moment to talk about that for a second.

[00:18:09]>> Yeah, I mean, it's a true honor. Um you know, Tim and I are really just the vehicles to to help people and help this occur, and the true heroes are always the donors, uh whether living or deceased.

[00:18:23]Uh in this case, obviously a living donor. Uh it's something you get to see and enjoy, and you see that, you know, you can see the smile on Bree's face, and just the time that she's gotten back and the quality of her life has improved, and um I think it's really important to note that um everyone should take pause and think about how they can help everyone.

[00:18:44]You know, be a donor, uh sign your donor card. Um so, if you're a deceased donor or you can donate tissue, those are important things so other people can live their lives. And if you can be a living donor, please reach out.

[00:18:56]Think about it. Get educated. It doesn't mean you have to do it, but please get educated about that. And our our folk like Sam and her partner Liz do this every day, and they're great resources, so please look into it.

[00:19:08]>> Dr. Comer, always great to have your expertise. Thank you.

[00:19:12]>> Thanks for having me. You all take care.

[00:19:14]George, Bree, congratulations and thank you so much.

[00:19:19]>> I thank you, doctor.

[00:19:21]>> Well, be sure to ask your questions. Use the chat on YouTube or Facebook. You can also email the Medical News Network. All of that information is there on your screen. We want to show the video that Bree you made actually during this surprise moment when this was when you were kind of processing what was going on when George revealed that he was going to be your donor. Can you kind of sum up the the look on your face that we're seeing? What was going on?

[00:19:49]>> I mean, it it took me back to when I was actually still in the hospital um initially and learning about kidney disease and and where my kidneys uh you know, were at where they weren't going to work anymore.

[00:20:03]And we just discussed um transplant and I was like, I am not going to let my siblings, you know, uh donate to me. I would just I just feel so bad about it.

[00:20:15]Um and with this video, you could see my wheels turning.

[00:20:22]Um but I I it Reed and I were both in disbelief.

[00:20:28]Um especially, like I said earlier, when they say it was a perfect match.

[00:20:33]It's hard to really absorb it until it's been done.

[00:20:39]Um and you know, I didn't feel perfect right after, but um just looking at my face in the video.

[00:20:50]But I mean, honestly, that's like uh the what was going on in my mind. And then when it um when I kind of took it in, you just start feeling guilty, you know, with the fact that uh a loved one has to go through such a traumatic surgery. Um Luckily, you know, George is healthy, strong, and um the way he Cuz we talked later, and the way he explained his thoughts were really comforting where I think you mentioned this before, it there was no question. It wasn't even a question for him.

[00:21:36]Um and uh I think of my dad who passed a few months before I initially got sick.

[00:21:48]Um and just how how proud he would be of George stepping up.

[00:21:56]>> [clears throat] >> Uh just help just to help his little sister.

[00:22:02]>> I'm glad you shared that part cuz I know that was a big part of your story, and just, you know, feeling the love from your dad and and just watching the bond between you and George unfold. And George, I have to say cuz you've mentioned your two small children. You had one at the time, and then one since.

[00:22:18]And I want to just get take a moment to let you talk about your wife and the support during all of this time.

[00:22:26]>> Uh she my wife is she's a very tough cookie. Um and her support was was unwavering, you know, from from the get-go. Uh as we got closer, you could definitely see like closer to the actual date of surgery, you could see that she had um a bit of the nervousness creeping in. She would try to hide it as much as she could, but you can kind of sense it. Um but it with it all, I I will say that again, talking about the fragility of of life and such, like it does sort of calm the noise around you. And um between her and I, it gives you a moment to sort of like look at each other and appreciate each other in a way that you probably wouldn't have the opportunity to do so if you weren't going through something like this.

[00:23:09]>> It's about that we touched on it earlier that George needed some special accommodations to happen cuz again he gets this opportunity to donate but he's also got a baby >> Yes.

[00:23:17]>> coming just you know couple months away.

[00:23:20]This is part of your job though to help accommodate from from both ends. How do you do that? How are you able to make those kind of things happen?

[00:23:27]>> Well, luckily the team at KU and the OR and Dr. Schmidt you know we'll make things happen if we can. Um Brie you know was kind of complicated and actually had another surgery planned so we had to work with her other surgeon to make sure that you know this was the right thing to do and that George could be healed by the time you know his baby was going to arrive. Um so it's the typical but this one was just a little extra special.

[00:23:57]>> Little extra special. I was going to say this this could not ever get old for you I would imagine.

