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I had a KP transplant on Oct 23, 1998 after living with diabetes for over 37 years. I had the typical post-operative lab visits but had not seen Dr. Adams in the clinic for over 5 years. I did run into him a few times around the hospital and at the transplant picnic and he had the ability to remember me and the details of my condition. I'm sure he did the same with all of his patients, which had to number in the thousands. Aside from being a top notch surgeon and instructor, he made me feel like a friend. The compassion that he showed for his clientele and his craft will be genuinely missed.
- Daryl Manka
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Dr Adams gave me my life back more than once in my 38 years ofliving. After receiving my kidney transplant in January of 2005 ( which heperformed) I had some internal bleeding and Dr Adams fixed the bleeding and I believe saved my life. I will always remember joking around with him at my post operative visits. He was a very talented surgeon.
- Erin Decker
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Dr Adams performed my first and then second Kidney transplant in 1984 when I was only 16. I started out being afraid until I met Dr Adams. I can't really explain it, but he just had a way that projected everything would be ok and that I could rely on him. I've known and read about all the accomplishments and accolades he's received over the years and they are a testament to the passion and dedication that dwelled inside him. I have to add that in addition, it's mind boggling to know the numerous lives that are also changed and have been affected to this day because of him. I could hardly believe the news of his passing. I'm still in shock. What has always stayed ingrained in me about Dr. Adams is the way he pin pointed the exact thing that needed to be pin pointed. He just had a knowing, always, on how to solve what ever needed solving. He was respectful and kind and has impacted my life beyond words. My heart is heavy and my prayers go out to his family.
- Mary Wind
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Dr Adam not only used the skill of his hands, but the Skills that Really made him stands out. His Heart.
He not only changed my life but the lives of my three children as well. His bed side manner was impeccable He was truly a blessing the first day I walked in his office at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee. He gave me back Life on March 03, 2006 with a Kidney. I not only lost a beautiful Doctor. More importantly I lost a Great Friend that will be Heart Felt & Deeply Missed
Much Luv 4 Dr Mark Adam
Broken Hearted,
Kimberly M. Young & Family
Kenosha, WI
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THE MAGIC OF DR. ADAMS
I consider myself blessed to have known Dr.Adams for so many years. As nephrologist in Kenosha, Medical Director of the St. Catherine's Kidney Center, I referred innumerable patients to Him for transplant evaluation. He has given life to so many, touched their lifes and the ones of the families in a special way so that all of them came back with new kidney, a pancreas, but, most of all, with a new friend. His caring, integrity, devotion are legendary. He was always available and willing, he went the extra step for all. Indeed he gave our patients kidneys and pancreas but he stole pieces of our hearts , instilling in its place the sparkle of His eyes and warmth of His smile. We shall never be without Him. That is the magic only Dr. Adams could perform and He gave so gallantly ... He was my colleague, my friend, my mentor and inspiration. He was humble and pure at heart. I am saddened by the immense loss and would like to extend my warm condolances to his family, to Dr. Chris Johnson and the entire transplant team, to the girls of his office and to the entire Froedtert Community.
- Rosanna Ranieri MD
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I first met Dr Mark Adams in 1978 at which time he told me to ignore the charts and graphs others were creating to plot out the expected failure date of my kidneys. He was the first to allow me to peek through the dark cloud hanging over my head. His comments had an immediate and life-changing effect on me for which I will be forever grateful.
On Thanksgiving Day 1978 Dr. Adams spent the afternoon crafting a fistula for a very young (25) scared, six-month pregnant woman whose kidneys were failing and who couldn't undergo anesthesia. I had the audacity to vomit all over his nice sterile operating room, yet he simply stopped surgery and then, in his own inimitable way, calmly and quietly assured me that it wasn't a problem and that he'd get back to surgery whenever I was ready.
Later, on March 30, 1981, Dr. Adams performed my kidney transplant surgery. My fondest memories of my time in the hospital were the tales of his children, and I will never forget the beautiful sunny April day he checked in on me and then announced he was leaving the hospital to take his children to the park to fly kites. A dedicated surgeon who had his priorities straight.
