My initial goal was to get my sister through peritoneal dialysis. My mission was successful. My primary goal was to get her to and through transplantation . We exceeded that goal. She has also become an advocate for her own health.

Overall, this experience has affected how I practice as a nurse practitioner. I have become a better clinician. I think about how I expected perfection from our health-care teams and want to provide that same level of care to my patients. I have become more compassionate with my patients and their family members. The hospital I worked at was known for oncology and transplantation . I worked in oncology, but my personal life leads me into the area of transplantation , where I have learned a lot along the way. Since undergoing my living related kidney donor surgery , I have worked with a patient who was going through her cancer treatment at the same time that her husband was going through a living related liver transplant from her son. I have also cared for patients with chronic kidney disease who are on hemodialysis and are subsequently being treated for their cancer. I became more connected to these patients and wanted to be sure that they were able to take care of themselves as well as their family members. I let these patients know that they need to advocate for themselves and their family members because the health-care systems are so complex. I became disenchanted with the health care system from the day my sister had her peritoneal catheter placed and through our recipient and donor evaluation experiences. However, after surgery , I regained respect for the health care system. It got my sister and me through our surgical procedures without incident.