Mother Refuses to Give Up on Son and Finds a Way Forward

When Ruby Norland of Las Vegas decided to donate a kidney to her 29-year-old son, Ramiro Alvarado, she assumed determination and love would be enough. But after a series of evaluations at another transplant center, Ruby heard the word she feared most: no.  "I cried out of anger and frustration," she recalls. "I felt devastated and helpless."  Even though Ruby was a match, she was told her case was too complex. She had a small kidney stone and unusual anatomy. Instead of one artery, the right kidney had two, with the main artery branching very close to the aorta. Although her left kidney was not complex, Ruby was told the risks were too great to leave her with a single kidney that had a stone.  That's when Ruby was referred to Mayo Clinic. ____________________________________________ FOR THE PUBLIC: More health and medical news on the Mayo Clinic News Network. https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/ FOR THE MEDIA ONLY: To access clean and NAT sound versions of this video on the Mayo Clinic News Network, register at https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/request-account/ Mayo Clinic: https://mayocl.in/3tNMAdF Like Mayo Clinic on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MayoClinic Follow Mayo Clinic on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mayoclinic/ Follow Mayo Clinic on X, formerly Twitter: https://x.com/MayoClinic Follow Mayo Clinic on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mayoclinic