As a direct result of his skill and dedication, and of others, as well I recently celebrated the 26th anniversary of my transplant, the 28th birthday of my older daughter (the "dialysis baby"), the 20th birthday of my younger daughter, born after the tranplant,and will soon celebrate my 32nd wedding anniversary.
I am only one of many. The enormous, postive impact Mark Adams had on the lives around him will be felt for generations to come.
He will be missed. May we all aspire to be more like him.
- Ann Pendergast Christman
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I was so distressed to belatedly hear of the death of Dr. Mark Adams. He was my partner, colleague, compatriot, and friend through my years at MCOW (1977-1989). For those years he was in fantastic physical condition and skied the Birkebeiner. I remember vividly his going through the windshield of a car that hit him while he was bicycling to work on Bluemound.
Mark was a terrific terrific surgeon and certainly got me out of trouble on numerous occasions though I never seemed to get the chance to reciprocate.
I cut down a huge tree in my Elm Grove yard and Mark sawed it up into planks and handmade a beautiful bench of it. I always think of him when I see it. It seems to stand for his dedication to work, care, and friends.
He will be deeply missed.
- Stephen C. Jacobs, MD
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I met Dr. Mark Adams in the 80's. I was covering a story of a child named Virgil whose kidney transplant hopes had all but vanished. We had accompanied Virgil on a last wish trip to Disneyland. Imagine the shock when we got the call that the impossible kidney match had been found. Time was of the essence. We got Virgil back to Milwaukee and into an operating room. Dr. Adams was amazing it was remarkable to witness that operation so many years ago..
Today....the day after the tragic plane crash in Milwaukee that claimed the lives of the University of Michigan doctors and others dedicated to life saving transplants....I suggested we call one of the finest advocates of organ donation I've know...to get some valuable perspective on that element of the story. A quick google search led to this website and a tremendously sad discovery.
I got the chance to see how much he adored his family. A couple years ago, I ran into Dr. Adams at the hardware store. He told me how he was delighting in the prospect of building his family a kayak.
Reading this blog, I find that adoration spread to his extended family too...all the people who were given a second chance at life thanks to his skills in the operating room.
- Kathy Mykleby
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Dr. Mark Adams along with Dr. Chris Johnson performed the kidney transplant between my brother, Greg Key and I. We were the 100th transplant at Froedtert. Doctor Adams was a great man, he helped us feel calm and re-assured about the procedure. I was deeply saddened to hear the news of his death. The medical community will suffer a great loss.
- Loretta Sue Meinel
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I came to the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1985, as an intern in General Surgery. One memory that stands out is being the intern on the transplant service in December. Early in the month Dr. Adams asked me if I was married. When I said I was, he turned to my senior resident and said, "Mike, you take call on Christmas--this intern needs to be with his wife." Later, after I switched specialties to anesthesiology, doing residency and fellowship at MCW, I always enjoyed doing cases with Mark, as he was quite simply the best surgeon I'd ever seen. (Although if something didn't go well, his withering laser beam stare could be quite intimidating!) Eventually, after being on the anesthesiology staff at MCW for a couple years, an opportunity presented itself at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. I asked Mark to write a letter of recommendation for me. The letter included the line "I could not recommend him to you more highly, although I hope he stays here with us in Milwaukee."
When I told him that I got the job and I was leaving, he smiled and said, "I hope you get sunburned!"
Nearly 10 years later, here I am doing a transplant case, when my surgical colleague says to me, "Say, Karl, did you know that surgeon in Wisconsin who just died of an arrhythmia, Mark . . . ." I didn't want him to say the last name, because right then I knew.
I could go on with anecdotes, but suffice it to say I'm honored to have had the opportunity to know and work with Mark Adams. It has been said that we all die, but not everyone lives. Mark clearly lived, and I like to think that maybe I lived a little bit more having had a chance to know him.
- Karl Poterack
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I decided to look at the news at Froedtert Hospital today and found such a sad heading that Dr. Adams had passed away. I worked at FMLH for 20 years, but have been gone for 6 years now, but I do remember his wonderful demeanor and of course his good looking manner and enjoyed knowing him. I am so sorry for all of his family, friends and co-workers. I know you will all miss him.