[00:24:01]>> This is how it always goes. If there's not like you know some chaos it's not a living donor transplant so >> Dr. Schmidt what's it like for you just emotionally? I know you do this every day but it's got to kind of feel different each and every time and then to watch watch everyone gather here today.

[00:24:18]>> Yeah I mean it's always my favorite case cuz you get to see somebody go from suffering to better and it usually is pretty immediate and Brie's case I remember specifically she uh looked me in the eye and she said usually when I have a surgery I wake up and hear something bad that's not going to happen today and so there's extra pressure. I was like okay can't mess this up.

[00:24:39]>> [laughter] >> So there was quite a bit of pressure but everything seemed to go fine and we're tink we're tinkering with things now and she her kidney function is really good now and she's doing great.

[00:24:48]>> I think I kind of held my breath until the surgery was over. I'm like please let it go good.

[00:24:53]>> Well and I was texting you off hours and just making sure everything is going good. So, everybody pulling for Bree and George just to do well and to have the story end the way it has so far. Bree, I know your husband Reed is the other big hero in your life. We have to mention him. He administered your your dialysis every time hours a day.

[00:25:16]He's been your rock as you said. How's he doing? How are the boys doing?

[00:25:21]>> Um overall, I think he reads going back and playing tennis a lot more.

[00:25:29]Uh just it was a wreck kind of um sport that he played uh for years and he got back in that cuz he has the time now. Um the kids are excited because when they hear, "Oh, I don't have to do dialysis, we can do something fun."

[00:25:47]Um and the best part was watching the machines be brought out of our quote dialysis room, which now we're in between the naming of the room if it's like going to be an art room or just not the dialysis room. We're We're workshopping it right now.

[00:26:08]>> Good. [laughter] The anti-dialysis room.

[00:26:10]And I think you said you wanted to like run the machine so far with your car?

[00:26:14]>> Oh, that'd be great. Yeah, or my wheelchair. Like it's >> Yeah, exactly. [laughter] Totally give it the business, for sure.

[00:26:22]Um I want to get to some questions and comments from our viewers this morning.

[00:26:26][music] And we've got a great one from Nate to kick us off.

[00:26:29]Um Bree, this feels like a lot. My heart goes out to you.

[00:26:33]Um how have you found the emotional balance between these medical things that take up so much brain space against living life, doing the things that you love and bring you joy? And just He says he's so glad to see you on the other side of this kidney transplant. But how how are you balancing all of it?

[00:26:50]>> Um probably not in a like a would a therapist say I'm doing it in the correct way? They probably say no.

[00:27:00]But, um, I've had so much go on where emotion has been set aside almost. Um, you could even say that I'm still kind of in shock.

[00:27:11]But, um, I process things more than I allow emotion to come in. So, um, when I'm looking at upcoming surgeries or, um, just ongoing health, um, I I think about what it's going to look like and uh, I always think of the worst outcome cuz for me it it will better uh, help me mentally prepare for something like that. But, um, right now my therapist and I are trying to find that emotion >> [laughter] >> um, I think I just use kind of like dark humor or just humor in itself. Um, and uh, trying to stay up to date and educated about what's going on with my health.

[00:28:01]>> Sarah wants to know, does this mean that Bree will never have to do dialysis again? Please say yes.

[00:28:06]>> I mean, that's the hope. That I mean, I was thinking about the first kidney transplant the University of Kansas ever did was in the early 70s and she lived to be she died, I think, last year. So, the kidney worked for 50 4 years. So, and with the perfect match, that was a twin to twin, but this is as good as it gets with a brother to sister that hopefully this kidney will last a long time.

[00:28:31]>> Well, Jennifer wants to know if George ever needs a kidney one day, the hope is he's not cuz he's gone through so much so much pre-work up. Um, but if he were, would he go to the top of the list because he's so amazing?

[00:28:42]>> Yeah, the kidney donors will receive special privilege when they get back if they need a kidney transplant. It's not very common, but if they do, they would get special accommodations to be on the top of the list.

[00:28:55]>> it's not common because you he's gone through so much >> Right. And the selection process is pretty vigorous as he could account to.

[00:29:01]There's a lot of tests, a lot of scans.

[00:29:03]And he's otherwise really healthy, so he should be fine, but if he does need one, he gets extra credit.

[00:29:08]>> gets it on your schedule, top of your schedule.

[00:29:10]>> And um well, I just want to ask Tiffany wants to actually our last question is, how do you become a living donor? Just what is the process? What do you do? Somebody's just watching right now and goes, I want to do that or I want to try to see if I can help.

