Jessi Shultis

In April 2017, Jessi Shultis was visiting her grandparents in Maine when she realized her blood pressure was extremely high. She went to sleep that evening and woke up with a bloody nose, however, she didn’t think much about it as she thought it had something to do with her travel. After returning home to New Port Richey, Florida, her dad encouraged her to recheck her blood pressure. A visit to the drug store blood pressure machine quickly escalated to an ER visit and a hospital admission with a diagnosis of stage 5 kidney failure (11% and 1% kidney function) — she would need a kidney transplant.

After months of dialysis and multiple doctor visits, she was referred to the Transplant Center at HCA Florida Largo Hospital for a kidney transplant evaluation. After her workup, she was advised that her body mass index (BMI) was too high for surgery, she would need to lose weight before being an ideal transplant candidate. On June 4, 2019, she made the best decision of her life — to have bariatric surgery with Dr. Tiffany Jessee at the Weight Loss Surgery Center at Largo Hospital. This procedure allowed her to move forward with her transplant journey.

On New Year’s Eve Day 2019, Jessi was spending some quality time with her wife Stacie at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, Florida when she received the best phone call of her life. “Come into the hospital — it’s happening” shared her transplant coordinator. She would soon wake up to start the new year, 2020, with two new kidneys. Jessi was matched with a pediatric donor, and the transplant team performed a pediatric en-bloc. Often, when an adult is matched with a pediatric donor, they offer the recipient both kidneys.

During Jessi’s recovery, she made the decision to become a healthcare professional, as a certified hemo dialysis technician. Today, you can find her doing the same thing that literally saved her life — working at a dialysis center, the same center where she was a previously a patient.

“I am finally able to be on the other end of the pressure cuff. Ready to be able to be on the other side of the hospital bed. I’m beyond excited to be able to give back to the medical community” shared Jessi.

One year after transplant, Jessi had the opportunity to learn more about her donor, 14-month-old boy who experienced a seizure from an overload of fluid on his brain. The donor’s caregiver and Jessi have become a “forever part of each other’s family”.

Jessi is determined to take this second chance of life and make an impact on others around her. She gives her patients hope since she can relate first-hand what they are going through physically and emotionally. Today, you can find Jessi doing what she loves most — swimming, hiking, and traveling — all of which she couldn’t do prior to her transplant journey.