Meet Samantha: A life-saving transplant journey from California to Texas

Years ago, Joanie packed up her car and told her granddaughter, Samantha, “That’s it, we’re moving to Texas.” 

They had no permanent place to land, no family or friends in Texas and no idea if the idea of moving 1,300 miles away – from Loma Linda, Calif., to North Texas – was a good one.  

But Joanie was fed up. She needed to do something more for the person she loves and cherishes most: her granddaughter Samantha.  

“I didn’t know if moving was the right thing. But the kidney specialists I’d found online in Texas wouldn’t see Samantha if we didn’t live in Texas. And I knew I wasn’t getting the right answers about her ongoing kidney problems in California,” Joanie said.

A need for better answers  

When they arrived at a different hospital in the Dallas area, the doctors who evaluated Samantha confirmed that Joanie’s instinct to get another opinion had been a good one. They told her that the treatments Samantha had been on were damaging her kidneys.   

Doctors had been trying to help Samantha’s kidneys work better since she was a baby – trying everything from steroid treatments to 4-hour infusions.  

But Samantha was misdiagnosed by clinicians at a different hospital, and they told Joanie that Samatha’s kidneys were so damaged that she needed to have them removed – as soon as possible.  

Days later, Samantha had surgery to remove both kidneys. 

 A month after that, she started having heart problems.   

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When her heart started failing, that’s when her care team said it was time for us to go to Children’s Health℠ in Dallas – for even more specialized care. We were told it was one of the best heart programs around.

— Joanie, Samantha's mother

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Joining the zipper club and building a “hospital family” 

Samantha spent the next 42 days at Children's Health. She needed dialysis six days a week, which was tricky because she was also in heart failure. Her care team of specialists decided her best option was a new kidney – and a new heart. 

The idea of a double transplant was terrifying. But Samantha’s first friend at Children’s Health, Davi, made it less scary by taking Samantha under her wing and welcoming her into the “zipper club,” a club for strong, brave kids who earn zipper-like scars from open heart surgery.

Samantha and Joanie spent the next year and a half in and out of the hospital, waiting for a donor match. Samantha needed almost daily dialysis. There were some terrible days – and some good ones too. 

“We really needed to lean on the hospital staff for support because we’d moved away from everything and everybody we’d known – and had no family members nearby. And they really came through for us, supporting us in every way possible,” said Joanie. 

On her good days, nobody could tell Samantha was a kid who needed a heart and kidney transplant. She kept up with her schoolwork through the Children's Health hospital-based school program and loved her teacher. She also loved going to the hospital’s library and helping the librarian change the book displays. Both of these services are available at no-cost to patient families and rely on generous philanthropic support.   

But everyone knew Seacrest Studios was her favorite place. 

Falling in love with Seacrest Studios 

Samantha quickly became a regular host of a game show at Seacrest Studios, the hospital's own interactive TV and Radio production studio.

Joanie recounts how she’d sometimes push Samantha down to Seacrest in a wheelchair because she’d get so easily tired and out of breath. And then, as soon as she arrived at the studio, Samantha would get a burst of energy – and pop up from her wheelchair.  

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Seacrest Studios is one of the greatest things anybody could have ever done at a Children’s Health. It provides much-needed distraction from the reality of everyday hospital life.

— Joanie, Samantha's mother  

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Making friends of all types

Samantha made lots of friends at the hospital, including several children who also needed dialysis. And she fell in love with a golden retriever named Maze, one of several lovable dogs that are part of Children’s Health pet therapy program, which delivers comfort to patients thanks to donor funding.

Samantha loved going to the coffee shop to order a “pup cup” for Maze – a free dollop of whipped cream served in a small espresso cup. And then she’d grin from ear to ear as she watched Maze stand on her tiptoes – prepared to devour her pup cup.

Samantha and Joanie also deeply bonded with Karoline Radka, one of Samantha’s Child Life specialists. Karoline and her Child Life specialist team members help normalize the hospital experience for patients and provide coping strategies for kids and families thanks to critical philanthropic contributions.  

