Kidney Transfer A Double Success

Woman Needed Organ Removed, Gave It To Co-Worker

Rochell Konigsmark

It began with two sick strangers, one kidney and several twists of fate.

Teresa Proehl of Fremont had a rare and painful condition that could be cured by surgically moving a kidney. Wally Wong, a co-worker from Cupertino she barely knew, needed a new kidney to survive.

Proehl decided to give up her troublesome kidney instead of having it moved; by doing so, she was cured, and so was Wong.

``Her kidney is happier in him than it was in her,'' said Dr. Oscar Salvatierra, the Stanford University surgeon who performed the operation on Feb. 19.

The events that would bring about this double cure began in May, when the patients' paths first crossed.

Proehl, 36, and Wong, 61, had worked at Etec Systems, a computer equipment maker in Hayward, for more than four years, but they didn't meet until Proehl moved into the customer service department in May. Wong, a field service engineer, dropped into her office from time to time.

Both had been suffering for several years -- she, from a very rare disease called renal vein compression and he from kidney failure. Proehl had tried various treatments for her condition, but all failed. She knew an operation to move the kidney away from the pinched vein was her last hope. But she was hesitant to undergo major surgery.

Wong knew that one day he would need a kidney transplant.

Last September, his situation became dire. His kidney function deteriorated to the point where he needed dialysis. He was on the national registry of patients in line for a kidney transplant. Nationwide, about 45,000 people are on that registry, and often the wait for a suitable kidney is several years, Salvatierra said.

As Wong was leaving his Etec office for two weeks to have dialysis tubes surgically inserted into his abdomen, Proehl asked about his condition.

``Out of the blue sky, she says, `I'll give you my kidney,''' Wong said Tuesday from his bed as he recovered at Stanford University Hospital.

At first, Wong didn't believe her. Other people had offered him a kidney, but for one reason or another, they had backed out, he said.

``It really hit me that this was real when I was told by the transplant coordinator that it was a match,'' he said.

Proehl sat by his side in his hospital room Tuesday as he spoke, and their families gathered around. When anyone told a joke, both donor and recipient held their sides in pain as they laughed.

Proehl said the idea to offer her kidney just ``popped'' into her head as Wong explained his condition that day in the office. She underwent physical and mental tests, and three days before Christmas, Salvatierra gave the go-head for the transplant.

``It was unbelievable to me,'' said Wong's wife, Sharon. ``What were the chances of a match? But it was God-given. It was meant to be.''

After last week's surgery, Proehl's years of almost daily severe cramping ended. She'll return to work in April.

Wong will be golfing again in about a month.

Contact Anne Rochell Konigsmark at akonigsmark@sjmercury.com or (650) 688-7588.

Copyright © 2000 The Mercury News.

This article posted April 21, 2001.