Stronger together: UK HealthCare and Norton Healthcare partner for patient care

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 5, 2025) — When Delara Porter of Louisville faced life-threatening heart and kidney failure, a powerful collaboration between UK HealthCare’s Gill Heart & Vascular Institute and Norton Heart & Vascular Institute gave him a second chance, and a lot to look forward to.

“It’s different now,” Delara said. “We can make plans.”

That sense of hope is something Delara and his wife, Donna, didn’t always have. Just a few years ago, his health was rapidly declining. It started in 2019 with swelling in his legs after a long motorcycle trip.

“I just thought I was tired from my trip because we were gone three weeks,” Delara said. But when he returned to his job as a driver for UPS, he felt more exhausted and run down than ever.

A stress test ordered by his primary care provider in Louisville revealed something was seriously wrong. He was so fatigued that he couldn’t finish the test. Still, Delara wasn’t worried. He expected to hear back from his doctor in the next few days with the test results.

Instead, he was admitted to the hospital that day. Delara spent the next month in the hospital getting treatment for both heart and kidney failure.

But the news got worse — the damage to his heart was too severe, and transplant was his only option.

An echocardiogram showed the cause of his heart failure. The muscular walls of the heart were very thick, which in turn led to inefficient pumping and blood circulation. Further testing uncovered a rare and complex underlying cause for his organ failure – hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, a genetic disease in which abnormal proteins produced by the liver accumulate in the body’s organs, most notably the heart.  The condition progresses slowly, often undiagnosed until the damage is severe.

The accumulation of these proteins in his heart was so gradual that even though Delara was born with amyloidosis, he didn’t start to feel the effects until his mid-50s. By the time he was diagnosed, there was no alternative but to replace his heart and kidney.

“I was so scared for him,” Donna said. “But I knew I couldn’t show that. I didn’t know if he was going to make it. I would sit up in bed at night and watch him to make sure the covers were moving.”

Norton Healthcare cardiologist Kelly McCants, M.D., referred him to UK HealthCare in early 2022. Through the Gill Affiliate Network, Norton Healthcare and UK HealthCare collaborate to connect patients like Delara to specialists for further evaluation, while striving to keep care close to home for as long as possible. At UK HealthCare’s Transplant Center, Delara underwent evaluation for both a heart and a kidney transplant.

But there was yet another complication. The pre-transplant evaluation revealed a health issue known as smoldering myeloma, a precancerous condition in which plasma cells in the bone marrow divide too quickly and produce abnormal cells. These abnormal cells can in turn cause multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the plasma cells.

The complication was a serious problem — a cancer diagnosis could automatically make Delara ineligible for organ transplant. Organ transplant requires patients to take immunosuppressive medication to prevent rejection of the organ. In cases where a cancer, or pre-cancer, is present, this can actually kickstart the condition into full-blown cancer.

The team of advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologists at UK were not ready to give up on Delara. A group of cardiologists, oncologists, nephrologists and surgeons from across the health care enterprise came together to discuss Delara’s case. Aside from the smoldering myeloma, Delara was an ideal transplant candidate. He didn’t drink or smoke, nor was he overweight. He had a common blood type, and most importantly, Delara had Donna and a large, supportive family. Surely, there was something they could do for him.

The interdisciplinary team determined the risk of progression to cancer was extremely low and would not impact Delara’s long-term outcome. This approach allowed the team to move forward with transplantation, overcoming what had previously been seen as a barrier to care.

On Dec. 18, 2022, Delara received a new heart. The next day, he received a kidney from the same donor — a double transplant that saved his life.

In the days following his transplant, Delara felt better than he had in years.

“They asked me if I wanted to listen to my heart,” he said. “It was beating like nobody’s business. It was beating just fine.”

What does he think about having someone else’s organs in his body?

“I don’t think about it,” he said. “Whoever gave it to me wanted to help somebody else. I appreciate it because it gave me a second chance. They wanted to help.”

A little over a week later, Delara was discharged, and he and Donna got to ring in the new year at home.

“Feeling good, feeling great,” he said. “It’s a blessing.”

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Now more than two years post-transplant, Delara is thriving. His care seamlessly transitioned from Norton specialists in Louisville to the advanced transplant team at UK HealthCare in Lexington — and back again to Norton for his post-transplant care. Together, this statewide partnership made it possible for Delara to not only receive a rare double organ transplant, but to continue his recovery at home in Louisville — a true testament to the life-changing impact of coordinated care.

He and Donna are deeply grateful for the donor who gave Delara a second chance and want others to understand the life-changing power of organ donation. For their family, it meant more time together.

“Organ donation gave us our life back,” Donna said. “Delara’s the heart of our family. And because of someone’s generosity, we still have him.”

Delara now spends time with his children and grandchildren, shares meals with family, and even started making plans for motorcycle trips again.

“This is my second chance,” he said. “And I’m not wasting a minute of it.”