The current crisis came to a head when my brother went for a routine check-up a few weeks ago. Six weeks after the previous one, his kidney function (eGFR) was found to have fallen by a further 3% to only 18%. It seems that a transplant is usually desirable when it reaches 10%, so he hasn't got far to go if it carries on deteriorating at that rate.
The first requirement for a donor is to be of the right blood group. My brother is O Pos and I knew anyway that I am O Pos as well, as it was embossed on the HM Forces ID card for 16 years (and hopefully is correct!). My wife has also volunteered and she knows she is O Pos, being a long-standing blood donor. The other didn't know and had to find out; it turns out that just one other potential donor is also O Pos, but various other siblings have been ruled out, so at present there are three of us on the list. NB I found out later that the Rhesus Negative/Positive bit is irrelevant to kidney transplants.
The next step is matching tissue types. This can be done at any hospital which would save me a 60 mile each way trip, so I'll see what happens after I have spoken to the transplant nurse on Monday
There is a lot about this process which I don't know, but I found the Kidney Research UK website to be very helpful.
Saturday 31 March 2012
Monday 26 March 2012
My Brother
My name is Matthew. For me, this journey started several years ago; my brother Tim mentioned casually that he had some problem with his kidneys and might need a transplant in the distant future if it continued to deteriorate. He is seven years younger than me and so was probably about 47 at the time, which seems a bit early in life to be having such problems. The thought then flitted across my mind that perhaps I should offer one of mine, but I heard no more about it and the problem seemed to have disappeared.
Then in February 2012 my mother asked if I had "heard about Tim". It transpired that his kidneys had indeed deteriorated and were now approaching the stage at which a transplant would be required. I called him and we chatted about his condition. He said something about waiting for a (dead) donor and I at once said that he could have one of mine. He laughed and said that I was about sixth on the list (we come from a large family). Some weeks later I received an e-mail sent by his wife to those of us who had made the offer. Basically the deterioration now was so much that the hospital had asked him to actively find a live donor, or rather two. The first question is blood group; Tim's is Type O and the hospital will take the first two volunteers who are compatible and see if either is a match in tissue type as well; if neither is, then they will work down the list!
Having once been in the armed forces I knew my blood group as it was embossed on my ID card. Personally I have that feeling in my bones that I will be the donor. You might know the feeling as well; it's a feeling of certainty which I have had just a few times in the past. Once was when I entered a competition (for me, a rare event) and was not at all surprised when I won; another time was when I wrote a letter to a national newspaper and just felt I knew that it would be published (it was).
Thus we got to a rather odd situation where five siblings had offered a kidney; we were asked to sort out between ourselves who would contact the hospital. At this stage in the proceedings only one of the others seems to know their blood group so we are waiting for some answers. In the meantime my own wife Jane has also volunteered as she also knows her blood group is compatible, being a long-time blood donor.
Then in February 2012 my mother asked if I had "heard about Tim". It transpired that his kidneys had indeed deteriorated and were now approaching the stage at which a transplant would be required. I called him and we chatted about his condition. He said something about waiting for a (dead) donor and I at once said that he could have one of mine. He laughed and said that I was about sixth on the list (we come from a large family). Some weeks later I received an e-mail sent by his wife to those of us who had made the offer. Basically the deterioration now was so much that the hospital had asked him to actively find a live donor, or rather two. The first question is blood group; Tim's is Type O and the hospital will take the first two volunteers who are compatible and see if either is a match in tissue type as well; if neither is, then they will work down the list!
Having once been in the armed forces I knew my blood group as it was embossed on my ID card. Personally I have that feeling in my bones that I will be the donor. You might know the feeling as well; it's a feeling of certainty which I have had just a few times in the past. Once was when I entered a competition (for me, a rare event) and was not at all surprised when I won; another time was when I wrote a letter to a national newspaper and just felt I knew that it would be published (it was).
Thus we got to a rather odd situation where five siblings had offered a kidney; we were asked to sort out between ourselves who would contact the hospital. At this stage in the proceedings only one of the others seems to know their blood group so we are waiting for some answers. In the meantime my own wife Jane has also volunteered as she also knows her blood group is compatible, being a long-time blood donor.
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