54 year old Lisa Pisano’s health was deteriorating quickly. Her heart and kidney were failing and her life was in serious jeopardy. Doctors told her she was probably down to a few weeks and there was no way a heart and kidney would be made available to her as she was too far back on the waiting list. 27,000 kidneys were transplanted in 2023, but over 86,000 people were waiting. 17 people per day die in America waiting for an organ transplant and the waiting list is now over 100,000.
Her physician, Dr. Robert Montgomery, and his team from NYU Langone Transplant Institute suggested an experimental surgery to save her life. They received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration to try under the "the right to try" act that President Trump signed in 2018.
In a first-of-its-kind procedure, Lisa underwent a groundbreaking procedure where she received a genetically modified pig kidney transplant and a mechanical heart pump. Despite facing two cardiac arrests prior to the surgery, the New Jersey grandma's condition improved dramatically after the operation. The innovative operation proved successful, restoring her kidney to a healthy state and effectively saving her life. Before the operation Lisa said “The worst-case scenario, if it doesn’t work on me, they'll learn something from it anyways and it might work for the next person. Eventually they'll get it all figured out so somebody is gonna benefit from it.”
Lisa says she’s excited about the prospect of being able to play with her grandchildren again. She’s only the second person to ever have received a pig kidney, and the first to have one at the same time as a mechanical heart pump. Her procedure marks a significant advancement in medical science, offering hope to thousands of individuals suffering from organ failure.