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While thousands linger on organ waiting lists, the national transplant network is ditching 40-year-old systems and struggling to remake itself. The Beacon talked with local health leaders about the state of organ transplantation today.

Feeling “off” turned into a critical situation within moments when Stacee suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that led to a hemorrhagic stroke.

An elementary school music teacher and jazz musician, 54-year-old Lisa was initially diagnosed with high blood pressure—the number one killer of women—in her early 30s. It is often called “the silent killer” because most who have it don’t experience any symptoms. Lisa was on blood pressure medication but had stopped taking it because she experienced side effects. She put off seeing her doctor about it for several months.

Ramon Grado doesn’t remember driving home and then sprawling on the living room floor on Jan. 13, 2013. Patty, his wife of 33 years, found him there an hour later, awake and complaining about his headache.