Even after 20 years of performing kidney transplants, Dr. Nikole Neidlinger is still awestruck and humbled by the role she plays between the donors and recipients of these organs.
“The operation takes two to three hours,” said Neidlinger, director of Organ and Tissue Donation at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “When we attach a kidney and open it up to blood flow, it just starts functioning. I’ve seen it thousands of times now, but every time I’m like, ‘This is a miracle. This is amazing.’”