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Even when Hurricane Floyd threatened to postpone the date for removal of Karen’s diseased polycystic kidneys, LuAnn and her husband braved the elements to meet Karen and her husband at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and stand by them through this first step in the transplant process. Then, on a sunny day six weeks later, LuAnn underwent kidney transplant surgery and donated the desperately needed kidney to Karen. “They weathered the storm together, literally,” says Laura Bogert, R.N., B.S.N., C.P.T.C., Renal Transplant Coordinator with Saint Barnabas Health Care System’s Renal Transplant Centers. “Before the transplant, I watched them hug and call each other by their nicknames. They had me in tears.” The immense scope of such a gift -- the donation of one’s own organ to a much-loved person in need -- still leaves even the most seasoned transplant physicians and team members in awe. “We all know that people who donate their time and money are special, but organ donors are truly among the most outstanding citizens in our society,” says Shamkant Mulgaonkar, M.D., Chief of the Transplant Division of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System. “Living organ donation is altruism at its maximum with no thought of compensation in any way. This is the only situation in medicine where a person who has nothing wrong with them would voluntarily allow himself or herself to undergo major surgery. These are extraordinarily special people.” More than 43,000 Americans across the country are on kidney waiting lists. While most donated kidneys come from the bodies of those who have died, the demand for organs and long waiting times have generated a new, alternative type of donation. In addition to donations between family members parent to child, sibling to sibling and cousin to cousin_there has also been a rise in the number of donations between those who are not biologically related, including spouse to spouse and friend to friend transplantation. At Saint Barnabas’ nationally known Renal Transplant Centers, over 40 percent of the 181 kidney transplants in 1999 came from living donors. Of that group, 26 of the transplants came from donors who were “emotionally-related” rather than biologically linked. THE DONATION PROCESS Whether related by birth or life experience, prospective living kidney donors and recipients are specially screened and receive extensive counseling from Renal Transplant Center social workers to ensure that their relationship is substantial enough to undergo such a significant experience. Donors must also understand the extent of the operation and that organs must be donated without expectation of any form of compensation. “It is very important that all parties realize what they are getting themselves into and that the bond between the potential donor and recipient is very strong,” relates Eleanor Simchera, R.N., C.N.N., C.C.T.C., Renal Transplant Coordinator. “In addition to the stress of the procedure for the recipient, the donor may experience loss after the transplant or feel grief over time away from family and work during recovery. On the other hand, most recipients and donors actually become closer through the experience.” Ms. Bogert describes the relationship between LuAnn Sweeney and Karen DiLella as having the kind of interwoven connections that can only come through years of togetherness and friendship, making them ideal emotionally-related donors. The pair, friends for over 20 years, celebrated with champagne upon learning that tests had confirmed LuAnn was a match as a kidney donor for Karen. Once a suitable living donor is identified and screened, extensive tests are performed to confirm that the donor has two functioning kidneys and that donation of one will leave him or her with a normal kidney remaining. Tests also confirm blood type compatibility to try to avoid organ rejection and the presence of any major medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease. Thanks to new laparoscopic kidney removal procedures performed at The Renal Centers, living kidney donors receive smaller incisions and generally return home in 48 hours and go back to work in 10 days rather than the three to four weeks involved in other surgeries. The Saint Barnabas Renal Centers are one of only a few transplant centers in the state to do laparoscopic kidney transplantation. The Renal Centers, at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, are the sixth largest of 240 in the country. Life while waiting for a kidney transplant can be exhausting. Currently, the average waiting time for a person requiring a kidney is two and a half years, according to the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network. End stage renal patients can spend five to six hours three times a week receiving hemodialysis. With a kidney transplant, patients find freedom, energy and renewed life, says Ms. Bogert. After watching her father die of the same kidney disease, Karen DiLella escaped a similar fate through the greatest offering of all, the gift of life. For more information about the Saint Barnabas Renal Transplant Centers, please call 1-888-409-4707 A Shared Kidney Brightens One Couple's Retirement
Mr. Ransegnola was diagnosed with chronic glomerulonephritis, a renal disease, at age 21 during an army physical. Despite that diagnosis, he led an active life, married, raised four children and was a science teacher for 32 years. He attended classes and worked two additional jobs, mornings and evenings, to supplement the family income. Mr. Ransegnola retired at age 55 when the symptoms of kidney disease made it difficult to continue working. When dialysis became necessary, Mrs. Ransegnola took a worn newspaper clipping from her wallet and showed it to a nurse at the dialysis center. It was an article about spouses acting as living kidney donors. “That nurse was the first person who listened to me,” says Mrs. Ransegnola. “She called The Saint Barnabas Renal Transplant Center and made an appointment for us.” Within months, Mr. and Mrs. Ransegnola underwent the donor and transplant surgeries. In the two years since the renal transplant, the couple has been enjoying the retirement of their dreams, including time spent with grandchildren and a Caribbean Cruise to celebrate their anniversary. The Gift of a Kidney for a Best Friend While Karen DiLella waited to discover who among her friends and family members might be a match for the kidney transplant she desperately needed, her son, Danny, seemed confident that the match would be Karen’s best friend, LuAnn Sweeney. After a call from Saint Barnabas confirmed the match, Danny said, “I knew it was going to be Aunt Lu Lu!” Neither an aunt nor a sister, LuAnn has achieved the honorary status of family member among the DiLellas. On October 26, 1999, LuAnn donated one of her kidneys to Karen, her friend of 23 years. Over the summer, physicians had told Karen that her kidneys were failing as a result of the same disease - polycystic kidneys - that had killed her father. With the help of a new organ, Karen was given a second chance at life. “She has always been like a sister to me,” says LuAnn of her friend. “People come and go in your life but there was some reason why God made us friends and why we stayed close for so many years.” The surgery was a success and the transplanted organ began to function immediately, processing eight liters of urine in the first 24 hours. Karen’s hospital stay lasted just four days and she was then able to return home to her family. After meeting as fellow employees at Sears Department Store in Watchung, Karen and LuAnn’s friendship continued through years of raising children and taking shared vacations. Early on when LuAnn discovered the way that Karen’s father had lived his last years; she offered to donate her kidney if it was ever needed. The kidney donation has given her friend a very different life than the one she was heading toward. “My father was at the hospital every day and our family practically lived there,” recalls Karen. “I didn’t want to be on dialysis after seeing what my father went through. LuAnn gave me the gift of life and she didn’t think twice about it.” [ top ] |
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Like most Americans, Al and Ann Ransegnola of Denville dreamed of a carefree retirement. “Al worked three jobs so we would be able to enjoy our retirement years,” says Mrs. Ransegnola. “But when the time came, well, we couldn’t.” 
