Editor’s Note: Issue 12 of Transplant News is dedicated to medical excellence through outreach efforts and a comprehensive approach to renal transplant care. A recent letter from one of our transplant patients expresses our mission and goals for all of our patients.
September 8, 2001
Dear Dr. Jacobs,
I am a labor lawyer in an international law firm, and when I learned that I needed a kidney transplant, I was in a unique position to research and acquire the best medical care anywhere in the world.
When I initiated my research, I was very impressed by the various transplant centers’ data concerning volume and their cutting edge research. I visited transplant centers with high volume and self-proclaimed advanced research studies. Then I visited Saint Barnabas and my standards of evaluation shifted radically.
What sets The Martin G. Jacobs, M.D., Transplant Institute at Saint Barnabas apart from all the others is its superb staff and attention to detail. Every person I met was extraordinarily capable, knowledgeable, empathetic and genuine. Every time I telephoned, my call was answered by a person, not a recorded message.
Charles Lascari, the transplant coordinator with whom I worked, was extraordinary. Not only did he have all the information I needed, Charles has a presence and demeanor that inspires confidence and hope.
Eleanor Simchera, the coordinator who worked with my donor-sister, Sally, was knowledgeable, kind, and present for us up to the final hour.
Marcia Krupit, M.S.W., was sensible, compassionate, kindhearted and very helpful each time we spoke.
I attended your Transplant Symposium in June when my sister, Sally, volunteered to donate her kidney to me. Doctors Shamkant Mulgaonkar, Stephen Fletcher and Stuart Geffner’s down-to-earth, expert presentations confirmed to me that I wanted to have my sister’s donation and my transplant at Saint Barnabas. The ultimate factors that motivated my decision were that Saint Barnabas employed the highest caliber of professionals and, of all the transplant centers I investigated, the Renal Institute paid attention to every detail.
Between February and December 2000, renal failure shrank my universe to going to work and getting to bed so that I could sleep 12 hours and get up and do it again. My plans for writing a book of prayer and meditations, for taking my niece to Rome for Easter, and teaching my four-year-old niece Madeline to ski faded away. Every morning, I would wake up, and for a second, have no pain. And then, as I became aware, the symptoms would descend upon me and I would evaluate just how bad that day was going to be.
It is now six weeks post-transplant. Every morning I still wake up and wait for the sleep to clear and the symptoms to descend. But instead of pain,  nausea, migraine and cramps, I hear my little Yorkshire terrier snoring, I feel how soft the sheets and blankets are, and I remember. I had a kidney transplant at Saint Barnabas. I am so filled with joy and excitement. I pray and thank God for you, Dr. Fletcher, Dr. Geffner and your magnificent staff, and for my sister Sally’s healthy recovery.
Ultimately, on the morning of my transplant, when I was the patient lying on the gurney, I did not care how many transplants had been performed at Saint Barnabas last year. I did not care how Saint Barnabas was rated in its volume of transplants in the UNOS network or whether they conducted important research. All I cared about was what I saw in Dr. Fletcher’s and Dr. Geffner’s eyes when they came to see Sally and me right before our surgery. I saw wisdom, caring and expertise.
I am grateful beyond words that we were able to have our procedures at the Transplant Institute at Saint Barnabas and that we had the privilege to work with you and your staff.
Your deeply grateful patient,
Ellen O’Connell, Esq.
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