UCSF Health

24/07/2025

LaCarlous is doing great and finally off dialysis three months after his kidney transplant — please congratulate him!

While living in Memphis in 2022, LaCarlous went to the ER with stomach pain and nausea. Doctors there diagnosed him with kidney failure and performed emergency surgery.

LaCarlous started dialysis and eventually moved back to San Francisco, where he had attended college. On April 17 of this year, he got a life-changing call from UCSF: There was a potential kidney match. Three days later on Easter Sunday, as LaCarlous headed to church, our transplant team called to say the kidney was ready. LaCarlous got to UCSF as fast as he could, and the surgery was a success! “They were smiling, and they took really good care of me through the whole process,” he recalls.

During recovery, LaCarlous walked a mile on 9 Long and earned a celebratory T-shirt, a special tradition for transplant patients at our Parnassus hospital. LaCarlous continued dialysis for a while after his surgery but was thrilled to get the okay from his doctors to stop, during a recent checkup!

18/07/2025

Please help us congratulate Dawn — she’s doing great after having three heart surgeries as a child, and an additional surgery as an adult at our hospitals!

In 1969, when Dawn was a baby, her mother noticed she would sometimes become short of breath and pass out. Originally, Dawn's doctor thought it was a cold, but when she was 6 months old, a new doctor became concerned.

He contacted a colleague, the late Dr. Stanley Higashino, for an emergency appointment. Dawn came to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, where Dr. Higashino diagnosed her with a congenital heart defect and scheduled her for surgery. The late Dr. Ivan May placed a band around her heart to correct a ventricular septal defect, with hope for new surgical advances in the future. Dawn went on to have two more surgeries as a child and did great until 2011, when Dr. Phillip Moore placed a stent in her heart at our adult hospital. Unfortunately, earlier this year, Dawn experienced a mild heart attack, but luckily tests showed no major damage to her heart! She is now doing well again.

Dawn enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, going to Ocean Beach and road trips — either solo or with her son. She also runs a small business, selling jewelry and home décor. “If we are brave enough to share our stories, we can let people know they’re not alone,” she says.

12/07/2025

👏 Congratulations to our Heart and Vascular team on implanting its first Barostim device for heart failure patients!
The patient is doing great and reports feeling more energetic already. “The bed is no longer my best friend,” she says. She's now walking outside for ~30 minutes a day and looks forward to becoming more involved in her children’s activities! ❤️

10/07/2025

Please join us in congratulating Stacy! Ten years ago, she had multiple surgeries at our hospital to reduce her heightened cancer risk, due to a BRCA gene mutation.
In 2014, Stacy’s doctor in Pleasanton discovered several small masses in her annual mammogram. Although a biopsy confirmed the masses were benign, Stacy decided to seek a second opinion at UCSF, where her daughter had received treatment for a heart condition.
Because of Stacy’s strong family history of cancer, including the loss of her mother to breast cancer at age 52, breast surgeon Dr. Jasmine Wong recommended genetic testing, which came back positive for a BRCA2 mutation. To lower her cancer risk, Stacy decided to have surgery to remove her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes, followed by a full hysterectomy. Our team discovered a patch of pre-cancerous tissue in her left tube during the first surgeries, reconfirming Stacy’s choice.
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of her surgeries and a decade of good health, Stacy and her family recently marked the milestone with a special trip to Disneyland!

05/07/2025

Happy from all the kids (and dogs!) at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals! 🎆

25/06/2025

Vieneese's walk down the aisle with her dad, Preston, was far from typical.
In 2018, our staff helped surprise her father, who was receiving treatment at our Parnassus hospital for an aggressive cancer, with a hospital wedding.
Preston was thrilled to give his daughter away in the hospital hallway. He passed away just a few weeks later, but Vieneese still treasures that memory.
“I’m just grateful I could have that moment with him," she says. "He was so happy."

Brides reflect on the moment their fathers walked them down the aisle — a ritual that has evolved but continues to hold deep meaning.

