BATON ROUGE — At just 32 years old, Lisa Pizzalato heard the words that would change the course of her life — “You have polycystic kidney and liver disease.” The search soon began for a kidney donor.
For many, such a diagnosis would be devastating. But for Pizzalato, now 47, it was a challenge she’d seen before. The disease runs deep in her family. Her mother had a transplant. Her grandmother battled it. Her brother has it too. Still, she remained hopeful, believing she had decades before needing a transplant of her own.
“I’ve just kind of monitored my kidney function since that time,” Pizzalato said. “My mom didn’t get a transplant until she was in her 60s, which is what I was expecting for myself. But unfortunately, a couple of years ago, my kidney function plummeted.”
A Double Diagnosis
In May of last year, Pizzalato began a transplant evaluation at Tulane. But what was meant to be a step toward hope turned into another uphill climb…