The Gift of Life

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The Gift of Life

Wednesday, December 26, 2007
By Randall Clark rclark@sjnewsco.com

PILESGROVE TWP. For people who can recall through the years that one special present that defined their holidays, there are few who can say they were given the gift of life.

Yet that's what Pilesgrove's Karen Gillespie was able to provide this Christmas after donating a kidney to her ailing mother, Annie McKay-Pizzarello, a selfless act that serves as an inspiring holiday reminder of what people will do for one they love.

Karen and Annie went into surgery on Dec. 11 at the Christiana Hospital Transplant Center in Newark, Del., becoming the first mother-daughter transplant of the Christiana Care Transplant Program, according to Karen. They were home by that very weekend.

"Just before Thanksgiving we all got up on Santa Claus' lap, and this is before the surgery date was even brought up. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said I want a kidney,'" Annie said. "Who knew a couple weeks later I'd have my wish."

Annie a 69-year-old Carneys Point resident affectionately referred to as "nanny" was suffering from kidney failure as a result of Wegener's disease. She was admitted to the hospital in June because of the rare disorder, in which blood vessels become swollen and inflamed, constricting blood flow. Her kidney dialysis at The Memorial Hospital of Salem County started soon after, but left her weak and exhausted.

"She just didn't do well on dialysis, some people do really well and can get up and go, she just didn't," said Karen, 39. "She lived a very active lifestyle and the dialysis was very inhibiting."

Though Annie could have survived another five years on a constant routine of dialysis to flush out the toxins from her body, Karen said she was not prepared to stand by while the quality of her mother's life declined. Finding out that her donation criteria was a match, it wasn't long before Karen volunteered for the procedure.

"Any surgical procedure there is fear ... but I told them to go in there and do what you have to do," Karen said. "My kidney got in there and cleaned house. She lost 11 liters of fluid the first night. The doctor said it was like putting a woman in a dirty house and letting her go to town."

Across New Jersey, organ donation has become an issue of discussion recently after Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) introduced a bill on Dec. 20, that would require drivers to make a choice whether or not to donate before they can obtain or renew their licenses.

As part of the proposed "New Jersey Hero Act," organ donation education would also be incorporated into the state's high school curriculum for the 2008-2009 school year, making it the first state in the nation to do so.

"I always talk about organ donation because people don't know about it and they are afraid of it," said Karen, who happens to be a school nurse at Williamstown High School. "If you just see it on your driver's license it's easy to skip over it, but there are so many people that can benefit from somebody donating."

Karen's daughter Haley and her girl scout troop did their own small part this year by decorating a Christmas tree for public display with facts about organ donation. Karen says she has received amazing support from everyone in her community. When she went to a party the other day, she said she was treated like a rock star.

For Annie the recovery will be slower than her daughter's and she will always be more susceptible to sickness than she used to be. Heavy medications are a part of her daily diet for now, and she will have to take immunosuppressants the rest of her life. But it is a small price to pay, she says.

As Karen sits in the living room of her Pilesgrove home by her Christmas tree on a drizzly Friday afternoon, recounting the transplant procedure in the technical language of a health care professional, her 11-year-old daughter Haley clings to her arm with a wide grin, as if it were already Christmas Day. The words are probably lost to the young girl it is being together that matters.

In a colorful festive sweater and matching smile, it is evident Annie is just as happy to be healthy again and with her family this season. She said that continuing to thank God for all that has been provided to her, especially what hasn't come wrapped in paper with a shiny bow, is on the top of her list.

"Every Christmas is special with your family, but this one is extra nice. I have everything I could want, I realize," Annie said. "And I have found amazing support through all of this. Prayer is my healer, I don't care what anybody else says. Well, besides your daughters."

http://www.nj.com/news/sunbeam/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1198645815280070.xml&coll=9