The gift of a lifetime

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The gift of a lifetime

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/16/07

BY NICK PETRUNCIO
STAFF WRITER
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Not even throwing out the Sunday newspaper that carried a story about a 19-year-old college student who needed a kidney could get the teen's search for a donor out of Julie Sindel's mind.

Sindel, a 38-year-old mother of three, did not know the teen, Nicholas Marone Jr. of Colts Neck, but something made her snatch the paper back out of the trash can and days later call the Marone family, who were hoping that someone, somewhere, could give their son a kidney.

"I didn't want to read later that something horrible happened," said Sindel, who lives in Howell. "I do feel very strongly about organ donation, but I never thought of live donation."

The story was published April 22. Sindel thought about giving Marone Jr. one of her kidneys for four or five days before calling the number and leaving a message. Phyllis Marone, the young man's mother, returned the call.

"She's my son's guardian angel," Phyllis Marone said of Sindel. "She's amazing, and her husband and her children are amazing to be so supportive."

After weeks of tests and evaluations, Sindel's kidney was successfully transplanted Aug. 8 into the body of Marone Jr., someone who had once been a stranger and who is now considered family. The Marones and the Sindels consider each other as close as blood relatives, and they often get together for barbecues and dinners or just to visit and talk.

Marone Jr. was diagnosed Dec. 2, 2006, with nephronophthisis, a hereditary kidney disease, usually found in children, that destroys the organs. None of his family members was eligible to give him one of their kidneys.

"With Julie, I have a second chance," said Marone Jr., who enjoys lifting weights and playing hockey. He studies business at Brookdale Community College in Middletown.

Recovery time

The procedure, which took about three to four hours, was performed by Dr. David Laskow, who's been doing transplants for approximately 25 years, and his medical team at Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick.

"The amazing part about his transplant was that the donor was totally unrelated, an altruistic donor. It's pretty amazing that this woman came forward and donated this kidney," said Laskow, who said altruistic donors come through the medical center probably only once every year or two. Laskow will perform about 120 kidney transplants this year.

A surgeon normally makes three incisions in a donor: two less than a half-inch and one a little more than 4 inches, where the organ is brought out through the belly button area. For the recipient, the surgeon typically makes one incision of a little more than 6 inches over the right pelvic region.

The donor typically will spend three days in the hospital after the operation and can expect two weeks of recovery time. The recipient gets over the pain of the operation in about three to five days, but recipients have to be watched more closely because they are on anti-rejection medication, Laskow said. They have to be watched especially closely for the first three months.

Approximately 70,000 people are on the national waiting list for a kidney, and the average wait time is three to four years. An organ from a live donor is always preferable over one from a deceased donor and increases the recipient's chance for survival, according to Dr. Sushil Mehandru, chief of nephrology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

Mehandru, who was quoted in the original story, treated Marone Jr. before his surgery.

The five-year survival rate for recipients of cadaver kidneys has improved from 45 to 50 percent to 85 to 90 percent because of new medications. However, the five-year survival rate of recipients of live donor kidneys from relatives is 95 percent and 92 to 93 percent for live donors who are not related to the recipient, Mehandru said.

The National Kidney Foundation reports on its Web site that the one-year survival rate for recipients of cadaver kidneys is 94.5 percent, while the rate is 97.9 percent for kidneys from live donors. The foundation did not differentiate between relatives and non-relatives.

Both doing well

Marone Jr. had no indication his kidneys were not functioning until he started feeling ‚annoying‚ cramps in his hands, was chronically tired and had no appetite. These were signs that toxins his kidneys should have been filtering were building up in his blood stream.

He began receiving dialysis treatments after his December diagnosis, but the treatments were putting a strain on his body. He needed a kidney, and a live donor would increase his chance of survival.

Now with the organ in him, Marone Jr. said he is doing fine.

"I just went for a checkup yesterday. They said everything is going great," he said Sept. 7.

The checkups Marone makes to his doctor will become less frequent as time goes on, but he will have to take anti-rejection medication and vitamins for the rest of his life.

As for Sindel, she's also doing well. Although she was on the couch for two weeks recovering, she said donating was well worth it, noting that Phyllis Marone called her every day of her recovery.

"I just think it's important for people to know because it's such a fantastic experience,"she said. "I wish there was more publicity on organ donations."

Sindel has worked in nursing-related areas and wants to be an operating room nurse. She plans to continue her nursing education at Brookdale. Despite attending the same school, the two never knew each other.

She remembers, after reading the story, thinking that Marone Jr. was in the prime of his life and wondering what would happen if one of her children — H.J., 14; Case, 10; and Roxie, 9 — needed help like that.

Sindel said her husband, Henry, and her mother were behind her decision 100 percent, but her in-laws were concerned.

However, Sindel's belief in the importance of organ donation and her concern for Marone Jr.'s well-being won out.

"Why waste all those good parts when maybe a child can see through your eyes?" she said.

Marone Jr.'s father, Nicholas Marone Sr., said what Sindel did restores his faith in people.

"With family, there's no hesitation. But to reach out to a complete stranger and help him out is mind-boggling," Marone Sr. said. "It takes a certain kind of person to do something like that, and Julie is a special woman."

He said he sees his son's appetite is back and his attitude and mood have improved.

Lauren Marone, Marone Jr.'s sister, said Sindel gave her brother his life back.

"We are so grateful that she and her family walked into our lives, and they should be blessed with many wonderful things," Lauren Marone said.

She also praised her brother's strength and courage.

"He never gave up, and he didn't let this struggle bring him down," she said.

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Nick Petruncio: (732) 308-7752 or npetruncio@app.com

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070916/NEWS/709160430/1004/OPINION

PHOTO: Julie Sindel has become like a family member to Nicholas Marone Jr. since she donated a kidney to replace Marone's failing ones.