“Karoline and Samantha have connected on many levels. She’s helped with the anxiety she’s had around certain procedures. She’s 100% Samantha’s safe person,” Joanie said.  

Joanie is so grateful that Child Life specialists are trained to follow a child’s lead – something you can’t find at adult hospitals. This was especially important for Samantha, who is the kind of kid who takes comfort in watching everything that’s happening to her.     “Samantha is different from a lot of kids that way. She didn’t want to be distracted during procedures,” said Joanie. “She wanted to understand what was happening and be part of her care. And Child Life let her do that.”   

Making Transplant Day a little easier 

A few years ago, in December at 11 p.m., Joanie received a call.  

There was a match for Samantha – a heart and kidney. She was instructed to wake Samantha, pack their suitcases and head to the hospital as soon as possible.  

At the hospital, Child Life asked for some time alone with Samantha – to work with Children’s Health Music Therapists to make a special bear thanks to generous donors called a blue bear Teddy Bear for Joanie. 

Joanie’s blue bear teddy bear plays recordings of Samantha singing “I’m a Unicorn,” “I Am a Gummy Bear,” and “Box of Rocks” – three of her favorite songs at the time. And then, at the end, it played a recording of Samantha’s heartbeat. 

“My blue bear Teddy bear kept me sane during the hours and hours of waiting while they were doing her transplant. It perfectly captured Samantha – and I held on to that bear so tightly,” Joanie said.  

Joanie and Samantha were also overwhelmed with gratitude when Karoline appeared at 5 a.m. – several hours before her shift started.     “Karoline sat with Samantha as a calming, comforting presence as they readied the operating room. She gently braided her hair, taming her unruly curls,” Joanie said.  

Pizza for Christmas 

After several hours in the operating room, Samantha had her new heart and new kidney.  

Her initial recovery was rocky. But Joanie couldn't help but ask about the possibility of Samantha being home for Christmas. The doctors were wary because of Samantha’s fragile state. 

Samantha herself wasn’t too fixated on being home for Christmas. She had a simpler holiday wish: pizza.  

At first, Joanie frowned at the idea of pizza for Christmas. But her pediatric nephrologist told her, “If this girl wants pizza for breakfast on Christmas morning, you’ve got to give her pizza.”  

Hearing that, Samantha flashed Joanie her biggest smile and said, “Doctors orders!” – which has become one of Samantha’s favorite expressions.  

On Christmas Eve, Samantha and a handful of family members who had since moved to Texas, gathered in the Children’s Health waiting room for Samantha’s Christmas pizza party. That party was soon followed by Samantha’s 11th birthday party – at home.  

Home at last and living her best life 

In late January 2022, Samantha went home.

Her family hosted a small party in their home that included members of her hospital crew: two friends from dialysis, her teacher and one of her dialysis nurses.  

On the walls of her bedroom hang a photo of her and Dallas Cowboy quarterback Dak Prescott and the jersey he signed for her, two precious mementos from a surprise visit Karoline orchestrated – when Samantha desperately needed to find her smile again, post-transplant.  

Now, after more than three years post-transplant, Samantha is thriving, loving football, swimming and dressing up in costumes.   

She even calls herself “Halloween girl” because of her love for dress-up, a passion that was nurtured by staff at Children’s Health.  

Spreading gratitude and their story 

Joanie continues to feel deep gratitude for how much their hospital family helped Samantha get the care she needed and provide critical support – before, during and after her double transplant.  

This gratitude shines through when Joanie works at Spirit Halloween, a job she does, in part, because of Spirit Halloween’s Spirit of Halloween campaign. This program helps bring costumes, face painting and pumpkin decorating – a much-needed sense of normalcy – to kids who have to spend Halloween in the hospital.   

Simply by telling her story to customers, Joanie has helped raise money for other kids like Samantha.

“I recently showed a skeptical woman some pictures of Samantha and shared a bit of her story,” Joanie said. “And then she donated $50 – because she became absolutely convinced that this truly was a great thing for sick kids in the hospital.” 

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