[00:29:24]>> Yeah, you would uh reach out to um someone in in living donor. Um there's a couple other people in the department with me and um we, you know, start a health questionnaire and just guide you through the process. So really just like researching and then reaching out to a transplant center.

[00:29:41]>> Well, we want to get our takeaways today. George, I want to start with you.

[00:29:44]Just thanks so much for joining us this morning and thanks for everything that you've done to make make this all possible. What do you want the big takeaway from you and Bree's story to be?

[00:29:54]>> Oh god, that's a big question.

[00:29:56]Um >> [snorts] >> I don't know. My my general takeaways with all this is is probably just twofold. Uh just amazement that we have like the team, the technology to to coordinate and put it this all together.

[00:30:10]Um and then on top of it all just gratitude that that that that we have the opportunity to do something like this, something so complicated involving so many people um and schedules and talents and and and everything um and that it all just, you know, came together so smoothly. I I I can't thank the team enough for for just doing what they do.

[00:30:35]>> Well, we're so glad that you're with us and doing well today. Samantha, what's the big takeaway from from this particular story?

[00:30:40]>> I mean, every time I say that I have the best patients, um you know, people like George that don't even hesitate, you know, to help um someone that they care about or even strangers sometimes um in need. And, you know, Bree was very hesitant to let someone that she loves help her, but you know, you have to let people help you. And and I've heard donors say before, um you know, they'd be lying if they said they didn't get something out of this out of this. So, you know, what a great opportunity for George to help a sister.

[00:31:14]>> Tim Schmidt, what's the big takeaway?

[00:31:16]>> I think I'd echo what Shawn [snorts] said, but I also when George talked about looking at life differently, you know, take day by day. I mean, we see people with kidney disease, cancer, whatever. And sometimes you realize that you're stressed about all this other stuff, but when you should just focus on what you got and be happy and and these two people have shown us that, you know, you can it's it's challenging life can be challenging, but you can still find happiness.

[00:31:43]>> Big perspective. Well, Bree, this is your big beautiful story. I'm going to let you wrap us up today. And just what do you want people to really get from all of this?

[00:31:54]>> Um in life, you want to make sure you have people around you that you can trust in case something like this happens cuz support is everything.

[00:32:09]Um if I was and I and I think about those patients who don't have that kind of support and and what that feels like and the outcome of of their life. Um I've to me, I feel like life is all about adapting.

[00:32:28]And um for those who don't, you know, adapt to changes, they usually don't have a good quality of life.

[00:32:36]Um and I I remind myself of that a lot.

[00:32:39]Uh Where this is it is what it is.

[00:32:44]I want to be here.

[00:32:46]It's a completely change in the perspective and you know, obviously physical changes, but I'm still here.

[00:32:56]And I I'm so grateful that people it's just still a shock that George and I are a match in that regard.

[00:33:10]But we consider ourselves twins now.

[00:33:14]But I think overall you we want to make sure you have a good team around you.

[00:33:22]Even if you're doing okay.

[00:33:25]And especially with medical care, I've I've loved KU since I started working there.

[00:33:31]Actually since I started nursing school there.

[00:33:35]And I I really put my trust in them and and they came out, you know, perfectly.

[00:33:42]>> Well, we thank you just for sharing your story and every single time you're on our program, we learn so much from you.

[00:33:47]So it's really our takeaway and we appreciate you so much. And we will see you soon, right?

[00:33:54]>> It sounds like it, yeah.

[00:33:55]>> Yeah. Yeah, we will. And George again, thank you so much for being here.

[00:34:00]>> I'm glad to be here. Thank you.

[00:34:02]>> Again, thanks to all of our guests and thanks to our viewers for being with us today. Starting June 12th through July 10th, [music] join me and Alexis Del Cid every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for live streams on YouTube and Facebook for special World Cup updates. The University [music] of Kansas Health System is the official medical services provider for the Kansas City World Cup 2026 host city. We will have exciting [music] content, lots of experts, and even weather updates to make sure visitors are prepared and are ready to enjoy their time here [music] as the world shines a light on the Kansas City metro.

[00:34:37]And also, starting next [music] week, we are going on hiatus from our daily programs, working to prepare new seasons and shows with amazing patient stories.

[00:34:46]So, in the meantime, we have selected [music] some of our very favorite episodes to rebroadcast over the summer.

[00:34:51]So, we hope you enjoy >> [music] >> those encore presentations, and of course, we'll see you back here this fall.

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