Kidney donations connect strangers in 'Chain of Life' forged by transplants
By Amy Ellis Nutt/The Star-Ledger
June 05, 2009, 5:00AM
In the span of 36 hours, six patients in New Jersey and New York received kidney transplants in March from six living donors -- all previously strangers -- now connected in a rare six-way "Chain of Life."
Kidney chains are a recent phenomenon designed to overcome a long-standing problem in renal transplantation: donors who do not match the blood or tissue type of a loved one. In the past, that meant two options: continued dialysis, or a transplant from a deceased donor. But the wait for a cadaver kidney is three to seven years, and the organs last, on average, only half as long as those from living donors.
| Chain of Life - Kidney transplant chain helps six patients |
Chain of Life is a three-part multimedia series by The Star-LedgerPart 1: A gift of hope unfolds
Part 2: A dozen surgeries in 36 hours
Part 3: Donors and recipients meet
The National Kidney Registry in Babylon, N.Y. is helping to change the transplant math. The registry keeps two lists: the names of altruistic donors, and incompatible pairs -- donors who are unable to give a kidney to a loved one.
The 12 New Jersey and New York residents who either donated or received a kidney in March were part of the National Kidney Registry's first six-way chain. Six perfectly healthy people donating kidneys to six people they never met before, so that a relative or friend could receive a transplant in return.
Without such chains, the numbers are daunting -- about 80,000 people currently languish on the deceased-donor waiting list. Last year, fewer than 17,000 of them received new kidneys.
Now, a computer at the National Kidney Registry splits incompatible pairs of donors and recipients and re-arranges them into matches. Like falling dominoes, one donation leads to another -- a cascade of kindness, with each donor paying the gift of a kidney forward.
The donors in the historic chain that unfolded in New Jersey and New York in March include a business executive, a truck driver and a sanitation worker. The recipients, a nursing home aide, a young mother and a liquor store clerk. All six recipients had chronic and irreversible kidney disease and all of them had spent years on dialysis, a machine that vacuums their blood clean when the kidneys no longer can.
Without a transplant, at least two of them would probably die within five years.
For more information about becoming a living donor, or if you are in need of a kidney, but your loved one is not a match, visit the National Kidney Registry website or call (800) 936-1627.
For more information about living-donor kidney transplant programs:
-- Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Renal Transplant unit: (877) 878-7555 (Tatiana Alvarez)
-- Saint Barnabas Medical Center Renal Transplant Unit: (888) 409-4707 (Marie Morgieviech)
-- The joint Beth Israel-Saint Barnabas renal transplant program website
-- Hackensack University Medical Center: Department of Organ Transplantation: (201) 996-2613 (Joan Abrams)
-- New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center transplant unit website: (212)-517-3099 (Marian Charlton)
-- For information about kidney transplantation at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, please call (732) 235-8695, or (877)-NuKidney (toll-free), or visit the hospital's website.
-- For more information about all 242 kidney transplant programs across the United States, visit the website for the United Network for Organ Sharing
| Ledger Live: A talk with 'Chain of Life' author Amy Ellis Nutt |
Early in the morning Che-heive Scott, of the NJ Sharing Network, drives through downtown Manhattan to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weil Cornell Medical Center to pick up a donated kidney that is being surgically removed so he can take it back to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center to be transplanted later in the same day in March.
Finally Newark Star Ledger...Great Story.
An amazing story produced so very well. Excellent work!
I donated a kidney to a stranger. It was the greatest experience of my life! If I can do it again, I would do it again tomorrow.
I now have a project to help others in desperate need of a kidney and have made numerous kidney matches. My brother also donated a kidney - to someone on my list of people who was in desperate need of a kidney.
When someone approaches me that is in need of a kidney and tell me that they have someone who wants to donate a kidney but is not their blood type, I encourage swapping and tell them about the National Kidney Registry. One great example - is a man who was looking for a kidney for his wife. She had a very hard time finding a match because of her high antibodies. Her husband wasn't her blood type, therefore couldn't donate a kidney to her. I asked him if he would be willing to donate a kidney to someone else through the National Kidney Registry and they may have someone who would be a match. And yes! The National Kidney Registry does have someone who is a match for his wife, and G-d willing, if all goes well, the husband will donate a kidney to someone else through the Registry. The only thing though is his wife had become sicker at one point and hope she is still eligible for a transplant.
Point is - more lives can be saved this way - swapping through a great organization like the National Kidney Registry!
More information about this and about kidney donation available thorugh my website.
Also - if you would like to be matched up with someone in desperate need of a kidney - please contact me ast well.
Sincerely,
Chaya Lipschutz
E-mail: KidneyMitzvah@aol.com
WEBSITE: www.KidneyDonor-KidneyMatchmaker.com
good job che heive we are all so proud of the work you do those people at sharing network are lucky to have you are a dedicated professional and are an exemplary model employee,,, those entrusting you with their lives should know that the job will get done and star ledger should be humbled to ahve done a story with you in it god bless J.C. ffrn
Kidney exchanges are great for the recipients, but what are the benefits to the donor? None of these sites or organizations disclose the full risk to the living donor, including bleeding, blood clots, intestinal binding, nerve damage, testicular swelling, hypertension, chronic fatigue, adrenal gland dysfunction and renal disease.
177 living donors have ended up on the transplant waiting list since 1993. Living donors suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD, yet neither the transplant centers, kidney organizations, or the people who own these exchanges (who make money from them, fyi) offer any support services for donors.
Educate yourself before buying into the hype: www.livingdonor101.com
I wonder how many of these kidneys were illegally brokered by the good rabbis in Deal, NJ and others of teir tribe.
hello I was very touched by your video. I am a kidney transplant patient myself. I had my transplant on March 5th of 97. I received my kidney from my mom; Dr. Geffner was my surgeon. I had my transplant at Saint Barnabas Hospital. I am doing great. I am glad we have wonderful people out there. Those people were very blessed. If you have any questions you can email me at mirnavalladares2006@yahoo.com
Reacting to Cipro I went to the hospital and was given a Cipro IV. In a delirium a nothing kidney stone had to be stented. There was a possibility of losing the kidney. I was told Fluoroquinolones could kill me. Now I learn that from 1995, these drugs are poured into chickens to promote rapid growth. I also learned from the Washington Post that uncontrolled amounts of these drugs remain in the chicken meat. Kings sell Free Range Chicken..No antibiotics, Why? Ask around your neighborhood as to how many chicken eating cats have been put down or a kidney removed. And now they are harvesting kidneys and selling them for big profits, God bless those five Rabbis. These are powerful drugs which can cause mental problems, tendon failure and more. Remember drugs are controlled by doctors and not chicken farmers. WOW
wow this is a great idea!!
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