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New Jersey Man Gets Kidney During President’s Day Blizzard
Most individuals in the Garden State wait three to five years for a kidney. So it was particularly unexpected when the Transplant Coordinator at Saint Barnabas, Deborah Girone, R.N., received a call on Sunday indicating a “perfect match” had been found for Heuser. He had been on the waiting list for only nine days. “It takes a lot of coordination once the kidney is donated. And the only reason the Organ Procurement Organization of Philadelphia would give a kidney to a person from another state – in this case on the New Jersey waiting list – is if it’s a perfect (six antigen) match,” explains Girone. The problem was that Robert Heuser and his wife Judith were in Lancaster, Pa. for a few days of vacation. Turning their cell phone off, they decided to drive home on Sunday, rather than risk being snowbound in Pennsylvania. Girone tried calling their cell phone and home numbers for hours. Without Heuser, there could be no transplant. By late Sunday evening, the Heusers reached home after a grueling six and a half hour drive that brought both them and the storm to New Jersey. They were home just 15 minutes, still unpacking the car, and thanking their lucky stars they were home, when Girone called with the news. “I couldn’t believe we had to get back in the car,” said Mrs. Heuser. “It took an hour and a half to get to the Medical Center in the snow, but it was worth it.” They arrived at 10 p.m. so that Mr. Heuser could undergo tests first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia airport was closed so the kidney could not be flown to Newark as usually would be the case. The only remaining option was to send the kidney by car. Leaving the Philadelphia area at 12:30 a.m., the kidney’s progress was monitored by The Sharing Network, New Jersey’s organ and tissue procurement organization. What would normally have been a two and a half hour trip was steadily increasing to three, four, five, and then seven hours. By early morning, the courier from Philadelphia had broken down just miles from the Springfield-based Sharing Network. Police brought the courier and kidney there. Then, a second courier was sent to retrieve the kidney and bring it on its final leg of the journey to Saint Barnabas Medical Center. “There were countless phone calls back and forth to track the whereabouts of this kidney,” said Girone. “It was very stressful.” When the kidney finally arrived at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and a matching specimen had been left at The Sharing Network laboratory in Springfield by the courier, hours of cross-matching began immediately. By the afternoon, it was confirmed that the kidney was a perfect match for Heuser. Time was of the essence as kidney transplants must take place within 24 hours of being recovered from the organ donor. Girone communicated continuously with the surgeon, Stephen Guy, M.D., but as Monday’s snowfall accumulated, it became increasingly difficult for Dr. Guy to get out of his Livingston driveway and down his street. After receiving word from The Sharing Network that the kidney was on its way, Dr. Guy chose his best option for getting to the Medical Center – he walked the one and a half miles to Saint Barnabas. “We don’t usually have quite so many difficulties to contend with,” said Girone, “But I guess it was meant to be because Robert looks great and the transplant surgery went very smoothly.” Heuser, a patient of Nephrologist James Agresti, M.D., of Kenilworth, had been undergoing dialysis since August 2002 when he had experienced kidney failure as a result of diabetes. With a new kidney, dialysis will be unnecessary and he will be able to enjoy a normal life. Heuser looks forward to returning to work at All State Legal Supply in Cranford in the months ahead. Following the storm, Heuser is resting comfortably at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. He has named his new kidney, “Lucky.” [ top ] |
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