To mark its 30-year anniversary, UNMC Today talked with doctors, patients and staff about the transplant program.
We asked:
“What have you learned from your patients about medicine and the field of transplantation?”
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Philip Bierman, M.D. | Theresa Franco, M.S.N. |
Philip Bierman, M.D. – professor, Internal Medicine, answers:
“It’s hard for me to express my admiration for the way our patients put their faith and trust in us. They are going through a bad period in their lives, but they are invariably kind and gracious. They are understanding even when they get bad news or when we answer their questions with, “I don’t know.” Our patients rarely complain, no matter how bad they feel or how serious their condition is. I know this is what makes me and my colleagues enjoy doing what we do.”
What has it meant to you to be part of the transplant program?
Theresa Franco, executive director Cancer Care Service Line, The Nebraska Medical Center, answers:
“Being a part of the transplant program has been the most rewarding experience of my career at the medical center. It has been an honor to be a part of a team that has made a commitment to patients to deliver state-of-the-art compassionate transplant care. I never imagined I would have the privilege of working with so many talented individuals who have made an impact on so many professional and personal lives. What an incredible journey.”
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Bill Penry |
“What difference has having a transplant made in your life?”
Bill Penry of Omaha answers:
“After being told I had less than a month to live, and then successfully undergoing two separate bone marrow transplants,
it is easy to say what it means to me. It means life – and living it well. And 20 years after the fact, the UNMC program is extremely successful, and I am alive and very well. Is there anything in this world more important than that? Not to my wife of 45 years, nor to our two children, nor to my employees, nor even my cats. And certainly not to me.
“All of us who have received this second chance, this extension of life as we know it, recognize what the UNMC transplant programs are, as well as the personnel that make them what they are.
“And we all are thankful beyond words.”