21/06/2025

Please send Melanie your best wishes! She’s doing well after years of living with multiple autoimmune diseases that affect her vision, liver and moisture-producing glands.
In her 20s and 30s, Melanie ended up in the hospital multiple times with unexplained symptoms. After moving back to California in 2020, she finally received a diagnosis of optic neuritis, a rare autoimmune disease that damages the optic nerve and sometimes the spinal cord.
Doctors in the Sacramento area performed an emergency plasma treatment, which saved Melanie’s vision in her right eye — although she unfortunately lost all vision in her left eye.
Soon after, Melanie came to UCSF, where our doctors diagnosed her with another autoimmune condition, Sjögren's syndrome, which can cause extreme dryness in the moisture glands in the eyes and mouth.
Now Melanie receives care at numerous UCSF clinics, as well as having monthly infusions to suppress her body’s immune response and manage her diseases. She’s finally doing better but is still exploring further testing with her care team.
Melanie’s health journey inspired her to advocate for herself and others, and in 2023 she founded the Mellie J Foundation, which seeks to raise awareness and advance research for rare autoimmune optic nerve diseases.
“My advocacy work helps with anxiety and has helped my mental health,” she says. “It makes me feel that I’m helping the greater good, whether or not I benefit in my lifetime.”

18/06/2025

Birthday twins! Happy belated to cardiac surgeon Dr. Amy Fiedler and clinical nurse coordinator John Niesen, who celebrated their big days together in clinic! 🎉 🎂

12/06/2025

💯 San Francisco composer Kirke Mechem turns 100 this August, and he’s still thriving physically and mentally, with support from his family and UCSF care team! Kirke composed the popular opera Tartuffe and has remained quick-witted (composing his last opera at age 95) and active, swimming three times a week at the USF Koret fitness center.
“You have to use it or lose it — physically and mentally,” says Kirke, who switched to swimming in his 40s after years as a tennis pro.
UCSF geriatrician and family and community medicine Dr. Daniel Pound describes his patient as “exceptional”: "He is dispelling preconceptions about what older people are like or what they are capable of.”
And this month Pocket Opera is performing Tartuffe in San Francisco, Berkeley and Mountain View to celebrate Kirke’s 100th birthday! Congratulations, Kirke!
Learn more about Kirke's life and care at UCSF ➡️ https://ucsfh.org/43XkXSl

07/06/2025

Please congratulate Chris — he’s doing great 15 years after his brain cancer diagnosis! In 2009, Chris was in his senior year of high school when he began experiencing headaches. Soon after, he had a stroke on the left side of his body, and doctors at another hospital found a mass in the right side of his brain and placed a shunt in his head.
Chris came to UCSF in 2010, and Dr. Nalin Gupta diagnosed him with glioblastoma brain cancer. “I was given two months to live,” he says. “Seeing my mom’s face, I wanted to beat this.”
Chris began chemo in conjunction with several other drugs and eventually went through radiation and surgery. His nurse, Shannon Raber, “was like a mother to me and always making sure I was okay,” he recalls.
A former high school baseball player, Chris was excited to work out with the LA Dodgers thanks to Make-A-Wish America!
Chris is now doing great! He regularly volunteers with kids going through cancer treatment and still loves baseball, especially the Giants, as well as spending time with 6-year-old son and other family!

06/06/2025

Thank you to the San Francisco Giants for celebrating our nurses on Nurses Appreciation Night! UCSF nurses showed up in force to cheer on the Giants, and clinical nurse leader Annou Davi threw the first pitch with Oakland pediatric nurse Iris Kauf serving as honorary captain during the game! ⚾🧡

04/06/2025

👏 We’re thrilled to open a new hospital medicine unit in a revamped space at St. Mary’s!� The entire care team from 15 Long in our Parnassus hospital is moving over to the beautiful new 30-bed space, with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, downtown San Francisco and our Parnassus hospital. The unit welcomed its first patients last month and will help us bring exceptional UCSF care to more patients in San Francisco and beyond for many years to come! 👏