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Father Jerry Cestare and Kara LoDolce right before the kidney transplant procedure in January. Photo from Kara LoDolce

A blossoming love led to a lifesaving procedure for a local priest.

Kara LoDolce, left, with her fiancé, Scott Alu, and his children. Photo from Kara LoDolce

In January, Setauket resident Kara LoDolce donated her kidney to Father Jerry Cestare of St. James R.C. Church. When LoDolce first told him that she was going to donate her organ, he said he couldn’t believe it.

“I don’t know how many people can be that selfless,” he said.

The 55-year-old priest said his kidneys were compromised about nine years ago, and while he was careful about his health, at the beginning of last year he felt tired all the time and went for medical testing. He found out he had kidney failure and started dialysis in May, something he said is not a long-term solution for someone his age.

The priest said when doctors first told him to actively start looking for living donors, he felt hesitant because he grasped that someone was giving up something precious. While a few family members were tested, they were found not to be matches, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask others.

“How could I ask someone to do something like that just because I was sick?” he said.

Cestare said while he wasn’t afraid of dying or being incapacitated, he was afraid that he would lose what he loved to do — ministering.

The priest said the chain of events played out like a Hallmark movie.

LoDolce, 46, said she was compelled from the second she heard Cestare needed a new kidney. She and her fiancé, Scott Alu, 42, credit the priest for indirectly helping the two of them meet.

LoDolce said her soon-to-be husband met her in a gym, while he normally wouldn’t ask out a woman with tattoos, which she has, he remembered a recent conversation he had with Cestare. Alu was talking to the priest about looking for a relationship after a divorce, as well as being a father to two children. LoDolce said her fiancé was told to keep an open mind by Cestare, saying, “One thing that God does is he takes the broken pieces of your life and kind of reshapes them into something new, and you just have to be open to opportunities. You have to be open to every opportunity that God puts in front of you.”

When she met Alu, LoDolce lived in Sound Beach, but she said 2½ years ago she moved in with him in Setauket, and she’s been going to the St. James church ever since.

LoDolce said while the church didn’t make an official announcement about Cestare’s condition, she was waiting to hear back from him to discuss her upcoming wedding in May. She was surprised when he didn’t get back to her, and she asked the receptionist who filled her in on what was happening.

When she and her fiancé met with him, she asked if he was on the transplant list. He told her it would be a five-year wait due to his blood type being B+. After the meeting, she called her mother and found out she was B+ also. When she dropped off paperwork, she left Cestare a note saying she would like to be tested.

She went in for the tests and right before Christmas discovered she could donate her kidney to the priest. She bought Cestare a stuffed kidney-shaped toy and gave it to him along with a card and a letter.

“She’s about to start a whole new life, and she’s thinking of me.”

— Jerry Cestare

He said when she gave him the gift, he didn’t open it right away and brought it to his parents’ house where he was going for dinner. When he opened it, he was surprised by the beautiful card and then began reading the letter where LoDolce told him she was a match.

His father asked him to repeat what she wrote because he, “couldn’t believe it,” and the priest said he and his mother started crying.

“Kara felt from the beginning if she could undergo a few weeks of discomfort so that I could get back to work and do what I do best, she said it was worth it,” Cestare said.

The priest decided to announce the good news to the parish at Christmas Mass. Even though he didn’t want the service to be focused on him, he felt LoDolce’s act of kindness symbolized the season.

He said many faiths talk about love but LoDolce, he said, showed it through action and gave him his life, health and ministry back.

“Lots of people talk about love, this woman showed with her action what love is,” he said.

He said Kara and her fiancé received a few standing ovations from the parishioners at the Mass after he announced she was donating her kidney to him.

“She’s about to get married,” he said. “She’s about to start a whole new life, and she’s thinking of me.”

LoDolce said she never wavered from her decision.

“People tell me I did something for him, I don’t feel that way at all,” she said. “I truly feel like he did something for me and he changed my life.”

