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Newark, NJ - In addition to being responsible for the safety and recovery of her patients, one nurse at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center also took it upon herself to improve the life of her friend and nurse colleague. On October 23, 2008, Joan Lewandowski, RN, of the Cath Lab at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, donated a kidney to her ailing co-worker Charlotte Santiago, RN, also with the Cath Lab.
Ms. Santiago needed a life-saving transplant after the autoimmune disorder IgA nephropathy caused extensive inflammation and damage to her kidneys. When it came times for Ms. Lewandowski to make a choice to help her—she didn’t hesitate to donate one of her own kidneys.
“I had worked with her for a year and I saw that she had a less than optimal quality of life on dialysis,” Ms. Lewandowski relates. “I was already a registered donor with The Sharing Network and I was pleased that we were a match. I gave her the kidney because I knew that she needed it and that it was going to a good home.”
Ms. Lewandowski’s surgery was performed by Harry Sun, MD, Transplant Surgeon. Ms. Santiago’s surgery was undertaken by Stuart R. Geffner, MD, Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Surgery. Both women fully recovered and returned to work in January. Ms. Santiago no longer requires dialysis and can travel to visit her daughters in the Philippians with much greater ease.
“I told her in the weeks before the surgery that no words can ever say thanks enough for what she has done for me,” says Ms. Santiago, who presented her friend with small special gifts for the week prior to surgery. She gave her a spa bath kit and a necklace shaped like a kidney bean—the only kind of kidney she could give in return. Mrs., Santiago’s daughters and sister made cards of thanks for Ms. Lewandowski.
Ms.Santiago first learned of her condition when she applied for life insurance and was rejected for a pre-existing condition. She discovered that she had IgA nephropathy, a kidney disorder where a protein that helps the body fight infections settles in the kidneys. After years with IgA nephropathy, the kidneys may show signs of damage and about 25 percent of adults with IgA nephropathy develop total kidney failure.
She was diagnosed in 2000 and required dialysis by 2006. For an active nurse with two jobs, this was a difficult prospect.
“I thought to myself that I work hard to provide for my family. What did I do wrong that this would happen?” she relates.
Fortunately her colleagues at Newark Beth Israel knew that she had no family in the area and they accompanied her to many of her dialysis sessions. She recalls these individuals as “more than co-workers, just like family.”
Her nephrologist, Sadanand Palekar, MD, Program Director of the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Program, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, discussed living donor kidney transplantation and she told this to Ms. Lewandoski one day. Her friend then sought out the tests needed to confirm that she was a compatible donor, then relayed the happy news to her. From there the surgery was scheduled and successfully completed.
“After the transplant we kidded that now she was going to have blue eyes and be taller,” said Ms. Lewandowski, who is pleased to see the healthy color in her friend’s face again.
Ms. Santiago is grateful for the gift of life and relates that it is “so good, my life without dialysis.” She and her new kidney will take a trip to Hawaii this year.
The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division of Saint Barnabas Health Care System, located at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, is one of the 10 most active of 240 programs in the country, having performed more than 250 kidney transplants last year, and more than 4,380 since the program began in 1968. To get on their transplant waiting lists, or to discuss the option of living donation, please call either 1-877-878-7555 or 973-926-7555 (Newark Beth Israel Medical Center).
Date: February 23, 2009
Contact: Beth Salamon
Public Relations
Phone: 973.322.4926
esalamon@barnabashealth.org
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