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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brenda Cortez lives in Franklin, Wisconsin, with her husband, Shawn; daughter, Kailey; son, Kyle; and two Dachshund dogs. At the time of Brenda’s kidney donation in 2005, when My Mom Is Having Surgery took place, Kailey was in the fifth grade, and Kyle in second grade. Kailey just graduated college and Kyle is a sophomore in college. Brenda was inspired to write her book after Kailey centered her college entrance essay around Brenda’s donation and the inspiration she felt from it. Brenda is now a strong advocate for living organ donation awareness.  Because of this advocacy and her passion for helping others, she came up with the HOWL slogan (Help Others With Love) and the idea of Howl the Owl came to life.

MY MOM IS HAVING SURGERY REVIEWS:

“What an important story to tell.  I, myself, have donated stem cells to help cure my brother’s cancer and when my father unexpectedly passed away he also donated his body to help others.  I think that stories about organ donation are not shared nearly enough.  I think that this is a worth while story to be shared with many other people across all platforms.  I found it to be heartwarming and to capture the best part of humanity…the giving spirit!  4.5 stars” – Mrs. Mommy Booknerd (Click here for more information)

“My Mom Is Having Surgery” is a child -friendly true story about a woman’s donation of a kidney to another mom, told from the viewpoint of her daughter, Kailey. In explaining her choice to her daughter who is worried and fearful for her, the kidney donor explained: “I know in my heart I am meant to do this, and I want to help someone by doing what I hope someone would do for me or my family.” Kailey is reassured by her mother’s words plus the information that her doctors are especially trained, highly competent medical professionals, whose job it is to take excellent care of her and restore her to health without excessive pain. Kailey and her brother Kyle are further comforted by their Grandmother and Father during her mother’s surgery and recovery at the hospital. After the surgery, her mom is taken to a recovery room, then to her hospital room where Kailey and Kyle can visit. They are surprised to see that her mom is still sleeping, but her nurse explained that this is quite normal, and that her mom will need to rest and recover and sleep a lot in the next few weeks to heal from the kidney surgery. Finally Kailey’s mom is ready to come home after four days in the hospital. Kailey and Kyle understand they will need to do more chores at home and help her mom during her home recovery from the kidney removal, which is considered major surgery. Although it was scary for the children, they realized that their mom had done a truly great thing in donating her kidney to another mom of a friend of theirs. They were proud of their mom for being a hero. “My Mom Is Having Surgery: A Kidney Story” is an excellent example of medical biography for juveniles, with good information and realistic reassurance for children facing a loved one’s major surgery. It should be noted that a donation of, $1 per book sold goes to Donate Life America, an organization which increases awareness for organ donation.” – (Click here for more information)

BACKSTORY:

“The story behind my story started back in September of 2004. I was volunteering at my children’s school, which is also connected to our church, St. Jacobi Lutheran. I was setting up a fundraising event for the school and needed other parents to help unload a truck of food being delivered. One of the mom’s I asked was Pam. I was acquainted with Pam since our kids were in the second and fifth grade together. Pam said she could help that time, but would not be able to after that due to the fact that she was getting a fistula implanted in her arm to begin dialysis. Pam told me her kidneys were failing (only working at 17%) due to a disease she’s had for many years. I asked Pam what was required to be a living kidney donor. She said she needed someone with O blood type since she has O+ blood. I told her I have O- blood type, and asked what I needed to do to get tested. It was at the point that I knew in my heart that I would be a match for Pam. Within a month, I was giving 13 tubes of blood for testing, and then took the long Q&A test to make sure I was mentally competent to give away a living part of myself. By the end of November, we found out I was officially a match. A month later I underwent a complete physical, which included a CT scan to be sure I indeed had two kidneys and where they were located. I passed all the tests and it was decided I could donate my left kidney, which is the preferred one to take due to easier disconnection. I was also going to be one of the first at our hospital (Froedert in Milwaukee, WI) to have the surgery performed laparoscopically. Our surgery was performed on Wednesday, March 23, 2005. I went home four days later on Easter Sunday. During the few months prior to the transplant, our church held some fundraisers for Pam and myself to help with medical costs for Pam, and help me with lost wages. Pam’s insurance covered my part of the surgery.” – Brenda Cortez, Author

TESTIMONIALS FROM THE DONATE LIFE COMMUNITY:

“Brenda’s book has been a wonderful tool for our transplant center to provide to potential donors who have young children. Many children have concerns when they learn that their parent will be going into surgery. Brenda’s book helps explain the process so that children know what to expect, alleviates their fears, and encourages them to be proud of their parent for giving the gift of life to someone else in need.”

–Allison Stephans, MSW, APSW, Abdominal Transplant Social Worker

“I really enjoyed Brenda’s book. Last year my mom also donated a kidney and I had mixed emotions as well, so reading her book really helped me understand the process and know what to expect. It was great! My own kids thought it was neat there was a book about donating a kidney. It helped them understand it better too.”

– Michele Wesner, Living Donor Family Member, UW Hospital

MEDIA ATTENTION:

New: March 2018 appearance on “The Morning Blend”. Click here to watch the video segment.

March 2017 appearance on “The Morning Blend”. Click here to watch the video segment.

AUTHOR/SCHOOL VISIT:

Hire Brenda to present her books, organ donation, her HOWL message, and/or literacy to your school or group.

$100/hour assembly

$250/half day

$400/whole day

*Talk to Brenda about a fee discount for author visits when a bulk book order is placed.

RECENT EVENTS:

April 19, 2018 – Wisconsin School Nurses Association Annual Conference

April 21, 2018 – Living Donor Guinness World Record Attempt, Chicago, IL

April 26, 2018 – STEAM day, Brown Deer Elementary School

August 2-7, 2018 – Donate Life Transplant Games of America, Salt Lake City, UT

UPCOMING EVENTS:

November 15, 2018, 9:30am-10:30am: “Howl Helps Others” book reading and activity, Waterford Public Library

Brenda Cortez with fellow Donate Life Supporting Author, Robert Horsey. Click here to learn more about Robert’s novel, Gifted.

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Contact information: mymomishavingsurgery [at] gmail [dot] com