Transplant pair real love match

By Jim Fitzgerald

The Associated Press

September 20, 2004

Doctors were surprised when tests showed Wendy Stangle was a nearly perfect match for her husband, Brian, who needed a kidney transplant. Usually, a blood relative is the best candidate to be a donor.

"We've been married 25 years," Brian Stangle said before the transplant operation at Westchester Medical Center. "We figure it's just osmosis."

The procedure was the 1,500th kidney transplant at Westchester Medical Center since the program began in 1989. Last year, Westchester Medical Center was the busiest hospital in the state for kidney transplants, with 109, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

The transplanted kidney appeared to be working well at the end of last week, said Dr. Khalid Butt, director of transplant services at the medical center, with both patients in good shape.

In recent years, advances in fighting rejection have made close tissue matches less important in kidney transplants, and spouse-to-spouse donations are not uncommon. Annie Moore, a spokeswoman for the United Network for Organ Sharing, said 729 husbands or wives gave a kidney to their spouses last year, out of the 6,468 transplants from living donors.

Butt said the biggest advantage of a spouse's kidney might be that a patient can avoid going on a waiting list and going through dialysis by getting a "preemptive" transplant.

Wendy Stangle, 46, said she did not hesitate when it became clear that her husband, a diabetic, would need a new kidney.

"I said, 'You can have one of mine. I just want them to do a little liposuction while they're in there.'"

Brian Stangle, 47, a vice president at MasterCard International in Purchase, Westchester County, said he resisted the option of getting a transplant from his wife at first because they have a daughter, Monica, 13.

"I kind of said, 'Why put us both at risk?' But she wanted to do it. When they said she matched me on five of six criteria, she said it was meant to be."

Butt said that besides compatible blood types and tissue, the Stangles shared five of the six genes that are important in matching kidneys. "That's extraordinarily rare when the donor is not a blood relative," Butt said.

Brian Stangle said words fail when he talks about his wife's gift.

"She's the hero here," he added. "I don't know how you express thanks for that, to give part of your body to someone else."

On the other hand, the Stangles, who live in New Fairfield, Conn., went to Hawaii a few weeks ago to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

"That was part of the payback," Brian Stangle said.

Copyright © 2004 Daily News L.P.

Copyright © 2004 The Assoicated Press.

This article posted October 25, 2004.