Kenya: Giving a Kidney Is Rewarding - Donor Encourages People to Save Their Rela

[Clark]

http://allafrica.com/stories/201403180634.html

Kenya: Giving a Kidney Is Rewarding - Donor Encourages People to Save Their Relatives
BY JOHN MUCHANGI

Your relative is dying because their kidneys have failed, and you probably have an extra one: should you donate it? Well, the decision varies from person to person. While some make the decision instantly with few worries, others will critically talks with friends and family members first.

Jane Wangechi made up her mind instantly. "I had seen what my sister went through during dialysis. I asked myself, I am a journalist and I always find myself in risky situations. If I were to die today, wouldn't my two kidney rot while my sister is left suffering?" she says.

She donated one of her kidneys to her sister Millicent Njeri in January last year at at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

Millicent was diagnosed with a kidney disease at the age of 12, but the condition was managed with medication. The kidneys however failed completely in 2009 after giving birth to her daughter.

"I watched as tubes were inserted into her body during dialysis at Kenyatta National Hospital. I used to stay away from the ward each time I took her to hospital."

Wangechi decided to donate her kidney immediately doctors made the suggestion. "I smsed my mother at 7am telling her I want to give Millicent my kidney. I told her: I don't want anyone to tell me anything, just pray about it," she says.

Blood blood tests showed the two were compatible. "I did not tell my friends I was donating. I revealed it after the operation in India. The Bible tells us to be our brother's keeper."

Wangechi however says it is normal for some people to be afraid of donating a kidney as well as to experience guilt about not wanting to be a donor.

Doctors at KNH encourage potential donors to speak with people who have donated in the past and make an independent decision because no one should feel pressured to donate.

The only "right" decision is the one that makes the donor feel comfortable, they say. "It's rewarding. You feel satisfied and fulfilled when you donate," Wangechi says.

"When nurses in India took me to Millicent's ward and said it was successful, my sister was so happy and thanked me for giving her life. But I said we should thank God," says Wangechi.

Published research confirms there is no long-term effect on the health of the donor or their remaining kidney. Studies show that donors live even longer than the average population.

"The better survival among donors is probably due to the fact that only healthy persons are accepted for living kidney donation," says a 20-year follow-up study published in 1997 by the Department of Renal Medicine, Huddinge Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

It followed 459 living donors in operations performed in Stockholm from 1964. The study also showed the donors were happy about the decision they made. Some other research, however, suggests that kidney donors may be slightly more prone to develop high blood pressure as they age.

"The important thing is to inform people it's ok to donate," says cardiologist Dr Dan Gikonyo, a former physician of President Kibaki, in a past interview with Star. "We all donate blood, which is a body organ, yet we fear donating other organs even after death."

Prof Seth Mc' Ligeo says because cadaver donations are not conducted in Kenya, the best way to save the thousands of Kenyans with kidney problems is voluntary donation by living relatives. "Kidneys cannot be bought," he says.

If no donation is made the patient remains on expensive dialysis for life. Dialysis patients are usually too fatigued to work but transplants enable them to resume work fully.

Millicent's husband, Raphael King'ara, says they spent Sh3.5 million on dialysis alone and wishes they had the transplant earlier. Prof Mc' Ligeo advises people to seek treatment immediately they are diagnosed with kidney problems because some cases of kidney failure can be prevented.

He says many kidney problems are due to preventable infections. "General improvement in hygiene will prevent most of those infections," he says.