Alumni Chef of the Day: Sandra Celebrates Transplant Anniversary

| 09.15.2021 | Blog

Recently Nora’s Home guest and multi-organ recipient, Sandra Arévalo, celebrated her one year organ anniversary and decided with her family to honor her donor by being a virtual Chef of the Day for the Nora’s Home guests! Read below about Sandra’s transplant journey and about how her family (pictured above) and fur-baby Oso (pictured with Sandra below) helped her reach this exciting milestone!

In 2014, I was diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and kidney failure. My condition led to cirrhosis of the liver.

This illness took over my life and caused so much pain while taking a toll on my quality of life. Doctors advised a liver and kidney transplant was critical to my survival.

During this difficult time, the unconditional love and support from my parents, three older sisters and Siberian Husky, Oso, gave me the strength to keep fighting even when my body kept failing me. My fur-baby, Oso, made the struggle bearable as he kept me calm and happy even during the times the buildup of toxins in my blood from the complication of liver disease reduced my functionality.

On August 21, 2020, I received the call that I had patiently waited for six years. I received my liver transplant on August 22, 2020 and kidney transplant on August 23, 2020. In celebration of my rebirth, and a new chance at living well, my family and I honor the life of the organ donor who selflessly gave me the gift of life. In closing, I would also like to thank Nora’s Home for the support and hospitality provided during my time of need.

Caregivers: Parents, Mito Arévalo and Delia Arévalo
Sisters: Liz Castañeda, Anna Casares, Alma Treviño

We love celebrating these monumental milestones with our guests and we look forward to your continued success Sandra! Thanks for thinking of our guests–we’re all cheering you on!