Hi, I’m Dr. Toby Campbell—a palliative care physician and communication researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For the past twenty years, I’ve studied how doctors and patients navigate tough conversations, especially when facing life-changing decisions. But nothing could have prepared me for one of the most unique and profound discussions in medicine: the request for organ donation.
What makes this conversation so extraordinary? It’s the only time in healthcare where the decision doesn’t directly help the patient but instead gives someone else a second chance at life. These difficult conversations sparked my interest in learning about the nuances of organ donation and the lived experiences of everyone touched by this process. How, where, and when do these discussions happen? How do healthcare professionals prepare for such a massive task, and what language do they use? How do families respond to such requests and make an extremely difficult decision on behalf of their loved ones? Is organ procurement just like any surgery? What do recipients think about organ donors? How do recipients find living donors? And what struggles do they endure before and after receiving an organ?
To explore these questions, I’ve sat down with donor families, transplant surgeons, medical doctors, organ recipients, recovery specialists, and many others who’ve been touched by this journey. Their stories are powerful, surprising, and profoundly moving. I hope you’ll join me as we uncover the heart, the science, and the humanity behind organ donation.
Extraordinary Conversations Ep 6 - Kidney and Liver Recipients
Featured in this episode:
Breanne Wychterley, Brian Web and Tonita, John Jartz, Rod and Patti Meier, Matt Troha, Dr. Aji Djamali, Dr. Jacfranz Guiteau
Summary
What does it mean to receive the ultimate gift, one that comes not wrapped in paper, but in sacrifice? In this profound final episode, we meet the recipients: people whose lives were saved by kidney and liver transplants, and the extraordinary individuals who gave them.
For Breanne, it was her sister who stepped forward without hesitation. For John, it was his doctor, a man who crossed professional boundaries to become family. For Brian and Rod, it was strangers they’ll never meet, whose deaths became their second chance. Their stories reveal the complex emotional landscape of transplantation: the crushing weight of dialysis, the agony of waiting, the guilt of "taking," and the overwhelming gratitude of being given more time.
But this episode is also about the donors, those who gave parts of themselves so others might live. Like Dr. Djamali, the nephrologist who donated a kidney to his patient, forging a bond deeper than blood. Or Breanne’s sister, who shrugged off being called a hero. And the unnamed donor families who, in their grief, chose to send letters, photos, even invitations into their lives, seeking solace in knowing their loved ones live on.
The gift of an organ is not a cure. It’s a trade. One life altered so another can continue. Recipients face lifelong medications, the specter of rejection, and the haunting knowledge that their survival is tied to another’s loss. Yet in that tension, there is transformation. Relationships deepen, priorities shift, and small moments become sacred.
As this season closes, we’re left with a question: What does it mean to truly receive? Not just to survive, but to honor the gift by living fully with all its messy, ordinary, and extraordinary beauty.
Featured in this episode:
Breanne Wychterley, Brian Web and Tonita, John Jartz, Rod and Patti Meier, Matt Troha, Dr. Aji Djamali, Dr. Jacfranz Guiteau
Summary
What does it mean to receive the ultimate gift, one that comes not wrapped in paper, but in sacrifice? In this profound final episode, we meet the recipients: people whose lives were saved by kidney and liver transplants, and the extraordinary individuals who gave them.
For Breanne, it was her sister who stepped forward without hesitation. For John, it was his doctor, a man who crossed professional boundaries to become family. For Brian and Rod, it was strangers they’ll never meet, whose deaths became their second chance. Their stories reveal the complex emotional landscape of transplantation: the crushing weight of dialysis, the agony of waiting, the guilt of "taking," and the overwhelming gratitude of being given more time.
But this episode is also about the donors, those who gave parts of themselves so others might live. Like Dr. Djamali, the nephrologist who donated a kidney to his patient, forging a bond deeper than blood. Or Breanne’s sister, who shrugged off being called a hero. And the unnamed donor families who, in their grief, chose to send letters, photos, even invitations into their lives, seeking solace in knowing their loved ones live on.
The gift of an organ is not a cure. It’s a trade. One life altered so another can continue. Recipients face lifelong medications, the specter of rejection, and the haunting knowledge that their survival is tied to another’s loss. Yet in that tension, there is transformation. Relationships deepen, priorities shift, and small moments become sacred.
As this season closes, we’re left with a question: What does it mean to truly receive? Not just to survive, but to honor the gift by living fully with all its messy, ordinary, and extraordinary beauty.
Extraordinary Conversations Ep 5 - Heart and Lung Recipients
Featured in this episode:
Dan Lavergne, Dan Milburn, Katie House, Matt Troha, Dr. Erin Lowery, Dr. Ravi Dhingra
Summary:
For Katie, it started with jumping jacks. For Matt, a routine physical. For Dan Milburn, a bloody cough in the bathroom. In an instant, their lives changed forever—their hearts and lungs were failing, and the only way to survive was a transplant.
