A Long Island first: Queens man gets heart, kidney and liver transplant at North Shore University Hospital
Transplant recipient Sergio Arias Cestoni, 47, (seated) with his wife Francisca Navas, and Dr. Deane Smith III (left) and Dr. Nabil Dagher at North Shore University Hospital on Tuesday. The surgeons took part in a recent operation in which Cestoni received a heart, kidney and liver in a transplant procedure that was a first for Long Island. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
When Sergio Arias Cestoni opened his eyes in a hospital bed last month, his body pulsed with three new organs and the feeling he'd awakened to a new life.
The 47-year-old Queens resident received a heart, kidney and liver at North Shore University Hospital on Feb. 8, during the first-ever triple transplant of those organs on Long Island, according to hospital officials and the nonprofit that operates the nation’s transplant system.
Cestoni, who has been recovering at his Hollis home since his March 7 hospital discharge, said the surgery was like an instant reset after a yearslong health struggle that left him unable to work.
A heart condition combined with diabetes resulted in heart and kidney failure that landed him on waiting lists for those organs two years ago. It wasn’t until November that doctors determined his liver was failing and added him to another waiting list.
But since the transplant procedure, Cestoni said he feels like a new man.
"It’s like a second opportunity at life, to do things better than before," Cestoni said in Spanish during an exclusive video conference interview on Monday with Newsday. "I will try to do the things I didn’t do, whether because of fear or because of time."
The triple match came from a single unidentified donor before a 14-hour surgery that required rotating teams of medical experts, including critical staff like anesthesiologists and nurses, and 13 different surgeons, according to hospital officials.
The principal surgeons included Dr. Deane Smith III, who first transplanted the heart — which Smith said in an interview cannot be outside the body for as long as the other two organs that were transplanted.
Then Dr. Nabil Dagher transplanted the liver, and finally, Dr. Ahmed Fahmy inserted the kidney.
By all measures, the triple transplant was a success, according to Cestoni's doctors. They said he will need continued testing and follow-up care but slowly is resuming normal activities.
"From our standpoint, once the incision is healed in the chest, he can physically do anything that he's able to do," Smith said Tuesday during a hospital visit with Cestoni that included Dagher, director of Northwell Transplant Institute.
Cestoni said he already is walking 30 minutes a day, while before he couldn’t walk farther than a couple of blocks.
Combined heart, kidney and liver transplants continue to be rare.
Last year, there were only five of those triple transplants conducted nationwide, with a total of 57 of those transplants since 1988, when the nation's transplant system started tracking cases, according to a spokeswoman for United Network for Organ Sharing. The nonprofit runs the system, which is known as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
Dagher said it’s difficult just to have one match, let alone three.
"To have all the stars aligned so that the heart is a good size and good function and good age, liver is good, and the kidney is good, all together, is also kind of a unique thing to have happen," Dagher said.
In 2018, Cestoni was diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Adam Auerbach, medical director of the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital, described that in a statement as "a weakening of the heart pumping function as a result of blocked arteries."
That was on top of diabetes, which Cestoni has had since he was 25. In 2020, he started dialysis at least three times a week. Two years ago he was put on transplant waiting lists for a heart and kidney.
Then in November, his health situation became more dire when he needed emergency heart surgery. Doctors implanted a device in his heart to improve blood flow, which wasn't intended as a permanent fix, according to Smith. Doctors also discovered then that he had liver failure.
"When he got sicker and came into the hospital, it became clear that his liver function was worse than people thought before," Smith said. "At that point, the decision was 'Do we offer him three organs, or allow nature to run its course?' And the decision was to try to get him all three organs."
Cestoni said he is tremendously grateful to the medical team. He’s adjusted to a daily routine that includes swallowing 15 pills every morning, ranging from immunosuppressant medication so his body doesn’t reject the new organs, to medication intended to prevent infection. He has another pill regimen at night. The number of medications will be reduced over time, according to Dagher.
Cestoni, an El Salvador native who is married and arrived in the United States in 2010, said he now has the hope of a normal life that will allow him to work again and save money for a house. Perhaps, he added, he'll even be able to resume taking college classes.
The transplant recipient said that in 2020, his condition stopped him from being able to complete his duties at a beverage label-making company in Nassau, so he'd had no choice but to quit.
"I can’t say I have everything, but I have all the basics. Life is really the most important thing so now I can move forward," Cestoni said.
