Dr. Chris Freise, MD

In 2009, I had the privilege of giving The Gift of Life to a Friend suffering the ravages of end stage renal failure, tethered to their home peritoneal dialysis set-up, 5-7x/day for 6+ yrs. The Entire Nephrology and Transplant Teams are phenomenal. Dr. Freise brought the laparoscopic nephrectomy technique to UCSF, which is less invasive and heals faster. At the time, Stanford utilised a different approach; my face fell when I learned that instead of a badass trophy scar under my left shoulder blade, I would have but 5 tiny lap sites. The incision is where my 110# frame already had a faint crease; my GYN can’t even see it. Dr. Freise has a warm chair side manner and an incredibly soothing voice: “Oh. You’re tiny; the incision must be big enough for me to reach into your abdominal cavity and retrieve freed kidney.” He wears XL gloves: one hand swiped my kidney and his CV stole my heart. My friend is thriving & I have met so many other patients of his - my Kidney Cousins!