In this deeply moving episode, we meet the people on the other side of that midnight phone call: the recipients. Their stories are miraculous and humbling. But a transplant isn’t just a surgery. It’s a rebirth. Recipients describe the surreal experience of waking with new organs, the struggle to reconcile gratitude with guilt, and the profound ways their near-death experiences reshaped their lives. Some thrive, embracing each day with newfound purpose; others face cruel setbacks, like Dan Milburn, whose body rejected his lungs far too soon.
Through moments of success and heartbreak, this episode explores what it means to live with someone else’s heart beating in your chest, to draw breath with borrowed lungs, and to carry the weight of a gift that can never truly be repaid. This episode tells the story of science, survival, and the unbreakable human spirit. It’s about what happens when life hands you a second chance and how you choose to use it.
Featured in this episode:
Dan Lavergne, Dan Milburn, Katie House, Matt Troha, Dr. Erin Lowery, Dr. Ravi Dhingra
Summary:
For Katie, it started with jumping jacks. For Matt, a routine physical. For Dan Milburn, a bloody cough in the bathroom. In an instant, their lives changed forever—their hearts and lungs were failing, and the only way to survive was a transplant.
In this deeply moving episode, we meet the people on the other side of that midnight phone call: the recipients. Their stories are miraculous and humbling. But a transplant isn’t just a surgery. It’s a rebirth. Recipients describe the surreal experience of waking with new organs, the struggle to reconcile gratitude with guilt, and the profound ways their near-death experiences reshaped their lives. Some thrive, embracing each day with newfound purpose; others face cruel setbacks, like Dan Milburn, whose body rejected his lungs far too soon.
Through moments of success and heartbreak, this episode explores what it means to live with someone else’s heart beating in your chest, to draw breath with borrowed lungs, and to carry the weight of a gift that can never truly be repaid. This episode tells the story of science, survival, and the unbreakable human spirit. It’s about what happens when life hands you a second chance and how you choose to use it.
Extraordinary Conversations Ep 4 - Transplant Surgeons
Transplant Surgeons
Dr. Dan McCarthy, David Grant, Dr. Josh Mezrich, Dr. Jacfranz Guiteau, Dr. Nikole Neidlinger
In this gripping episode, we follow the chaotic, emotional journey of organ transplantation inside the operating rooms and the quiet, anxious moments that define the race for a second chance. You’ll hear from the transplant surgeons who rise in the middle of the night, carrying the weight of two lives: the donor they’ll never meet, and the recipient whose future is in their hands. They share the intoxicating highs of a successful surgery and the crushing difficulty of telling a patient, "The organ isn't right," after they've already rushed to the hospital.
This episode pulls back the curtain on the fragile chain of events that must align for a transplant to happen. Discover why these complex surgeries so often occur in the wee hours, what it’s like for a patient to get "the call," and the immense responsibility surgeons feel to be good stewards of a precious, scarce gift. It’s a story of modern miracles built on profound loss, of the "hurry up and wait" agony of the waiting list, and the raw humanity of doctors who laugh, cry, and are forever changed by the work they do.
Extraordinary Conversations Ep 3 - Organ Procurement Team
This powerful episode takes a deep dive into the unseen, emotionally charged world of organ transplant recovery where urgency and reverence collide. Host Toby shadows a surgical team on a 2 AM mission to Marshfield to retrieve organs from a donor, revealing the complex logistics, split-second decisions, and profound humanity behind the process.
Every step of organ recovery is a race against time. The recovery team shares gripping stories about the weight of meeting grieving families, the heart-stopping moment when an organ’s viability hangs in the balance, and the sacred ritual of the "moment of silence" where donors are honored not as medical cases but as people whose legacies will save lives.
Surgeons and coordinators open up about the emotional toll of working in the organ recovery field. They share how they compartmentalize grief to do their jobs, only to break down later when a donor’s story hits too close to home. They grapple with ethical dilemmas, like declining an organ that could fail in a recipient, and the bittersweet reality that their work thrives on tragedy. Yet, amid the exhaustion, they find purpose: the indescribable rush of seeing an organ "wake up" in its new body.
The episode closes with a devastatingly beautiful letter from a mother whose 14-year-old son died by suicide, read aloud in the OR, a reminder that every donor was someone’s else world. This episode is a lasting tribute to the invisible heroes who turn loss into second chances.
Your opinion matters! Please take a few minutes to complete this survey to share your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions for the future season of Extraordinary Conversations. https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aY7QYrKjGh8g1zE
Featured in this episode: Dr. Jenny Phillip, David Grant, Kaylee Davis, Ashley Wendt, Carissa, Heather Modell, Katie Heuer, Lynn Berg
Episode summary:
This powerful episode takes a deep dive into the unseen, emotionally charged world of organ transplant recovery where urgency and reverence collide. Host Toby shadows a surgical team on a 2 AM mission to Marshfield to retrieve organs from a donor, revealing the complex logistics, split-second decisions, and profound humanity behind the process.