When Sergio Arias Cestoni opened his eyes in a hospital bed last month, his body pulsed with three new organs and the feeling he'd awakened to a new life.
The 47-year-old Queens resident received a heart, kidney and liver at North Shore University Hospital on Feb. 8, during the first-ever triple transplant of those organs on Long Island, according to hospital officials and the nonprofit that operates the nation’s transplant system.
Cestoni, who has been recovering at his Hollis home since his March 7 hospital discharge, said the surgery was like an instant reset after a yearslong health struggle that left him unable to work.
A heart condition combined with diabetes resulted in heart and kidney failure that landed him on waiting lists for those organs two years ago. It wasn’t until November that doctors determined his liver was failing and added him to another waiting list.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Sergio Arias Cestoni of Queens recently was the first person to receive a heart, liver and kidney transplant at a Long Island hospital, according to hospital officials and the nonprofit that operates the nation's transplant system.
- There only have been 57 heart, liver and kidney transplants nationwide since 1988, according to the nonprofit.
- Cestoni, 47, said he feels he has a new lease on life and another shot at doing it better.
But since the transplant procedure, Cestoni said he feels like a new man.
"It’s like a second opportunity at life, to do things better than before," Cestoni said in Spanish during an exclusive video conference interview on Monday with Newsday. "I will try to do the things I didn’t do, whether because of fear or because of time."
The triple match came from a single unidentified donor before a 14-hour surgery that required rotating teams of medical experts, including critical staff like anesthesiologists and nurses, and 13 different surgeons, according to hospital officials.
The principal surgeons included Dr. Deane Smith III, who first transplanted the heart — which Smith said in an interview cannot be outside the body for as long as the other two organs that were transplanted.
Then Dr. Nabil Dagher transplanted the liver, and finally, Dr. Ahmed Fahmy inserted the kidney.
By all measures, the triple transplant was a success, according to Cestoni's doctors. They said he will need continued testing and follow-up care but slowly is resuming normal activities.
"From our standpoint, once the incision is healed in the chest, he can physically do anything that he's able to do," Smith said Tuesday during a hospital visit with Cestoni that included Dagher, director of Northwell Transplant Institute.
Cestoni said he already is walking 30 minutes a day, while before he couldn’t walk farther than a couple of blocks.
Combined heart, kidney and liver transplants continue to be rare.
Last year, there were only five of those triple transplants conducted nationwide, with a total of 57 of those transplants since 1988, when the nation's transplant system started tracking cases, according to a spokeswoman for United Network for Organ Sharing. The nonprofit runs the system, which is known as the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
Dagher said it’s difficult just to have one match, let alone three.
"To have all the stars aligned so that the heart is a good size and good function and good age, liver is good, and the kidney is good, all together, is also kind of a unique thing to have happen," Dagher said.
In 2018, Cestoni was diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Dr. Adam Auerbach, medical director of the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital, described that in a statement as "a weakening of the heart pumping function as a result of blocked arteries."
That was on top of diabetes, which Cestoni has had since he was 25. In 2020, he started dialysis at least three times a week. Two years ago he was put on transplant waiting lists for a heart and kidney.
Then in November, his health situation became more dire when he needed emergency heart surgery. Doctors implanted a device in his heart to improve blood flow, which wasn't intended as a permanent fix, according to Smith. Doctors also discovered then that he had liver failure.
"When he got sicker and came into the hospital, it became clear that his liver function was worse than people thought before," Smith said. "At that point, the decision was 'Do we offer him three organs, or allow nature to run its course?' And the decision was to try to get him all three organs."
Cestoni said he is tremendously grateful to the medical team. He’s adjusted to a daily routine that includes swallowing 15 pills every morning, ranging from immunosuppressant medication so his body doesn’t reject the new organs, to medication intended to prevent infection. He has another pill regimen at night. The number of medications will be reduced over time, according to Dagher.
Cestoni, an El Salvador native who is married and arrived in the United States in 2010, said he now has the hope of a normal life that will allow him to work again and save money for a house. Perhaps, he added, he'll even be able to resume taking college classes.
The transplant recipient said that in 2020, his condition stopped him from being able to complete his duties at a beverage label-making company in Nassau, so he'd had no choice but to quit.
"I can’t say I have everything, but I have all the basics. Life is really the most important thing so now I can move forward," Cestoni said.
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