While most take three or six weeks before they can even go back to work, LoDolce said she felt great after a week, and she was walking two or three miles a day. She also credits both of their recoveries to the parishioners and friends.

“Everyone in the Three Village community has been praying for us,” she said.

LoDolce said she is now putting the finishing touches on her May wedding.

“I joke that both my kidneys will be going to the wedding,“ LoDolce said.

Cestare said he has found the story has inspired others who have heard it with many telling him that they are going to pay it forward by being a better person.

“God is using this experience not only to give me back my life but to touch the lives of others,” he said.

“People tell me I did something for him, I don’t feel that way at all. I truly feel like he did something for me and he changed my life.”

— Kara LoDolce

SBU experts explain living organ donations

Father Jerry Cestare and Kara LoDolce went to Stony Brook University Hospital for their transplant procedure. The priest said many may think they need to travel to New York City for such a procedure, but SBU has a transplantation program right on Long Island.

Dawn Francisquini, administrative director of Stony Brook Medicine’s Kidney Transplantation Services team, said the hospital has been performing the transplants since 1981. She described the program as family friendly and said the staff’s goal is to make patients feel like a person — not a number.

“They know when they come to us they’re going to receive personalized care,” she said.

The first step, she added, is to educate the patients and their family members about the entire procedure as well as what needs to be done before and after. She said it’s important for the family to be part of the conversation because there is a lot of information to be taken in. She added that a transplant is not a cure for kidney disease but a treatment.

Stephen Knapik, living donor coordinator at the medical center, said finding a living donor can save a person’s life as the waiting list for organ transplants can be several years long. 

“I tell all the recipients you have to be your own living donor champion,” Knapik said.

He said he advises patients if they’re uncomfortable asking to get a friend to help spread the word. He also said sharing on social media has been successful in many cases, where after a request is posted, “The next thing you know I’m getting phone calls.”

Knapik said his role in transplants is keeping donors safe. In the case of Cestare’s transplant, he worked with LoDolce. He said donors go through multiple tests including CT scans, chest X-rays and cancer screenings such as mammograms and Pap smears for women and colonoscopies for those over 50.

“I tell all the recipients you have to be your own living donor champion.”

— Stephen Knapik

Once a donor is cleared through testing, a transplant team committee will discuss the donor.

“We want to make sure that we have dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s to keep the donor safe,” he said.

Knapik said once a donor is found the transplant team will work with the schedule as far as when the surgeries will take place. For example, he said, a teacher can wait until summer. All the costs are paid by the recipient’s insurance.

He said while LoDolce was quickly back to walking and resuming her normal routine, it’s unusual. Many donors may take weeks to recover fully and can’t drive for about two weeks or lift heavy objects for a few weeks.

“Everybody heals differently,” he said.

He added that after the procedures donors will be required to have checkups to make sure their remaining kidney is compensating and doing well.

“We can take anyone’s kidney out, but we have to make sure, 10, 20, 30 years later, that the remaining kidney is doing well,” Knapik said.

Francisquini said out of the 1,800 transplants the program has done since its inception, 1,000 patients still come to SBUH for routine follow-ups. She said anywhere from 270 to 300 patients are on the active waiting list at any given time, while another 200 can be in the evaluation process. The kidney transplant team performs 75 to 80 procedures a year.

“We have one of the fastest transplant rates in our region,” she said. “So that basically translates into if we put you on the list, we’re serious about transplanting you. We transplant you as quickly as possible.” 

To learn more about Kidney Transplantation Services at Stony Brook Medicine and how to become an organ donor, visit www.stonybrookmedicine.edu/patientcare/transplant/organ_donor.

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Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia (R)officiated over the Valentine’s Day Marriage Ceremony Marathon that took place in Huntington Town Hall Feb. 14. Photo from Town of Huntington

One Huntington official carried on a town and family tradition Valentine’s Day.

