Parris Brown, an SSM Health team member, remembers always being sick growing up, but things took a turn for the worse when she turned 14 years old. That was the year she was diagnosed with kidney disease and began on a journey that would last the next decade and beyond.
She began meeting with various physicians and trying different drug programs to treat her disease, which helped and kept her stable for a while. Then when she was 26 years old, a new reality set in when she discovered her kidneys had completely failed and she needed to start dialysis. She began going through other treatments as well, but her physicians told her she was a unicorn because typical treatments weren’t working for her. This is when Parris realized she needed to take hold of being her own advocate, to do research herself and speak to several physicians about potential treatments.
After five years of pushing her doctors to think outside the box for treatments, researching fundraisers and GoFundMe accounts to get medication, posting flyers to get help from the community and approximately 15 total surgeries, Parris received the call that they had found a match.
This was the second time she had received a call about finding a match, so she tried to keep her expectations in check, but on May 8, 2023, Parris went into SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital for her surgery. The team at Saint Louis University Hospital were able to do a bloodless kidney transplant and the surgery was a success.
Now, just over a year after her surgery, Parris has a new sense of normalcy. She’s been able to do things that wouldn’t have been possible without her kidney transplant like hiking a mountain at Zion National Park. She’s also had time to reflect on the amazing care she received from the team members at Saint Louis University Hospital.
Parris stated, “This team of doctors and nurses were there for me, no matter what I needed. I honestly believe if I had been anywhere else, they wouldn’t have taken the time to take as good care of me as the staff at Saint Louis University Hospital.” She specifically mentioned her surgeons Chintalapati Varma, MD and Vidyaratna Fleetwood, MD, her nephrologist Yasar Caliskan, MD, and especially her main transplant coordinator, Angela Norwalk. “Going through this journey, you deal with a lot of mental change and Angela was always an outlet for me. She felt more like a friend than a coordinator.”
The care she received at Saint Louis University Hospital was so instrumental in her journey that following her surgery, she began pursuing a career with SSM Health. “I’ve been in the medical field for 12 years and previously worked in neurology at a different health system in St. Louis, but after the experience I had at Saint Louis University Hospital, I felt inspired to work for SSM Health.”
Parris now works as a referral coordinator in cancer care radiation oncology at SSM Health St Clare Hospital - Fenton where she loves helping patients through the ups-and-downs of their journeys, just like the team members at Saint Louis University Hospital helped her.
Learn more about transplant services at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.