Every step of organ recovery is a race against time. The recovery team shares gripping stories about the weight of meeting grieving families, the heart-stopping moment when an organ’s viability hangs in the balance, and the sacred ritual of the "moment of silence" where donors are honored not as medical cases but as people whose legacies will save lives.
Surgeons and coordinators open up about the emotional toll of working in the organ recovery field. They share how they compartmentalize grief to do their jobs, only to break down later when a donor’s story hits too close to home. They grapple with ethical dilemmas, like declining an organ that could fail in a recipient, and the bittersweet reality that their work thrives on tragedy. Yet, amid the exhaustion, they find purpose: the indescribable rush of seeing an organ "wake up" in its new body.
The episode closes with a devastatingly beautiful letter from a mother whose 14-year-old son died by suicide, read aloud in the OR, a reminder that every donor was someone’s else world. This episode is a lasting tribute to the invisible heroes who turn loss into second chances.
Your opinion matters! Please take a few minutes to complete this survey to share your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions for the future season of Extraordinary Conversations. https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aY7QYrKjGh8g1zE
Extraordinary Conversations Ep 2 - Donor Families
Episode 2: Extraordinary Conversations: Donor families
Featured in this episode: Claire and Melissa Crichlow, Nikki, Cassie and Matthew Wolfgram, Dr. Joshua Mezrich, Sam Taylor
Summary:
What happens when the unthinkable becomes real? In this emotionally intense episode, we meet the families of Lane, Vivian, and Connor—three young lives cut tragically short, yet forever remembered through the extraordinary gift of organ donation. Through intimate conversations with their loved ones, we hear not just how they died, but how they lived.
We witness the impossible decisions these families faced—how a mother trusted her son’s generous spirit even when he once said organ donation 'seemed weird,' how a father found purpose in ensuring his daughter’s organs could save others, and how a sister’s courage broke the silence when no one else could speak.
This episode will make you laugh through tears and leave with a renewed understanding of what it means to say goodbye.
Featured in this episode: Claire and Melissa Crichlow, Nikki, Cassie and Matthew Wolfgram, Dr. Joshua Mezrich, Sam Taylor
Summary:
What happens when the unthinkable becomes real? In this emotionally intense episode, we meet the families of Lane, Vivian, and Connor—three young lives cut tragically short, yet forever remembered through the extraordinary gift of organ donation. Through intimate conversations with their loved ones, we hear not just how they died, but how they lived.
We witness the impossible decisions these families faced—how a mother trusted her son’s generous spirit even when he once said organ donation 'seemed weird,' how a father found purpose in ensuring his daughter’s organs could save others, and how a sister’s courage broke the silence when no one else could speak.
This episode will make you laugh through tears and leave with a renewed understanding of what it means to say goodbye.
Extraordinary Conversations Ep 1 - Donation Request Specialists
Episode 1- Extraordinary Conversations: Donation Request Specialists
Featured in this episode: Samantha Taylor, Rachel Bledsoe, Dr. Nikole Neidlinger, Dr. Joshua Mezrich, Claire and Melissa Crichlow
Summary:
What happens when a family, in their most shattered moment, is asked to consider organ donation? In this profoundly moving episode, palliative care physician Dr. Toby Campbell explores the delicate, human side of a medical miracle—where grief meets grace, and love outlasts loss.
Through intimate stories like Claire’s, who stood in a hospital hallway as her brother was wheeled away to save strangers’ lives, we witness the raw beauty of families navigating impossible decisions.
Meet the unsung heroes—donation specialists like Sam and Rachel—who guide grieving loved ones with tenderness and compassion, ensuring every ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is a choice made with clarity and peace. From whispered goodbyes to sparkly toenails painted in defiance of sorrow, this episode reveals how modern medicine and humanity collide to create something extraordinary. It’s a reminder that in our darkest moments, we still have the power to give light to others.
Join us for a journey that will break your heart and put it back together again.
Featured in this episode: Samantha Taylor, Rachel Bledsoe, Dr. Nikole Neidlinger, Dr. Joshua Mezrich, Claire and Melissa Crichlow
What happens when a family, in their most shattered moment, is asked to consider organ donation? In this profoundly moving episode, palliative care physician Dr. Toby Campbell explores the delicate, human side of a medical miracle—where grief meets grace, and love outlasts loss. Through intimate stories like Claire’s, who stood in a hospital hallway as her brother was wheeled away to save strangers’ lives, we witness the raw beauty of families navigating impossible decisions.
Meet the unsung heroes—donation specialists like Sam and Rachel—who guide grieving loved ones with tenderness and compassion, ensuring every ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is a choice made with clarity and peace. From whispered goodbyes to sparkly toenails painted in defiance of sorrow, this episode reveals how modern medicine and humanity collide to create something extraordinary. It’s a reminder that in our darkest moments, we still have the power to give light to others.
Join us for a journey that will break your heart and put it back together again.