Tiffany and Luke LeGrow, above, renew their vows as their children Shane and Blakley look on. Photo from Town of Huntington

Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia (R)officiated over the Valentine’s Day Marriage Ceremony Marathon that took place in Huntington Town Hall Feb. 14. The event was first initiated by his mother, former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia, in 1995. It was an event the new town clerk was pleased to continue.

“I am thrilled to be continuing on the tradition established by my predecessor, Jo-Ann Raia, of hosting multiple wedding and renewal of vows ceremonies on Valentine’s Day here in Town Hall,” he said. “This event has always been received enthusiastically by the couples that have participated, and it was a privilege and a pleasure for me to unite these couples and to share in their happiness on this very special day.”

Raia performed eight wedding ceremonies and one vow renewal during the marathon. Among the couples were Victoria Espinoza and Alex Petroski. A few years ago, the couple met while working at TBR News Media. Espinoza went on to become the editor of The Times of Huntington & Northport and The Times of Smithtown before she left the media group in 2017, and Petroski was the managing editor and editor of The Port Times Record and The Village Beacon Record before he left at the end of 2018. Jo-Ann Raia remembered Espinoza covering the event in the past.

“I am very proud of the way the new town clerk, Andrew Raia, planned his first Valentine’s Day Marriage Marathon, and I am pleased to see my tradition of 25 years continued,” Jo-Ann Raia said. “In fact, Victoria and Alex Petroski met at The Times of Huntington newspaper, and Victoria covered for the Times Beacon Record several years of my Valentine’s Day Marriage Marathon, and I’m excited they took the opportunity of getting married at Town Hall.”

Couples were able to bring family and friends along for support and 31 local merchants consisting of bakeries, restaurants, florists, supermarkets/food stores, pharmacies, gift shops, candy stores, a salon and spa donated items for this year’s celebration.

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Employees who began at Stony Brook Medicine 40 years ago, wearing red flowers, were honored at the hospital’s celebration. Photos from Stony Brook Medicine

Stony Brook University Hospital has come a long way in its four-decade history. On Feb.14, past and current employees of SBUH gathered at the Medical and Research Translation building to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the facility.

The idea of the region’s academic medical center was an ambitious undertaking, beginning in 1973 when construction began. Five years later, the two iconic hexagonal structures were completed. From there, a yearlong mass recruitment process began in which about 800 people were hired.

Many of the hospital’s first employees didn’t know what to expect or in some cases how to get there.

“They said you take the Long Island Expressway then go north on Nicolls Road and when you get to the Star Wars set you’ll know you’re there,” said Lawrence Hurst, professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedics at the Renaissance School of Medicine.

Hurst came to SBU in 1979 with the intent of being the hospital’s firsthand surgeon.

An attendee looks at a time line display. Photos from Stony Brook Medicine

“It was an exciting adventure, the opportunity to become the first in a specialty was something I couldn’t pass up,” he said. “I was lucky enough to take full advantage of it.”

Extensive logistical planning began before the hospital opened the following year.

“When we came here, there were no patients, no equipment, we had a very small group of physicians in the beginning, now we have over 500,” Hurst said.

As part of the celebration, hospital officials showcased a video presentation highlighting the facility’s accomplishments throughout the years and included interviews with employees who shared their favorite memories.

Some notable accomplishments included: doctors performing the first kidney transplant surgery on Long Island in 1981; the first Suffolk County police helicopter touching down on the hospital’s helipad in 1989; and in 1990, New York State designating the hospital a Level I Trauma Center. This past year, SBU opened the Children’s Hospital and MART Building.

In addition to the presentation, a time line and exhibit were on display throughout the building showcasing the hospital’s history.

Kenneth Kaushansky, senior vice president for health sciences and dean at the Renaissance School of Medicine, spoke about the reason he left San Diego to come to Stony Brook

“I saw incredible potential when I decided to come here 10 years ago,” he said. “It had a good medical school and good health care facilities.”

