Laura Woltz & Mike Strohl
There are good neighbors—and then there’s Laura Woltz.
Woltz, of Silver Spring Township, is an exceptionally good neighbor.
In September 2023, she donated one of her healthy, functional kidneys to her down-the-street neighbor, Mike Strohl. This, in turn, gave Strohl a new lease on life.
“My quality of life has greatly improved since the transplant,” Strohl said. “I know it’s a hard decision for someone to make to become a living donor like Laura did. I’m in awe that some people even want to do this.”
Strohl, 58, was born with only one kidney that, before the transplant, was quickly deteriorating and close to requiring dialysis. He actually didn’t learn that he lacked a second kidney until age 31, after his doctor examined “odd test results,” he said. However, he didn’t notice any related health problems until his mid-40s, when his lone kidney “began to wear out.”
By early 2023, he realized that he and his kidney were running out of time.
“The decline was so slow, so it really didn’t affect my life for a while. Until last year, I played ice hockey, I golfed, I fished,” he said. “When it’s close to the end, though, it goes down rapidly. I felt like I needed a nap all the time and just didn’t have any energy.”
In March 2023, after a series of further tests, Strohl was listed on the National Kidney Foundation’s waitlist, seeking a donor within a 200-mile radius.
Strohl and Woltz first met in June 2021 through their jobs at UPMC Carlisle. Woltz works at the Carlisle campus’ Hillman Cancer Center where Strohl, who works at the Carlisle location’s blood lab, often delivered blood for patient transfusions. Soon, they became friends, realizing that they lived just nine houses away on the same street.
Woltz learned about her new friend’s health condition while leisurely scrolling through Facebook one day. She then stumbled upon a post by Strohl’s wife, Melissa, seeking a kidney donor for her husband. Not long before, Strohl had revealed to Woltz that he was living with only one kidney.
As it turned out, Strohl’s brother, sister-in-law, niece and “two or three other people” also tested as potential kidney donors, but only Woltz was determined to be compatible.
“I always thought about being an organ donor, but I had never thought about being a living donor until then,” Woltz said. “I was thankful to find out that I was a match for Mike.”
Saved His Life
According to the National Kidney Foundation, about 100,000 people currently are waiting for kidney transplants, while a total of 660,000 people live with kidney failure. Besides transplants, treatment options include palliative care or dialysis, a time-consuming process that removes wastes and extra fluid from the blood when one’s kidneys are no longer able to do so.
In central Pennsylvania, around 103,000 people are on the area’s waiting list for kidney transplants, according to UPMC Dr. Danielle Ladie, who served on Strohl’s transplant team. Of available options, receiving a kidney from a living donor like Woltz is preferable than from a deceased donor.
“Many people have always thought that you have to be related to donate, but that’s not always the case,” Ladie said. “(Strohl’s) case was really nice. He was very, very close to needing dialysis before the surgery. (Woltz) did an amazing thing. She saved his life.”
Ladie said that Strohl’s case was unusual because only one in a thousand people are born with only one kidney. In total, 61 kidney transplants took place in 2023 at UPMC Harrisburg Hospital, where Strohl’s surgery was performed. UPMC also performs heart, lung, pancreas, liver and other multi-organ transplants at its Pittsburgh facility.
“We had six transplants (in Harrisburg) during one week just before Christmas,” said Malini Mattler, media relations manager for UPMC Central Pa. Region. “It was like giving the recipients the best gift they ever had.”
Strohl’s transplant procedure began on Sept. 8. Woltz was first in the operating room for removal of her donated kidney. Next, it was Strohl’s turn on the table, to remove his deficient kidney and receive Woltz’s gift.
“It went pretty quick,” Woltz recalled. “I had very minimal pain afterwards. I just couldn’t drive for four weeks after that and had lifting restrictions.”
Woltz stayed in the hospital just overnight following the procedure, but Strohl remained there for four days. Although his full recovery took a month or so, Strohl said that he “felt like myself by the following weekend.”
For now, Strohl must continue taking immune suppressant medication for the remainder of his life or the new kidney’s life.
“I take 20 pills in the morning and another 18 pills at night for now, but I will get to quit the antibiotics in March,” Strohl said.
While there’s always a chance of rejection, some transplanted kidneys can last for up to 40 years, Ladie said.
Since the transplant, Woltz said that she feels “an emotional connection” with Strohl. They now “spend a lot of time together” with their families.
“I’m thankful for how well Mike is doing now,” Woltz said. “I think that I was most worried about how he would do and whether his body would accept the kidney.”
For more information on UPMC in Central Pa., visit www.upmc.com/campaigns/southcentral-pa.
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