Singer Natalie Cole Receives Kidney Transplant

The singer Natalie Cole has undergone a kidney transplant and is doing well. She plans to postpone her summer tour, which was scheduled to start June 5 and last until November, while she recovers. She has been receiving dialysis treatments three times each week since September, which is unrelated to her diagnosis of hepatitis C. She announced that she had hepatitis C last year and said that the damaging liver disease was likely due to her previous drug use. She has received chemotherapy to treat the hepatitis disease and had kidney failure within four months of treatment. Without a kidney donor, she would have needed dialysis treatment for the rest of her life. A company called One Legacy, which is a regional organ-procurement agency, was able to find a kidney for her.