“We have become one of the best hospitals in the country, a premier health center.”

– Kenneth Kaushansky

Kaushansky said the further development of the medical school and the hospital over the years has been a “powerhouse.”

“We have become one of the best hospitals in the country, a premier health center,” he said.

Going forward, the senior vice president of health sciences said that SBU will continue to strengthen the hospital network throughout the Island and continue to advance the Renaissance School of Medicine.

“As technology improves, I believe the future of health care will be more geared toward tele-help, tele-EMS and wearable devices,” he said.

Carol Gomes, CEO of Stony Brook University Hospital, said she met many lifelong friends and colleagues when she began to work in the laboratory in 1985.

“I’ve been very fortunate to meet people along the way that have become great mentors to me,” she said. “I’ve been able to connect with them on a daily basis.”

Gomes said as she has progressed in her own career the hospital has done the same.

“We have continued to flourish as a health care organization,” Gomes said. “This celebration was a very special moment for me. I just think about the connections I’ve made over the years.”

The CEO of the hospital credited the facility’s staff.

“The employees are the lifeblood of the organization, they come to work every day,” Gomes said. “Our greatest strength is our staff.”

Gomes said if it weren’t for the staff, the hospital wouldn’t have had the clinical outcomes or the reputation for which it is known.

“Everyone has the same goal … The dedication of the staff to our patients will always remain the same, it has been our one constant,” she said. “Stony Brook has been my home away from home.”

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Photo by Courtney Braun

‘Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. Main St., Smithtown presents “Shrek The Musical Jr.” through March 1. In a faraway kingdom, Shrek finds his swamp invaded by banished fairy tale misfits, runaways who’ve been cast off by Lord Farquaad, a tiny terror with big ambitions. Farquaad tells Shrek he can get his swamp back if he rescues Princess Fiona from the dragon-guarded tower. But every fairy tale has its unexpected twists and turns! Performances are held on Saturdays and Sundays at various times and Feb. 17 to 21 at 1 p.m. for Presidents Week break. All seats are $18. For further information or to order tickets, call 631-724-3700 or visit www.smithtownpac.org.

 

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Ellis Paul. Photo by Tim Rice

STORIES FROM A SUITCASE

Ellis Paul heads to the Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook on Feb. 23 for his 13th appearance in WUSB’s Sunday Street Series. The concert, held in the Carriage Museum’s Gillespie Room, will take place at 3 p.m. The program will feature many of the songs from Ellis’ latest album, “The Storyteller’s Suitcase.” Tickets are $25 in advance at www.sundaystreet.org through Feb. 21, $30 at the door. Call 751-0066 for more information.

 Photo by Tim Rice

 

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'Black Opal,' acrylic on canvas, by Bill Durham

By Melissa Arnold

Running a museum is far from simple. Consider this: The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook is home to more than 2,500 pieces of artwork done on paper, 500 paintings and 100 pieces of three-dimensional art. Each piece must be catalogued, maintained, protected and stored. It’s a delicate and meticulous process that takes a lot of work.

Recently, the LIM received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to expand and upgrade its storage facilities. They’ll need to clear out some of their existing storage space to prepare for renovation, and fortunately its visitors will reap the rewards of the process.

From Feb. 22 to June 26, the museum will present Off the Rack: Building and Preserving LIM’s Art Treasures, an exhibit of approximately 90 works of art from its permanent collection, in the main gallery of its Art Museum. Many pieces in the exhibit are only put on view rarely, if at all.

‘Dance of the Haymakers,’ 1845, oil on canvas mounted on wood, by William Sidney Mount

“We could have taken the artwork to off-site storage, but we thought, ‘Why not put it on display?’ In order to make more space, we thought this would be a great time to assess the state of the collection and share its history and highlights with our visitors,” said LIM Deputy Director and Curator Joshua Ruff. “This is an opportunity for people to see things they may not have seen before.”

