ROBBINSVILLE: Family members have stronger connection

By David Kilby, The Packet Group
   ROBBINSVILLE — Christine Archer, who donated her kidney to her great uncle about a month ago, wants people to know that donating a kidney is worth the sacrifice.
   Arnold Strong, 69, Ms. Archer’s grandmother’s brother, was on dialysis for two years before Ms. Archer, 20, donated her kidney to him. He lost one kidney due to septic shock after a surgery two years ago, and the other kidney he lost 10 years ago due to cancer.
   Thanks to kidney transplant information made available by Donate Life NJ, Ms. Archer, who is studying to be a nurse, learned donating a kidney doesn’t involve much risk and causes no permanent damage to the body of the donor.
   ”I looked up everything to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into,” she said.
   About .02 percent of donors die on the operating table, she said.
   ”A lot of people are scared because they’re not informed,” Ms. Archer said, adding the medical world is very open to giving all the information one could want about transplants.
   After researching on her own, she asked St. Barnabas Hospital, Livingston, if she could have the kidney transplant operation done there since that was the hospital her uncle’s doctors were associated with.
   But St. Barnabas Hospital doctors said they felt she was too young at 19 years old even though the minimum age to be tested for a kidney transplant is 18.
   So she went to Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, and doctors there were able to approve her for the surgery after two weeks.
   They tested Ms. Archer’s blood first to see if it was a match with her uncle’s.
   Ms. Archer explained how family members are usually the best match since there’s a direct blood lineage, but they were skeptical since Mr. Strong is not a direct blood relative because he is Ms. Archer’s grandmother’s brother.
   Ms. Archer said multiple blood transfusions changed Mr. Strong’s blood type, however, making it match his niece’s.
   Ms. Archer was also a good match since she never had surgery done on her before. Surgery causes antibodies, which would have made the operation more risky, she explained.
   ”They told me they were surprised we were a match,” she said.
   Then they did an EKG (electrocardiogram) test, X-ray and CAT scan to make sure her kidneys were a decent size.
   ”They want to make sure you’d be healthy without a kidney,” she said.”You go in, and they’ll be the judge. The hospital made it clear that you can do it if you want, but can drop out at any time.”
   The operation was performed Jan. 11. The whole process, from the decision to the surgery, took about five months. Mr. Strong’s insurance paid for the entire operation.
   ”She was so brave,” said Barbara Jameson, Mr. Strong’s sister. “I kept asking her if she was afraid. She kept saying no. She just wanted to save her uncle. That’s all.”
   The operation also was streamed live at the Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, to high school honor students in grades seven through 12. For two hours, students asked questions answered by doctors, nurses, technicians and physician assistants while watching the operation in the Interactive Theater of the Jennifer A. Chalsty Center for Science Learning and Teaching.
   Meanwhile, back in the hospital, Ms. Archer and Mr. Strong were put in rooms across the hall from each other to make the transplant quicker and easier.
   Mr. Strong can’t go out in public for two months as his body adapts to the new kidney, but other than that, the family only has good things to say about the transplant.
   If Ms. Archer didn’t donate her kidney, Mr. Strong would have been on the waiting list for a kidney for five years and could have died while waiting.
   Mr. Strong was the “family handy man” in his healthier days.
   ”He built our porch, went camping, did a lot of building and traveling,” Ms. Archer said. “He was very active.”
   Now he can once again eat things like Snickers bars and grilled cheese sandwiches, Ms. Jameson said.
   ”He’s so much stronger. There’s more color in his face,” she said.
   Ms. Archer, too, has recovered from her ordeal.
   ”When you get out of the surgery room, you’re going to feel terrible, and the recipient will feel great,” Ms. Archer said.
   But she said that, after four days, she felt minimal pain. She said she stopped taking pain medication after a week, and after two weeks, doctors said she could drive.
   Having only one kidney won’t change her life at all, she said. She simply can’t play contact sports, join the military or drink alcohol heavily, but she wasn’t planning on doing those things anyway, she said.
   After less than three weeks, Ms. Archer was back to working at Cold Stone in Robbinsville and going to school at Mercer County College where she is studying nursing.
   ”I don’t want to sugarcoat it,” Ms. Archer said. “It did hurt at first, but it’s worth it. If I had the chance, I would do it again.”