Both giver and receiver of kidney doing well
BY JAY BODAS
Staff Writer

EDISON - A successful kidney transplant.

That's the initial assessment of Metuchen resident Carol Trapp, who received a kidney from the Rev. Rick Oppelt, pastor of the Oak Tree Presbyterian Church, during a transplant procedure completed last week at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

"So far, so good, knock on wood," Trapp, 58, said Monday. "I feel sore, but that is to be expected. I am very thankful to the doctors and to Rick and glad that it is over with at this point."

The four-and-a-half-hour surgery last Tuesday went without incident. Both Trapp and Oppelt were released Friday after a few days of recovery time in the hospital. But Oppelt had to return briefly over the weekend for treatment for nausea brought on by the procedure.

"I picked up a stomach bug in the hospital, and I had to go back into the emergency room late Sunday night," he said Tuesday.

Oppelt, 50, is resting at home.

"I can walk around, my incisions are healing up, and overall the doctors are pleased with how this thing has gone," Oppelt said. "I haven't had any pain reliever for several days, and I feel OK. My main plan is to take it easy, get plenty of rest, and go for a walk a couple times a day."

Oppelt has taken the month of September off from his pastoral duties to fully recuperate.

"Church members have been calling and asking what they could do, which I appreciate," he said.

Trapp now begins a lifelong regimen of anti-rejection medication that she must take daily to ensure her body accepts the donated kidney.

"I will be taking 32 pills a day," she said. "They said they would be changing the pills as we go along. Anti-rejection, anti-fungal, all kinds of anti-whatever pills."

She also has lingering soreness in her arms and neck from where catheters were inserted for the surgery.

The transplant was needed due to Trapp's declining kidney function, a result of her 43-year struggle with type 1 diabetes.

Oppelt volunteered to donate his kidney to Trapp after learning of her situation earlier this year.

Fortunately, the ongoing nurses' strike at RWJUH did not postpone the procedure.

"Robert Wood Johnson worked very hard to bring in quality people," Oppelt said. "The people who took care of me were competent, and if anything ... RWJ is only to be commended for their keeping everything going."

Hospital administrative officials could not be reached for comment in time for this story, but a short recording referring to the nurses' strike could be heard after dialing the hospital's main number.

"Thorough contingency plans are in place to ensure the hospital is providing quality care," the recording said. "Licensed nurses supplied by a national nursing agency with experience are working at the hospital. They have all also undergone a thorough hospital orientation."

For her part, Trapp is now looking forward to her new gift of life.

"Considering what we went through, I just consider it a miracle, really," she said. "I just can't thank Rick enough for what he went through for this. I just hope that we both do OK and move on with our lives."