Ruff said that choosing pieces for Off the Rack was a team effort by the museum staff, who sought to put together a cohesive story of how the museum’s collection has grown and evolved over the years.

Visitors will be able to explore a time line of the LIM’s conservation efforts. In addition, each work in the exhibit will include its accession number, which will help teach visitors how the museum keeps track of each piece.

Off the Rack is divided into loose sections celebrating particular themes and standout artists. Not to be missed is a section dedicated to one of the museum’s “anchor” artists, William Sidney Mount. Among Mount’s included works are an 1841 painting of Crane Neck Marsh, which Ruff says is “an example of his extremely detailed craftsmanship while creating a natural setting,” and “Dance of the Haymakers,” a painting of a fiddler playing music for dancing farmhands, which made Mount a household name in 1845. 

Other high-profile artists with dedicated spaces in the exhibit include Arnold Hoffman, Samuel Rothport, Winslow Homer, Joe Reboli and Helen Torr, among others.

There are also sections of artwork focused on coastal and marine environments, abstract work and contemporary artists, including some local Long Islanders like Janet Culbertson, Bruce Lieberman and Dan Pollera.

Ty Stroudsburg of Southold also has artwork at the LIM — her 2000 oil painting on linen “Pumpkin Field at Sunset” is one of many views that have caught her eye on the North Fork.

“I love color. I used to drive around with a sketch pad in my car, and it was always color that would lead me to pull over and either do quick sketches with pastels or take a photograph to use for later,” said Stroudsburg, whose work has hung in exhibits and museums throughout New York and New Jersey for more than 60 years. 

“I didn’t strive for notoriety, I just painted because I love to paint and it keeps me going. I feel extremely fortunate that curators believe my art is worth being a part of their museums,” she added.

For LIM Executive Director Neil Watson, Off the Rack provides the chance to see their continuously evolving collection in a new light.

“As we began to do the work required for the renovations and take pieces out of storage, there were things in the collection I hadn’t seen in several years, and even some pieces I didn’t even know we had,” he recalled. 

“That’s the beauty of this exhibit -— we get to share parts of our collection that people may have never even seen before. Of course, there will be plenty of ‘old friends,’ like the work from William Sidney Mount, but there is so much more to see. Ours is a living collection — it’s not sealed or stagnant, and it continues to grow.”

The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook presents Off the Rack: Building and Preserving LIM’s Art Treasures, from Feb. 22 through June 26. The museum is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission for adults is $10; discounts are available for children, college students, seniors and the disabled. For more information, visit www.longislandmuseum.org or call 631-751-0066.

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Celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month with Toothpalooza! at The Whaling Museum, 301 Main St., Cold Spring Harbor on Feb. 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Explore teeth large and small – including some of the largest teeth in the world. Check out a real whale tooth cavity, see a narwhal tusk, watch a puppet show and see the Tooth Fairy! Carve a scrimshaw box for baby teeth and go home with “toothy” crafts.

Fee is $12 children, $6 adults. Call 631-367-3418 for more information.

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Rose

This week’s shelter pet is Rose, a beautiful 1½-year-old black domestic short-haired cat currently available for adoption at Kent Animal Shelter. 

Rose loves to play explore, enjoys meals and being in the mix of things. This social gal is patiently waiting on her forever family to bring her home! Rose comes spayed, microchipped and up to date on all her vaccines.

Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

For more information on Rose and other adoptable pets at Kent, call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.

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Ginger Dalton and Kyle Breitenbach

Three more chances to catch a performance of “Little Red Riding Hood: A Tale of Safety for Today” at Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson on Feb. 20, 21 and 22 at 11 a.m.  Amanda Sally Desdemona Estella Barbara Temple, better known as Little Red Riding Hood, takes a thrilling journey through the woods to her grandmother’s house. Joined by her twin sisters, Blanche and Nora, Little Red Riding Hood learns a big lesson about safety in this modern musical telling. All seats are $10. To order, call 928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.’

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