Anand Swaroop, M.D., left, is the picture of good health after receiving a kidney donation from good friend and colleague Patrick Buddle, M.D.

We have all done favors for our friends at one time or another, but it takes a special kind of person to give away a kidney. In December 2002, Patrick Buddle, M.D., came to The Renal Transplant Centers at Saint Barnabas Medical Center and donated a kidney to his longtime mentor and colleague, Anand Swaroop, M.D.




A Longtime Friendship
Over a period of 18 years, Dr. Swaroop and Dr. Buddle became good friends. Dr. Swaroop went out of his way to advise and mentor Dr. Buddle, a rehab medicine specialist. Their care and treatment of orthopedic patients often intertwined. Dr. Swaroop’s wife and office manager, Pat, helped Dr. Buddle’s wife, Nancy, when she became his office manager. So, when Dr. Buddle had the chance to thank his friend for years of support that Dr. Swaroop had shown him, he didn’t hesitate.

In the summer of 2000, Dr. Swaroop, Chair of the Department of Orthopedics at Jersey Shore Medical Center, says he “started to feel lousy.” After having some blood work done, he learned he had full renal failure — both of his kidneys had shut down. He went on dialysis and was told that his only options were to stay on dialysis for the rest of his life or get a kidney transplant, which is considered the best treatment for kidney failure.

Following his diagnosis, Dr. Swaroop went on the kidney transplant list — there were no potential donors in his family. One day Dr. Buddle asked Dr. Swaroop for his blood type.

“I told Patrick it was B positive,” Dr. Swaroop says. “And he said ‘I have the same blood type. I’ll give you my kidney.’ Just like that.”

Dr. Buddle says: “When I thought about how difficult Andy’s life was while he was on dialysis — how he couldn’t travel without being near a dialysis center — it just made donating the right thing to do.”

Although initially Dr. Swaroop was hesitant to accept Dr. Buddle’s offer, he decided to go ahead with the transplant. “Patrick is my angel,” Dr. Swaroop says.

“We waited to do the operation until it was a convenient time in our practices for both of us, and a year and a half later, he kept his promise.”

Transplant Surgery Went Fine
The surgery took place on Thursday, December 19, 2002, at The Renal Transplant Centers at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. Dr. Buddle says he had complete confidence in the Center’s medical and surgical team, which made the decision to donate his kidney an easy one.

“They used laparoscopy (when surgical instruments are inserted into the body through a series of small incisions) to remove my kidney, and I knew that would lessen the amount of my downtime,” he says, adding that the nursing team who cared for him after the surgery was outstanding.

It took about three hours to harvest Dr. Buddle’s kidney, and around four hours to insert the kidney into Dr. Swaroop’s abdomen. Dr. Buddle went back to work within eight days of the transplant operation, although on a limited schedule.

Determined to get back to work, Dr. Swaroop returned to his practice in April 2003. He is extremely grateful to his family for not only taking care of him but his practice as well, and his patients who prayed for him to make a swift recovery.

“Their friendship was extremely touching and the donation showed incredible sacrifice and love,” says Shamkant Mulgaonkar, M.D., Chief of the Division of Transplantation for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System Renal Transplant Centers. “And Dr. Buddle’s wife was very supportive and on board from the beginning. It requires a very supportive spouse to undertake such a gift.”

Since the transplant a year ago, Dr. Buddle has become an active supporter of The Sharing Network.

For more information about transplantation at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, please call 1-888-409-4707 or (973) 322-5938. To learn more about organ donation, call The Sharing Network at 1-800-SHARE-NJ or visit their website at www.sharenj.org.