Sisters through Providence: Nuns’ friendship includes kidney donation

Best friends for 40 years, when one needed a kidney the other responded.

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

The word “Providence” means “care, guidance, or preparation for the future.” It’s a word sometimes used to mean “divine intervention.”

When two friends entered the Sisters of Providence, they took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The vow included listening and following their calling.

Sister Barbara Battista and Sister Jane Iannaccone met during the discernment process to enter religious life. It was the spring of 1985. They both have Italian Irish ancestry, but not much else in common – that is until one decided to donate a kidney to help the other.

Sister Battista is outdoorsy and extroverted. Sister Iannaccone enjoys the indoors and is introverted.

“We’re very different but the fact that we entered religious life together is what we have in common, and now a shared interest in kidney donation,” said Sister Battista, 68, one of seven children, who has roots in Indianapolis. She took her first vows in 1988 and the final vows in 1993. Of her ministries, she has served as a clinical oncology pharmacist and a family medical prenatal care physician assistant, as well as minister in occupational medicine. She now ministers as the community organizer/justice promoter for her congregation.

Sister Iannaccone, 73, entered the Congregation in 1985. She professed her first vows on June 26, 1988, her birthday; and her final vows in 1993. A native of Medford, Mass, she was a teacher at St. Rose, Chelsea, Mass, St. Matthew Parish, Indianapolis, and Ascension School, Evansville, Ind. She now serves as a spiritual companion at St. Mary of the Woods.

Sister Iannaccone moved to Indiana in 2020 – the same year her health started to decline.

For three years, the sisters shared a small house before moving into the main convent, located in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., five miles northwest of Terre Haute.

One of Sister Iannaccone’s brothers was diagnosed with ANCA vasculitis an autoimmune condition that damaged his kidneys. He had a double lung and kidney transplant and passed of complications from a cancer diagnosis. Sister Iannaccone was also diagnosed with ANCA vasculitis and went on dialysis in August of 2022.

“I think it’s unusual that two people in same family got ANCA vasculitis,” said Sister Iannaccone.

When Sister Iannaccone began having appointments at IU Health, it was her dear friend, Sister Battista who drove her the 154 miles roundtrip from Terre Haute. What Sister Iannaccone didn’t know was that her friend was being tested as a potential donor.

At IU Health, both living kidney and liver donation helps give renewed life to patients in need. Living kidney donors reduce or eliminate the need for patients to start dialysis and a healthy kidney from a living donor can function better and last longer than a kidney from a deceased donor.

A living kidney donor isn’t necessarily related to the recipient. Compatibility is based on blood type and tissue typing. Age and size are also taken into consideration. If a healthy donor is incompatible with the intended recipient, the donor may opt to be part of paired donation. Also known as “donor swap” recipient /donor pairs are matched according to compatibility. Over the years, IU Health’s kidney transplant team has performed several paired donations. Some chains have included multiple people.

In preparation for organ transplant, all potential donors work with a team of IU Health transplant experts including surgeons, donor coordinators, social workers, dietitians, pharmacists, and financial coordinators. They undergo an initial screening, multiple tests and evaluations.

Long before she met her friend, Sister Battista experienced first-hand the gift of life. Her younger brother was in a tragic accident and at the age of 24, became an organ donor. That was in 1983.

“When Jane came down with kidney failure and started dialysis, I thought I might be a donor. I’ve been an organ donor on my driver’s license forever,” said Sister Battista. After completing testing, she learned she wasn’t a match for her friend, but through paired donation she could donate to someone else and in turn, Sister Iannaccone would receive a new kidney.

Sister Battista donated her kidney on Nov. 10, 2023, and Sister Iannaccone received her transplant on Dec. 13, 2024. She was in the care of Dr. William Goggins and her nephrologist is Dr. Mohammad Yaqub. Her Pre-transplant coordinator was Joyce Davis and her Post-transplant coordinator is Alisha Turner.

As she recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her transplant Sister Iannaccone said: “I cry often. and I’m eternally grateful. There’s no way I can pay her back. It was a gift out of love and I had to be gracious about receiving it. I can’t say enough about Dr. Goggins, Dr. Yaqub and all the nurses and staff at IU Health.”