WakeMed clinical nurse, Amanda Page, cares for patients in the WakeMed Raleigh Campus, surgical operating room. She’s seen her fair share of challenging cases and has been instrumental in the recovery of untold numbers of patients who have come through the doors.
Kind, compassionate and precise: she’s excellent at what she does because she’s had her own serious health challenges and can truly empathize with the plight of those dealing with medical issues and undergoing serious surgical procedures.
A Kidney Transplant
On March 10, 1986, she had a kidney transplant as a result of IgA nephropathy or Berger’s disease. This type of kidney disease occurs when immunoglobulin A (IgA) builds up in the kidneys, causing inflammation that, over time, restricts the kidneys’ ability to filter waste from the blood.
The transplant was a success, so she went about her life, caring for patients and enjoying her loved ones in her free time. Then, more than three decades later, in 2021, she began to experience debilitating neck pain unrelated to her kidney.
Surgery for Neck Pain
Her provider determined that she required an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, a type of neck surgery that involves removing a damaged disc to relieve spinal cord or nerve root pressure. On December 27, 2021, at
WakeMed Raleigh Campus, neurosurgeon,
Russell Margraf, MD and team completed her surgery without complication. All went well, and she was discharged home the same day.
Kidney Issues Return
On New Year’s Eve, December 31, Amanda had cause for alarm. Amanda’s kidney was swelling.
Amanda says, “I noticed I had not voided much at all and was having right lower quadrant pain over the site of my transplanted kidney.”
She was in acute renal failure of her transplanted kidney!
While dialysis is an option for many, she likely would not have survived the severe kidney swelling since it was affecting other organs in her body.
WakeMed’s Multidiciplinary Team Comes Together to Save Her Transplanted Kidney
WakeMed emergency physician, David Rosenbaum, MD, had her transferred to the
WakeMed Raleigh Campus Emergency Department where he ordered a bladder scan. There was no evidence of fluid in her bladder, so a urinary catheter was inserted with a small return. He also ordered a CT-scan of the abdomen, with results of a severe hydronephrosed kidney.
With a clear idea of what was happening, David Rosenbaum, MD, consulted with on-call urologist,
Josip Vukina, MD, for next steps.
Amanda says, “My pain was severe, so I was given pain medication and transferred via ambulance to
WakeMed Raleigh Campus for an emergency nephrostomy tube placement to drain my kidney.”
The on-call interventional radiologist, Andrew McBride, MD, performed the placement. Amanda was given a heart monitor and IV fluids. She also endured frequent lab draws to check on her levels and was administered pain medications to regulate her abnormal lab values.
Amanda was then wheeled to the WakeMed Raleigh Campus interventional radiology imaging area for a nephrostogram scan at the direction of WakeMed community vascular and interventional radiologist, Christopher Long, MD, PhD, who’d consulted with WakeMed urologist,
Brandon Rubens, MD.Her scans were clear. They were able to save her transplanted kidney!
Amanda says, “My hospital stay for
acute renal failure was four days. I was discharged on January 3, 2022.”
Today, Amanda is doing well, and her kidney function is back to normal.
She is also back to doing what she loves — caring for patients at the WakeMed Raleigh Campus surgical operating room, as well as enjoying her many hobbies.
Amanda says, “When I’m not at work, I enjoy cooking, biking, camping, kayaking, playing tennis, gardening — and most of all, spending time with my two grandsons who are four and seven years old. Life is great!”
About WakeMed
The largest health system in the state’s largest county, WakeMed Health and Hospitals plays an active role in making our community the best place to live, work and raise a family. WakeMed is a private, not-for-profit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, consisting of 14 members representing our community. Led by President & CEO Donald R. Gintzig, the top priorities for the health system’s diverse and talented leadership team are ensuring patient safety; enhancing the patient and family experience; and delivering high-quality, high-value care that is both affordable and accessible to everyone who calls our community home.
Our Hospitals
WakeMed has three acute care hospitals and a physical rehabilitation hospital for a total of 970-beds. We also have three healthplexes with stand-alone, 24/7 emergency departments and a variety of outpatient services throughout the region. Our physician practices are home to more than 350 physicians representing nearly every specialty, also with multiple geographically spread location.
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