DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – April is Donate Life Month, a time to bring attention to the need and importance of organ, eye and tissue donation.
UW Health is recognizing the month as it reaches a milestone nearly 60 years in the making.
Fifty-seven year old Gary Grosklaus says he’s getting stronger every day. The Wisconsin Rapids man spent a little more than a month at his brother’s De Pere home recovering from the kidney and pancreas transplant he had in February.
“It’s going to give me a better life and extend my life,” said Grosklaus of his transplant surgery.
It was about 25 years ago when Grosklaus was diagnosed with high blood pressure which led to other health issues and eventually kidney failure. After having quintuple bypass surgery in 20-22, he was moved up to number one on the kidney transplant list in January of 2023.
A little more than a year later, and after six false alarms, Grosklaus finally received the lifesaving call in February.
He said, “It takes a long time. They said just for a kidney transplant it’s three to five years and I was lucky to get mine in two years.”
More than a half century ago, UW Health started performing transplants like the one Grosklaus received.
Kidney transplants are by far the most common, with more than 12,000 since the program started, but the list is extensive.
“Well over 3,000 liver transplants, almost 2,500 pancreas transplants, a thousand heart transplants, and 1,500 lung transplants so it spans many different kinds of organs,” said Dr. Dixon Kaufman, director of UW Health Transplant Center.
Grosklaus’ surgery was number 20,000 for the UW Health Transplant Center.
According to Dixon, “For number 20,000 to be what we we call an SPK transplant, simultaneous pancreas kidney transplant makes perfect sense. It’s historical in a way, I mean it’s an historical number. Very very few programs have achieved that amount.”
The milestone number and the gift he received, from a deceased donor, is not lost on Grosklaus or his family.
He said, “I can’t ever in a million words explain how much gratitude I have for the family for giving me a better life.”
“I think of the donor’s family and how thankful we are for the gift they’ve given our family. It just means a lot,” added Grosklaus’ brother, Steve.
And as he looks to the future, he feels a sense of responsibility to live life to the fullest. He said, “I want to spend time with my nephews and family and friends and get back to a normal life.”
All while honoring his donor and stressing the importance and life changing impact organ donation can have on so many. “There needs to be more awareness to that stuff because it can help out a lot of people,” added Grosklaus.
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