Couple mark 10th anniversary – of kidney

[okarol]

January 26, 2008

Couple mark 10th anniversary – of kidney

Jane Lerner
The Journal News

NEW CITY — The guest of honor at a party tonight will be a 5-ounce, bean-shaped organ that normally spends its time tucked deep inside the body regulating the balance of fluids.

More than 85 guests will get together in an Italian restaurant to celebrate the work of a kidney that spent 47 years inside the body of Eileen Traietta, a Long Island resident, before being transplanted into the body of her cousin's husband, Steven Klein of New City.

The transplant took place 10 years ago, and everyone involved said it was an event that changed their lives.

"Ten years seemed like a nice number," said Klein. "It's an anniversary to celebrate."

Klein, 65, had little to celebrate a decade ago as his long struggle with polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder characterized by the growth of numerous cysts in the kidneys, got worse.

He had started dialysis and was unable to work. His wife, Diane, told family members of his plight.

Several people volunteered to get tested to see if they could donate.

"As soon as I heard how sick Steve was, I said, 'I have two kidneys - you can have one of mine,' " Traietta recalled. "I didn't even really think about it."

Even though Traietta and Klein are not blood relatives, they did have the same blood type, and doctors determined that her kidney would work well in his body.

The surgery took place Jan. 26, 1998 - a Monday - in a Manhattan hospital. By Thursday, Traietta had returned to her Farmingdale home. The following Monday, she was back at work.

Klein's recovery was equally as speedy and miraculous.

"The difference once he got the kidney was amazing," Diane Klein said. "He went from being so sick he couldn't work to being his normal self again."

Steven Klein, a court stenographer, had two children and a newborn grandchild at the time of his transplant.

In the 10 years since, his son has gotten married and he has become a grandfather two more times.

"He could have died," Traietta said. "Now, when I see him with his grandchildren, I can't even describe how happy it makes me feel."

More and more people are living decades or longer with transplanted organs, advocates said.

Valley Cottage resident Nick Cinalli celebrated 12 years with his new liver in October.

Cinalli is the president of Transplants Save Lives, a support and advocacy group that meets regularly at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern.

Many of the group's members are living healthy lives years after their surgery, he said. One member of the group just marked the 20th anniversary of his liver transplant, Cinalli said.

"That's the miracle of organ donation," he said. "All these years later and we're still going strong."

Despite the success of organ donation, there is still a severe shortage of organs.

There were fewer than 24,000 organ transplants nationwide between January and October 2007, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nationwide organization that administers procurement and transplantation.

As of this month, there were nearly 100,000 people nationwide on waiting lists for new organs, according to the group.

The Kleins and Traietta never miss an opportunity to educate others about the importance of organ donation.

Even though she saved Steven Klein's life, Traietta doesn't feel she deserves any special thanks or praise from the couple or anyone else.

"We're all given the opportunity in our lives to do the right thing," she said. "Well, I did the right thing."

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