- Brenda Holfert
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I gave my husband a kidney in 1998. Dr. Adams was the surgeon who put my kidney into my husband. Dr. Adams was a very professional, caring, dedicated doctor who obviously had an enormous talent for what he did for others. He has been taken away far too soon, but his work on this earth will live on in others for many years. Dr. Adams saved many lives and because of that, his legacy will live on. There is no answer why such a person leaves us so soon when he can do so much to help others here, but my husband and I are grateful with our lives, that Dr. Adams came into our lives when he did. We will never forget him and our sympathies go out to his family, colleages, and patients, whom he has touched over the years. We are very saddened. How ironic that Dr. Adams saved my husband's life, only to be outlived by him in the end.
- Cindy Fredericksen
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Well, it has been 4 almost 5 months now and I think I can finally sit down and write this. I worked with Dr. Adams as his assistant for the last 9 years. As you do when you work closely with someone we shared many family stories, happy times and stressful times. That morning when I came in and his door was still closed I could not be prepared for what I was told. I thought his flight from New Orleans came in late and he was resting.
Indeed, he was resting. The essence of ones being is a strong thing, and as I intently listened to what I was being told I could see him walk from his office through mine and smile as he always did. He walked right behind Jon and went around the corner. Surely Jon was wrong. His brown shoes were neatly tucked away under his desk and his lab coat hung quietly in the closet. Surely, this moment was an awful mistake and he would be walking back through that door with his helmet in hand, smiling and asking what was on his calendar for the morning. I sat for a moment in anticipation of that happening, but it did not.
I quietly went to his desk and sat in his chair. I watched his dream catcher gently swaying in the corner, right where we hung it when we moved down here. I heard him laughing as he teased me about climbing up into his bookcase to dust and strategically place every item which had its own story and purpose. He was quite sure that worker's comp would not cover "secretary falling out of bookcase". His computer screen was dark and his desk was in its usual state of organized mayhem. I took the letters for signature out of his in-box and I took his "blue" pen and placed it in my pocket. He was lost without that pen, and I was going to be lost without him.
I still see him in the halls, every so often, when I come around a corner or get off the elevator and head towards the office. There he is at the end of the hall in his blue shirt and Khaki's, coffee in hand, smiling. One blink and he is gone, but the warmth of that moment is still there and it is that moment that starts that work day.
Everything that Dr. Adams is, was, and always will be is enveloped in this office, the halls and the College/Hospital itself. You can see him, hear him and feel him everywhere because in one way or another he touched everyone.
Until the next time I see you Dr. Adams........
- Trudy Becker
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I was a recipient of a kidney transplant on May 29, 1984. Dr. Adams was such a wonderful doctor and so nice. I saw him about year ago and I will always remember what he told me. He told me that I would live to 100 years old and based on that, I really, really take care of my kidney. I will not ruin the wonderful work he did for me. He was a wonderful man.
- Mary Kuether
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My first transplant was 3-22-88, which Dr. Adams performed. He was great doctor no two ways about it. Like people said in comments before mine, he would always remember you. He would always stop and say hi, eventhough you wouldn't be seeing him that day. I remember once I was sitting in the hallway no where near the transplant floor, he stopped sat down and asked how everything was going. That really impressed my family. He was a great guy and doctor. Thanks for being you. Thanks for the many years you added onto my life.
- Tom Park
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Dr. Adams i met in the spring of 1982 i had previously had a transplant at uww of madison,
Dr. Hauns Solinger preformed my first TX.
Dr. Adams took me on a personal tour of the transplant unit at that time. I was looking to put my name on the transplant list at Froedtert &at the UWW. after my first transplant had failed.Little did i know that i would recieve my 2nd 3rd & 4th at the hands of dr.Adams, among the many other surgeries preformed by Dr. Adams if it were not for the skills of him i would not be here today. Thanks to Dr. Adams & the nurses and staff of 4se.
- Michael W. West
PS. i will never forget Mark B. adams
I just recently found out about Dr. Adams and was deeply saddened. He explained the whole transplant process to my family and I since having a liver transplant was my only major surgery i ever had. I had a liver transplant 15 years ago him and he was the best. He took away the questions and any fears from us. As I look towards the possibility of another transplant, his wisdom and advice will give me comfort.
