Kidneys for Life produced a short DVD to explain a little about kidney disease, transplantation and dialysis which was shown on Channel M for a two week period in June 2009.
Two of our patients participated in the DVD along with Neil Parrott the Clinical Director of the Renal Transplant Unit and Trustee of Kidneys for Life.
One of the patients was Liam Dorsey who back in September last year had been suffering headaches but put it down to stress. After a trip to the doctors the situation was much more serious than first thought and he was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and needed a kidney transplant urgently. His Mum, Michelle offered one of her kidneys to Liam, who said: “When we got the date for the operation and I found out it was my 22nd birthday I just thought you couldn’t have made it up it was the best birthday present ever.”
There were complications during the transplant because Michelle’s kidney had two arteries instead of the usual one, and it took three attempts to attach it properly. But there have been no signs of Liam’s body rejecting the donor organ having now reached the crucial six-month mark by when the organ is most likely to be rejected.
But despite the success of the transplant, Liam and his family, whose ordeal was also filmed by the BBC for a series called Life Givers, know the kidney will not last forever. Michelle added: “The hardest thing is that it’s not a cure and it won’t last forever and no one can say how long it will last.
The DVD can be viewed online via our Facebook page.