By Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Livingston, N.J. — Recently, Rich Schaefer of Hillsborough, NJ, celebrated the 25th Anniversary of his kidney transplant surgery performed at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ.
Mr. Schaefer, now 64 years old, recalls how a routine Army physical in 1965 first detected he had blood in his urine. He spent years visiting specialists around the country, who were unable to diagnose his condition. “Back in my 30s, I went through a lot of unnecessary procedures because they did not have the technology that they do now,” Mr. Schaefer explains.
It was not until 1984 when he was finally diagnosed with Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a cause of kidney failure in adults. He began dialysis two years later and had the good fortune of being referred to Lawrence Byrd, MD, a nephrologist on staff at Saint Barnabas. It was Dr. Byrd who placed him on the waiting list at Saint Barnabas for a kidney.
“I remember being quite sick and actually in dialysis when the call about the kidney came in,” Mr. Schaefer recalls. Though everything went very quickly, he can remember feeling both terrified and ecstatic.
Though at that time, the waiting list for a kidney was one to two years, Mr. Schaefer received a transplant on February 20, 1986 – just three weeks after being placed on the list. He was told his donor was a young man who died in a small plane crash in Tennessee.
Mr. Schaefer recalls how quickly the quality of his life improved following the transplant. In time, he was able to go back to work and to this day is able to live a normal live with his wife, Zahava, two children and two grandchildren. Now retired, he is thankful for his health. He keeps busy by volunteering – both by speaking with transplant and dialysis patients and through promoting organ donation for The New Jersey Sharing Network. He is also a member of Operation Jersey Cares which supports US troops overseas and helps with his son’s plumbing and heating business.
To this day, he easily remembers how fond he was of the transplant staff and his transplant surgeons, H. Stephen Fletcher, M.D., and Herbert E. Lieb, M.D. “The Saint Barnabas staff that took care of me, many times over the years, was excellent which is not saying enough,” he explains.
He remains especially grateful to Dr. Byrd, M.D., who he describes as “one of a kind.” Though an hour’s drive, Mr. Schaefer continues to be monitored by Dr. Byrd and goes for blood tests every three months.
Mr. Schaefer encourages those on dialysis or who may be afraid of surgery to explore the option of kidney transplantation. As he has experienced first-hand for the last 25 years, the quality of life is so much better with a transplant versus dialysis.
“Sure, I have to keep my kidney safe which means taking all my medications everyday and no skiing or football for me,” Mr. Schaefer says. “But other than that, after you have a transplant you can pretty much have a perfectly normal life.”

