McLaren Port Huron oncologist in need of kidney transplant

Youssef Hanna has been spent his life trying to save others. When disease struck and he learned he would need a kidney transplant, his patients and the community offered to help save his life.

"(The community) is supporting me 100%," said Hanna, an oncologist at the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Port Huron. "And I want to assure all my patients my condition is very stable; I'm able to work full-time as usual and take care of them. I'm very blessed to see a lot them are offering to help and offering to donate."

Hanna has joined a list of people across the U.S. waiting for organ transplants, a list that keeps growing each year as the number of organ donors fail to keep pace with the need for organ donations, said Bruce Nicely, vice president of clinical operations for Gift of Life Michigan.

In 2019, Hanna was diagnosed with complement 3 glomerulopathy, a rare autoimmune disorder that causes damage to the kidneys. A kidney transplant would be his best hope at curing the disease, which will continue to cause damage to his liver to the point of liver failure.

Hanna's family members tried to make a donation, but they were not a match or had health conditions or the potential for health conditions that disqualified them from donating, he said. After a lengthy screening process, Hanna was put on the organ recipient list.

While Hanna said he can work full-time and feels physically fit, his condition will eventually worsen to the point of needing dialysis if he cannot get a kidney transplant in time.

Hanna is hoping for a donation from a live donor, as living donations are likely to last longer than deceased donations and be accepted immediately by the body.

Hanna and his family received an outpouring of love and support from his patients, the community and even complete strangers after they posted on Facebook to ask for donors. Hanna, who has practiced medicine for the past 28 years, said his patients have even offered to donate their own kidneys.

Doris Hanna, Youssef Hanna's wife, described her husband as a loving, dedicated doctor, husband and father. He treats his patients as part of his family. He works long hours and makes after-hours and personal calls to patients to ensure they are taken care of.

“He works with them from his heart," Doris Hanna said.

At home, Youssef Hanna is just as dedicated to his family, his wife said. While he takes about 22 medications a day himself, he still puts his wife's medication out on the counter to ensure she takes it. He is a proud father to their three daughters, and talks to them every day.

While Youssef Hanna's illness came as a shock to his family, Doris Hanna said they have faith he will find a donor before his condition worsens. The family's Catholic faith has helped sustain them through uncertainty.

"There is always tomorrow," Doris Hanna said. "Everything form God is good."

To inquire about a living donation for Hanna, visit the Henry Ford Health Center for Living Donation at henryford.com/services/transplant/center-for-living-donation.

A gift of life

Hanna is not alone. There are currently more than 100,000 people in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant, Nicely said.

The long waiting list can be partly attributed to the occasional difficulty in finding recipients for available organs, as donors and recipients must undergo a rigorous vetting process to ensure recipients are safely and properly matched with donations.

But the biggest reason for the wait list is the lack of available donors, Nicely said.

"Over 100,000 people on the (organ registry) list today. I've only seen that list grow despite thousands of transplants each year in the United States," he said. "Every day people are identified as needing an organ transplant as the only solution to their end-stage organ failure. So, the need is profound."

While the time a person spends waiting for an organ transplant varies and depends on many factors, the average wait time for a person on the organ registry can vary from six months for a heart to two years for lungs and three to five years for a kidney, Nicely said.

The longer a person waiting for a transplant waits, the more their condition will worsen, Nicely said, causing damage to areas of the body besides the affected organ, as well as psychological and quality-of-life issues. The vast majority of the time, an organ transplant is the only treatment that will be cure the disease and prevent organ failure and death.

Anyone can sign up to donate their organs either after their death or as a living donor for kidneys, or partial liver or lung donations. To sign up for deceased donations, visit giftoflifemichigan.org/, or Michigan residents can also sign up to become a deceased organ donor when obtaining or renewing their driver's license.

Nicely said potential organ donor registrants shouldn't worry about health or age concerns. If and when the time comes for a deceased donation, medical experts will make the most informed decision on if and which organs can be donated and who they will be matched to.

"It's the intent to give this gift that matters the very most; whether or not it actually goes through becomes secondary," Nicely said. "We invite and encourage people not to get caught up in the details. Don't worry about that part, leave it to the experts."

Those willing to explore living donation can also begin the process by calling their local transplant center or visiting giftoflifemichigan.org/about-donation/living-organ-donation. Nicely said potential living donors undergo an extensive health and psychological screening prior to donation to ensure they are physically and mentally healthy enough for donation, and they have the social support to assist them in the recovery process.

Signing up for deceased organ donation can spare a grieving family the pain of making that decision for their loved one if a tragedy strikes, and it can also provide some measure of comfort that their loved one's death contributed to the preservation of someone else's life, Nicely said.

"Just sign up," Nicely said. "It removes a grieving family from trying to have to make that decision at a very difficult time. It does tend to bring comfort after the fact and equally as important, it saves the lives of people on that transplant waiting list."

Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lfitzgeral@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: McLaren Port Huron oncologist in need of kidney transplant