LEAD THE WAY ONLY ON WLWT. CANDICE DIXON IS A 35 YEAR OLD OHIO NATIVE WHO RECENTLY RECEIVED THE GIFT OF LIFE TWICE, ONCE THROUGH A LIFE SAVING KIDNEY AND PANCREAS TRANSPLANT, AND NOW THROUGH THE BIRTH OF HER DAUGHTER, WLWT LINDSAY. STONE JOINS US LIVE FROM U-C MEDICAL CENTER WITH WHY? DIXON SAYS THE ORGAN DONOR DID MORE THAN JUST SAVE HER LIFE. LINDSAY. WELL, CHRIS, IF YOU GET TO MEET CANDICE DIXON, THE FIRST THING YOU’RE GOING TO NOTICE IS HER THOUSAND WATT SMILE. IT LIGHTS UP THE ROOM NO MATTER WHAT LIFE HAS THROWN HER WAY. ORGAN FAILURE, MULTIPLE HEALTH ISSUES, EVEN ORGAN REJECTION. SHE HAS NEVER LOST THAT SMILE. AND SHE’S ALSO NEVER LOST HER DESIRE TO DO THE ONE THING THAT SHE ALWAYS FELT CALLED TO DO BECOME A MOM. I WOULDN’T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD, AND I WOULD GO THROUGH IT A MILLION TIMES OVER AGAIN TO SAY THE JOURNEY TO MOTHERHOOD WAS DIFFICULT FOR CANDICE DIXON WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. THE TYPE ONE DIABETIC WENT INTO KIDNEY FAILURE IN 2015 AND WAS PLACED ON THE TRANSPLANT LIST FOR A KIDNEY AND PANCREAS, AND THEN ABOUT SIX AND A HALF MONTHS LATER IS WHEN I GOT THE CALL WHEN SHE WOKE FROM SURGERY, SHE HAD ONE QUESTION. SO IN A YEAR I CAN HAVE A BABY, RIGHT? AND LIKE, EVERYBODY STARTED LAUGHING. BUT IT WASN’T AN EASY PROCESS. DIXON HAD HAD TO SWITCH TO PREGNANCY SAFE MEDICATION, AND THAT’S WHY MY PANCREAS WENT INTO FAILURE AS A DUAL ORGAN TRANSPLANT. THESE PATIENTS ARE VERY HIGH RISK OF. FIRST OF ALL, IT’S A MIRACLE TO HAVE A PREGNANCY AND THEN COMPLICATION OF TRANSPLANT MAKE IT MAKES IT EVEN HARDER TO GO THROUGH THE PREGNANCY AND HAVE A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME. BUT DESPITE LOW ODDS, DIXON GOT PREGNANT. AFTER MY TRANSPLANT, I WAS LIKE, WHAT AM I? YOU KNOW, WHY DID ALL THIS HAPPEN TO ME? AND WHY AM I HERE AND SO SUCCESSFUL WITH THIS TRANSPLANT? LIKE, THERE’S GOT TO BE A REASON FOR THAT, YOU KNOW? AND I JUST ALWAYS FELT LIKE MOTHERHOOD WAS WAS THE REASON LYDIA ELLEN ROSE ARRIVED JUST BEFORE THANKSGIVING LAST YEAR. PERFECTLY HEALTHY. CANDICE AND HER HUSBAND, ERIC CALL HER THEIR MIRACLE. I’M SO INCREDIBLY THANKFUL TO MY DONOR. HE GAVE ME SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, NOBODY ELSE WAS ABLE TO GIVE ME. I WASN’T EVEN ABLE TO GIVE MYSELF A CHILD MYSELF, DIXON SAYS THAT SELFLESSNESS NOW LIVES ON. I WAS GIVEN LIFE SO I COULD GIVE HER LIFE. AND LYDIA TURNED TEN WEEKS OLD YESTERDAY AND SHE IS HAPPY AND HEALTHY. AND SO IS MOM.
Dual transplant recipient receives the gift of life again after daughter's 'miracle' birth
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Updated: 2:29 PM CST Jan 28, 2024
Candice Dixon is a 35-year-old Ohio native who recently received the gift of life twice. Once through a life-saving kidney and pancreas transplant, and now, through the birth of her daughter. “I wouldn't change it for the world, and I would go through it a million times over again,” Dixon said.To say the journey to motherhood was difficult for Dixon would be an understatement. The Type-1 diabetic went into kidney failure in 2015 and was placed on the transplant list for a kidney and pancreas.“And then about six and a half months later is when I got the call,” Dixon said.When she woke from surgery, Dixon had one question.“So, in a year, I can have a baby, right?” Dixon asked her doctors.But it wasn't an easy process. Dixon had to switch to pregnancy-safe medication.“And that's when my pancreas went into failure,” Dixon said. “As a dual organ transplant to organ transplant, these patients are very high risk,” said Dr. Taranpreet Kaur, a nephrologist at UC Health. “First of all, it's miracle to have a pregnancy. Then, all the complications of transplant make it makes it even harder to go through their pregnancy and have a successful outcome.”But despite low odds, Dixon got pregnant.“After my transplant, I was like, ‘Why did all this happen to me?,” Dixon said. “I just always felt like motherhood was the reason.”Lydia Ellen Rose arrived just before Thanksgiving last year, perfectly healthy. Dixon and her husband, Eric, call her their miracle.“I'm so incredibly thankful to my donor,” Dixon said. “I was given life so I could give her life.”
Candice Dixon is a 35-year-old Ohio native who recently received the gift of life twice. Once through a life-saving kidney and pancreas transplant, and now, through the birth of her daughter.
“I wouldn't change it for the world, and I would go through it a million times over again,” Dixon said.
To say the journey to motherhood was difficult for Dixon would be an understatement. The Type-1 diabetic went into kidney failure in 2015 and was placed on the transplant list for a kidney and pancreas.
“And then about six and a half months later is when I got the call,” Dixon said.
When she woke from surgery, Dixon had one question.
“So, in a year, I can have a baby, right?” Dixon asked her doctors.
But it wasn't an easy process. Dixon had to switch to pregnancy-safe medication.
“And that's when my pancreas went into failure,” Dixon said.
“As a dual organ transplant to organ transplant, these patients are very high risk,” said Dr. Taranpreet Kaur, a nephrologist at UC Health. “First of all, it's miracle to have a pregnancy. Then, all the complications of transplant make it makes it even harder to go through their pregnancy and have a successful outcome.”
But despite low odds, Dixon got pregnant.
“After my transplant, I was like, ‘Why did all this happen to me?,” Dixon said. “I just always felt like motherhood was the reason.”
Lydia Ellen Rose arrived just before Thanksgiving last year, perfectly healthy. Dixon and her husband, Eric, call her their miracle.
“I'm so incredibly thankful to my donor,” Dixon said. “I was given life so I could give her life.”
