CNO to CNO call leads to life-saving surgery
When Frank Acevedo, the Chief Nursing Officer at Valley Regional Medical Center got a call from Dr. David Allen, DNP, the Chief Nursing Officer at Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant about a transferring nurse, he saved Dave’s cell phone number in case he ever needed it again. Frank never thought the next time he would talk to Dave, it would be for a very personal reason regarding his own health.
Frank has worked at Valley Regional in Brownsville, Texas, for 24 years, moving up the ranks from a scrub tech to the C-Suite in his hometown hospital. Three years ago, Frank provided Dave with some background information about a nurse who was moving from Brownsville to San Antonio. Soon after that, Frank found out he was sick. He ended up in the ER at his own hospital after a blood pressure check indicated a major health issue.
“Shortly after that call, I was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease,” said Frank Acevedo, CNO. “It was a complete surprise. Doctors aren’t exactly sure why, but I think it’s a combination of having small kidneys and high blood pressure.”
Frank waited to learn more about his next steps. Then he decided to call Dave.
“I had heard about pre-emptive transplants, and I remembered that Dave worked at a transplant hospital,” said Frank. “I called him, and he immediately put me in touch with the Vice President of Transplants, Amanda Weichold.”
Frank was quietly doing his research behind the scenes, discovering that Methodist Hospital | Specialty and Transplant had the nation’s largest living kidney transplant program. Fortunately, he had started the conversation before he needed dialysis and then everything fell into place as he soon ended up in the ER at Valley Regional during the COVID-19 pandemic with fatigue, extreme shortness of breath and difficulty walking.
“We are supposed to take care of each other like family,” said Dave Allen, CNO at Specialty and Transplant. “That’s just what we did from that first phone call.”
Amanda helped Frank get in touch with the transplant team for an evaluation. Frank’s younger sister Elisa Aguilar was a match to donate her kidney. Frank and Elisa met with the transplant team in San Antonio to schedule the surgery. The transplant surgery was set for June 26 and was a success. Both Frank and Elisa are now doing well.
“I feel like family in my hospital,” said Frank. “Being at the transplant hospital, I also felt like it was my family. Everyone took the time to explain what was happening. I’m in the big city of San Antonio, but I felt like I was in a small rural hospital because everyone knew everyone. It was amazing.”