WEST ORANGE, NJ -- Kristin D'Arienzo recognizes the importance of organ donation.
When she had the chance to donate a kidney, the West Orange High School teacher/Unified Flag Football co-head coach jumped at the opportunity.
It didn't matter that she donated her kidney to a stranger. All she wanted to do is to help.
Though her first chance to donate to a person fell through, she luckily came across another person who needed a kidney and that donation was a success.
In February, D'Arienzo noticed a post by a co-worker who had a cousin living in Tampa, Fla., needing a kidney donation. The co-worker asked if anyone would be donor.
"I remember it was late at night and I was in bed, but for some reason, I didn't even hesitate, I just started filling out the form," D'Arienzo said in a recent interview with the West Orange Chronicle. "Then I had to have blood work done to test if I am a preliminary match for his cousin, which I was, so this led to more testing in the form of blood work, 24-hour urine collection and a CT scan with contrast. Luckily, it was the IV contrast fluid, not the terrible drink everyone told me about.
"While I was going through all the testing, I found myself at the Verona Inn for a Saint Patrick's Day celebration with friends. I was discussing the process of being tested for a kidney donation and my friend said, 'Wait, I have a friend who needs a kidney! What are you doing with the other one?' It was a funny joke, but I told her earnestly, if it doesn't work out with this guy in Tampa, that I would see if I am a match for her friend. I'm not sure she believed me. but now it was on my radar that there was possibly someone else I could help if the Tampa situation didn't work out."
At the end of April, D'Arienzo was surgically cleared by Saint Barnabas Hospital. However, the recipient did not get surgically cleared.
"The hospital made it clear that he may never get surgically cleared, so while waiting for that to happen is possible, (it) may not happen," she said. "So I stuck true to my word and told Saint Barnabas that I was aware of another person who is in need of a kidney transplant in Kansas. I gave the hospital her information and they began the process of seeing if I am a match for her, which miraculously, I was. That set the plan in motion for a remote donation of my kidney, meaning they would remove my kidney here at Saint Barnabas and fly my kidney to Kansas for the recipient."
As a teacher, D'Arienzo said she was adamant that this surgery had to happen during the first week of July, so she could spend the entire summer recovering. "It is about a six-to-eight-week recovery and I was not willing to take time off of work to do this," D'Arienzo said. "Luckily, she was already surgically cleared and the surgery was set to happen on Tuesday, July 1. The surgery was performed laparoscopically on my end, with four small incisions for the instruments, and then they made one of the incisions about four inches long to remove the kidney.
"My kidney was then put on a private jet, flying first class from Livingston to Kansas, where they did an open surgery to insert my kidney into the recipient. According to the recipient, the kidney started working immediately once they connected all the blood vessels, even before they finished the surgery and closed her back up."
D'Arienzo said she has stayed in touch with the recipient, a 44-year-old mother of two.
"We talk almost daily and she has kept me apprised of her recovery and I've done the same. She continues to rave about the kidney and how well it is functioning, so it's nice to know I've got some hard-working kidneys. I'm a hard-working person, so it makes sense my organs are on the same page with me," she said with a laugh.
D'Arienzo, 36, said her recovery has been going well and her stay in the hospital was better than expected. "I have never had surgery before, nor have I ever stayed in a hospital for any reason, so I really didn't know what to expect, but the pain was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be."
After two days in the hospital, D'Arienzo was discharged on Thursday, July 3. Her parents took care of her for about three weeks. D'Arienzo has her own house in Hopatcong, but her parents agreed to come stay with her while she was in recovery.
D'Arienzo made sure to move around and walk as much as she could in the first week, which she was told would speed her recovery.
D'Arienzo always considers herself to be a selfless person.
"I've always been the kind of person where if you need help, you can call me," she said.
But once she is committed, there's no stopping her.
"I am the type of person who does things 100 percent or zero percent. There is no middle ground, so once I started this process, there was no way I was going to back out of it," " said D'Arienzo, a Montville native who has been at WOHS as a special education biology teacher since September 2020, after she taught in the Parsippany school district for nine years.
Because she is a kidney donor, D'Arienzo will be at the top of the list if she ever needed a kidney for herself.
D'Arienzo plans on doing a fundraiser at WOHS to raise money and awareness about kidney donations and the need for people to be willing to donate to help others.
"Many people told me they could not donate their kidney to a total stranger, but for me, it was a no brainer. Once I got it in my head that I could help someone, I knew I had to see it through.
"I am sad that I was not able to help the original guy I set out to donate to, but I know I did the right thing and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
"This was one of the craziest things I have ever done, but I am happy I did it. I don't regret it."