Love Notes is a series of letters written by parents, patients, caregivers and loved ones expressing gratitude to the incredible teams at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and others who helped their child heal.
Dear Anh,
My family and I remember like it was yesterday: Dr. Amber Hildreth asked if we were excited about the good news. I was puzzled because I didn’t know what she was referring to. That’s when she told me that you wanted to help our daughter get better and wanted to be her living donor. I was so shocked and all I could do was cry tears of joy.
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since the transplant. I want you to know how much your gift has saved not just Ailani but our family as well. We have noticed such a change in our daughter. She is no longer yellow from jaundice. She is sleeping through the night without crying from itching and scratching. I’m now able to dress her in outfits that don’t completely cover her from head to toe. She loves to dance, sing, watch cartoons, play dress-up, color, play with toys and play with her brother and sisters. She couldn’t play that much before because she was so tiny and fragile from Alagille syndrome. Now she runs around and is always on the go. Her eating habits have even changed and she loves food now. Before, she wouldn’t even look at it. She has put on weight and looks so much healthier than before.
As I sit here and write this letter, I can’t help but think that without your selfless decision to donate, we would be in a very different situation. Simply saying “thank you” doesn’t feel like enough. We know that our daughter will never have a “normal” life, but what you did gave her a second chance to be able to feel more normal. I am so happy we met. I will continue to share her progress and life moments with you and as she gets older and embarks on a similar path of helping someone in need, paying it forward and making a difference just as you have done for us.
With love,
Miguel, Amanda,
Jasmine, Ethan, Kalena
and Ailani Troncoso
Dear Ailani, Amanda and Miguel,
I will always remember the joy, awe and hope I felt the first time I met Ailani, watching her run, play and laugh like any healthy 3-year-old. I would never have guessed she had been seriously ill. It’s incredible seeing her now, so vibrant and full of life.
Inspired by stories of children and adults desperately in need of an organ, I felt a strong calling to help. In 2023, I joined the list to donate my liver to any child who matched my bloodwork and liver anatomy, and received the call when Rady Children’s transplant program began accepting living donors two years later. When the transplant team explained the potential risks and complications of donating, I held on to the belief that I would recover after a few weeks of discomfort and my liver would completely grow back. At the time of my surgery, I was only told that my recipient was a 3-year-old child.
Amanda, when you wrote me a letter six months after the surgery, I found who I had donated to and what your family had endured. While I had hoped my donation would transform a child’s life, nothing prepared me for the emotional reality of meeting you all. Feeling your warm hugs, hearing your heartfelt words of gratitude and seeing your tears made real the true magnitude of this miracle and assured me that I had made the right decision. Knowing that the years of hardship, stress and anxiety weighing on your family have been finally lifted fills my heart with joy that I was able to help Ailani and your family.
I’m deeply grateful to the incredible transplant teams at Rady Children’s and UC San Diego Health for making it possible for me to share the gift of life with Ailani.
With much love, your donor,
Anh