- Greta Melcher
I was just reflecting back on my liver Transplant. I celebrated 5 years on 9/15/2011. I owe that to Dr. Adams and the Froedtert Transplant Team. I thank them deeply for what they have done for me.
The first time I met Dr. Adams was for my interview to get onto the transplant list. He was very intimidating, I was SO nervous. I later find out that he is not so intimidating and that he has this face he puts on just so the paitients know he means business. I also found out he was quite a practical joker. I never knew that side but I heard a few stories.
In the days after the transplant he would come to my room with his little entourage of students and examine me and ask a few questions. By the 7th day I was asking him timidly if I could go home. "Sorry, not today". By the tenth day I was not so timid and just wanted to get out of there. This time I begged, "Please, please, please can I go home. He said Yes and I let out a howl and wanted to hug him right there and thank him for all that he had done. I guess that would have been a little awkward in front of his students.
I wish I would have known more about him when he was alive. Thanks to him, I"M ALIVE. I'm sure there are many more patients out there that feel the same way. God Bless Him and I'm priviledged to have known him.
- Wendy Childers
I was a young teenage boy when I first met Dr. Adams. I had a kidney transplant performed by another doctor. Several years before (1987) and at that time, I was one of the first children to receive a kidney transplant at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. At that time a lot of things were very new and experimental. I went through a couple rejection episodes which were treated with experimental drugs at that time. These caused some very unpleasant side effects. Day after day doctors would tell me "You can go home tomorrow." Well, tomorrow would come and numbers in my labs wouldn't cooperate, so I'd have to stay. After 49 days in the hospital, I finally was able to go home. Well, that transplant lasted four and a half years when it failed not because of rejection, but because of an obstruction. It was making urine, but it would "backup" and not make it into the bladder. I was on dialysis from 1992-1995. Remembering the events that took place during my transplant, I did not want to go on the waiting list for a new one. I waited about a year or so and my mother really wanted me on that list. We set up a meeting to talk to Dr. Adams about going on the list. I was very vocal about not wanting to be on the list. My mother expressed to him that she wanted me on the list. Being that I was a minor, she pulled rank, but Dr. Adams told her that he was hesitant in putting me on the list because of my attitude on the subject. This frustrated my mother because she was the parent and my decision was being considered and not hers. She understood the doctor's position though. She explained to him that my decisions was based on fear from the last transplant and that once he had another one, it would be worth it and not a waste (he thought I would care enough take care of it properly if I did get one.) After some arm twisting, I decided to tell the doctor that I wanted to go on the list. I was on that list for a very long time. A nurse told me that one day she was in church and had a prayer said for me to receive a transplant soon due to many complications I was having with the dialysis. She was the one that received the call on Good Friday of 1995. The kidney was from a young lady who was killed in a car accident. The kidney was severely bruised and would normally not be used for transplant. Dr. Adams didn't pass this opportunity up for me because he said this kidney is a very good match me and it will probably heal in my body. That was in 1995. This April (God willing) I will have had this kidney for 17 years and if it wasn't for Dr. Adams, it would have gone unused in fear it was no good. It's been pretty useful for me. Thank you Dr. Adams. I am proud to be one of your success stories. You truly made a difference in many peoples lives. I'm glad mine was one of them.
- Bryon (B.J.) Nelson
My Mom had a kidney transplant back in 1984. This kidney has lasted her 27+ years. Thank you Dr. Adams for giving life back to my Mom.
- Cindy Burg
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I met Dr. Adams at a different time of his life. I was a patient in County General Hospital during the 70’s following a near fatal car crash. One one such day, a young medical student raced into my room proclaiming he was late and sorry. He introduced himself as Dr. Mark Adams. He asked how I was doing and did I need anything. I did notice that on his feet he wore clogs and in his haste he had one shoe on and one off. I said “thank you for stopping in and you might want to consider shoes with laces”. He turned to smile and wave goodbye. As years have passed and with kidney disease a part of my life, I often tell of my first meeting with Dr. Adams the young man who went on to make a difference in so many lives.