How The Bold And The Beautiful Raised Awareness For Kidney Failure
Soap operas may tell more extreme versions of the human condition, but sometimes they also get very raw and real about situations that happen to people all over the world — and offer important lessons that can help audience members (via SheKnows). In 2019, "The Bold and the Beautiful" saw a beloved character suddenly become very sick, with nobody being able to figure out what was wrong with her.
This character had already had serious health problems following being shot several years prior, and fans worried they might finally lose her. But ultimately, she was saved, although she hasn't had an actual storyline since then. Still, "B&B" fans got a lesson about warning signs of kidney failure and what solutions medical science has for this common condition. The soap had done other social storylines before, including when it dealt with Jake MacLaine's sexual abuse and Logan's breast cancer, and this time, the series was ready to educate audiences again (via Soap Hub).
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Katie Logan has been through a lot
When Katie Logan was shot on "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 2007, it caused her to need a heart transplant. In a shocking plot twist that left chills down many audience member spines, Storm Logan (William deVry), Katie's brother who accidentally shot her, took his own life so that Katie would get his heart. Storm both shot and saved his sister — the Logan family tree on "The Bold and the Beautiful" is admittedly wild — but Katie then spent years on different medications meant to keep her body from rejecting her brother's heart (via Soaps in Depth).
In 2019, when it seemed Katie had finally gotten her life back together after two failed marriages, she suddenly felt very ill and was rushed to the hospital only to find she was in renal failure — and the only options were dialysis for life or a new kidney. Eventually, the doctors realized dialysis wouldn't even be an option. Thankfully, a brand new cousin had just arrived in "B&B's" fictional version of Los Angeles, and Storm's daughter, Flo Fulton (Katrina Bowden), was a match for Katie. Therefore, her life was saved once again (via Soaps.com).
Heather Tom explains Katie's predicament
Heather Tom, who has been playing Katie since 2007, which was when the character first needed her heart transplant, opened up to Parade about what her character was going through.
"I think that this is probably not too far away from the truth, but Katie's on a tremendous amount of anti-rejection drugs...to keep her heart from being rejected," Tom told Parade. "That put a strain on her kidneys. I don't really have the numbers of how often that happens, but I certainly do have friends that have been on a large drug cocktail for a long time and it does wear on your organs."
Tom went on to explain that, due to Katie's heart transplant, there was a risk of infection if dialysis was performed, so a donor had to be found fast, which is why all members of Katie's family got tested to see if they were a match. Flo was surprisingly exactly who Katie needed, bonding her to the Logan family for life.
CBS and The Bold and the Beautiful went further to educate
To further educate viewers, CBS aired a PSA at the end of the episode in which Katie got her transplant to educate viewers more, with Heather Tom speaking about the condition. Another PSA, which streamed on CBSCares, featured Katrina Bowden talking about the importance of live donors, as noted by Soap Hub.
"Having a live donor is actually more beneficial than having a deceased donor," Tom told Parade. "Everyone should donate their organs...I think everyone should be an organ donor, but if you have the opportunity and the will to do something like give a kidney to somebody and be a live donor, that's just amazing and a step above anything else."
Thankfully, Katie's transplant was successful, and she has not had any health scares since this notable story arc. However, viewers will always have in the back of their minds what Katie had to go through to live a full and healthy life, and how anti-rejection meds will always make her life a struggle. While fans may not always be happy with Katie, one can't deny how much she's been through.