"They’ve taken great care of me for 30 years. I would recommend Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center to anyone."
For Carlo Spinella, a successful business owner and landscaping contractor, life in 1995 was busy and active. “I was always on the go,” Carlo recalls. “Running around with my business, doing estimates, meeting clients. But that summer, something began to feel wrong. I started getting more tired than normal, and I thought maybe it was just the heat.”
Carlo pushed through his symptoms, but while on a trip down at the Jersey Shore with his family, he soon realized something was seriously wrong. “I remember standing on the boardwalk watching the waves during a storm,” he shares. “I told my wife that I could feel that something wasn’t right.”
At that point, Carlo contacted his doctor. His blood pressure was dangerously high and blood tests revealed that his kidneys were failing. Carlo was sent the hospital immediately and there he began dialysis.
“That entire time I had been walking around not realizing how sick I really was,” he says. “Years later my doctor told me he actually couldn’t believe I had walked into the hospital with numbers like that and how sick I was.”
Carlo spent about four months on dialysis and was referred to the transplant team at Saint Barnabas, now Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (CBMC), to learn about different transplant options.
“My brother said, I can’t leave you like this. I want to get tested,” Carlo remembers. “When the testing came back, it was quite remarkable, as we were a near-perfect match, almost like twins.”
On December 27, 1995, Carlo received a related living-donor kidney transplant from his brother.
Carlo is deeply grateful for the experience as it brought him and his brother closer than ever, even if he jokes about having to be nice to him now. “We were in the hospital together, and we really just bonded through that whole experience,” Carlo shares.
Over the past three decades, Carlo has remained closely connected to the transplant team at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.
“It feels like my second home. The doctors, the nurses, everyone has been unbelievable. They’ve taken great care of me for 30 years. I would recommend Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center to anyone. My kids and grandkids were born here too. This hospital has been a big part of our family.”
Early in his transplant journey, Shamkant Mulgaonkar, MD, then Chief of the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division and Martin G. Jacobs, MD, a pioneer in kidney transplant, helped guide Carlo through the transplant process. “Dr. Mulgaonkar was a saint. Him and Dr. Jacobs. They were both great.”
Today, Carlo continues his care with Anup M. Patel, MD, transplant nephrologist, and Director of Transplant Research, Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, along with Colleen Dowling, RN, an Advance Practice Provider Lead for the CBMC Transplant Team, who at the time of his transplant was his floor nurse on the dedicated kidney transplant unit.
“They are always there for me when I need them. They aren’t just excellent at their job, but they are genuinely friendly, caring and supportive people,” Carlo shares.
“It’s always great to see Carlo. He has done an incredible job taking care of himself over the past 30 years,” shares Dr. Patel. “He has remained active, committed to his health, and dedicated to following his care plan, which has all played a big role in the long-term success of his transplant.”
Since having his transplant, Carlo has been able to continue working, grow his business, and watch his family expand. “I’ve seen my kids grow up, and now I have five grandkids,” he shares. “That’s everything.”
About The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center.
The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division, located in Livingston, NJ, is one of the leading kidney transplant centers in the country. The Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center offers compassionate and comprehensive transplant care for adult and pediatric kidney patients.
The Living Donor Institute at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center offers an increasing number of innovative living donation techniques available at only a few of the world’s leading transplant centers.
With a patient-centered approach, we aim to provide a caring environment with state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment capabilities. Our multidisciplinary transplant team guides patients through the process of deciding on kidney transplant as a treatment option, understanding transplantation, finding a donor, and maintaining a healthy organ after transplant.