NORFOLK, Va. — Katisha Vertrees has a smile that gets bigger every day — you'd smile too if you survived what she's been through.
She was only 28 when doctors told her a kidney transplant was her best hope of living to see her 30s. In my last update in December, I brought you inside the operating room at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital for her long-awaited surgery.
Watch: Wish for life-changing transplant granted by anonymous angel
But days after that life-saving operation, a surprise setback sent Katisha right back into the hospital.
"I couldn't believe it," she told me. "I was in shock."
Katisha was up and walking around, feeling good, in the first days after her surgery. But right after being released, just days before Christmas, her husband Taylor rushed her back to the emergency room with a new worry: sudden, worsening chest pain.
"They did an EKG, and they said that I had a heart attack," she explained.
After all she's been through, now this.
"I was pretty down," she confessed. "I thought I was worried that it was going to affect my kidney."
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But doctors say what happened to her heart had no impact on the new kidney. And in the weeks after, life is slowly getting back to normal. She has check-ups with her doctor every week and is slated to start cardiac rehabilitation next month.
As for her new kidney? It's great — no more dialysis.
"I have more energy," she said. "I can eat more. My skin feels great. It's been a blessing. It's like, I feel like a whole new person."
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It's all thanks to a living organ donor with no connection to Katisha. Dr. Duncan Yoder is the surgical director of Sentara Health's kidney and pancreas transplant program. He was the surgeon in the operating room on Katisha's big day.
"It's unusual to have just this altruistic random donor that donates to someone, but it does happen, and sometimes those are the best stories," said Yoder.
Yes, that anonymous angel who saw Katisha's story and gave her something so precious. Katisha tells me she thinks about her every day.
"It's a blessing that I can never repay to her," she said. "She really changed everything about my day to day, and I really hope I get to meet her one day."
If you'd like to learn more information about how to become a living donor, click here to visit the Health Resources & Services Administration website.
