Leanne's final sigh!

The source of my next donor kidney has been a story in itself. Most of you followers will know that the State called off my transplant, in December, at the 11th hour. They had determined in the final cross-matching with Leanne that there was a problem which effectively precluded her from being a donor. The gist of it being that because my body had developed a specific immunity to Jo's tissue type (having had her kidney for nine years, I would also reject Lee's tissue as they are identical twins.

This all changed in January 2010 when I then made a move from the State to the private sector. In my first consult with a specialist, and then again right away with the surgeon, they both spoke as if Leanne could in fact be my donor. Without being specific, they intimated that they could possibly still make it happen, in spite of what the State had told me. So Lee and I drove home on a new high and even phoned Leanne to give her the great news!

I remind you that these are the guys who decided to remove my existing kidney, then wait three months before resuming cross-match tests with Leanne. One of my posts below tells this story already, but I just want to remind you that the surgery, pain, discomfort and weeks of haemodialysis that followed - was all in preparation for receiving Leanne's kidney. Those weeks were some of the toughest I ever had to endure. I was in my worst ever physical condition and had hit a brick wall emotionally. However, even though it felt like I was moving backwards, it was all an important step in advancing medically, to eventually getting Lee's kidney. There are about two weeks left to go before we can do the planned cross-matching.

Two Fridays ago Lee and I took up an offer of a second opinion with a specialist in JHB. While we had always been excited at the prospect of having Lee 'back' as a donor, it niggled us as to why these DBN guys felt they could do it when the State had already concluded the contrary. We drove up to see Dr Paget, a specialist nephrologist and apparently one of the best in the country. The trip up took about five hours. He saw us for an hour and a half the next morning, and in that time, shattered our existence once again!

Without even referring to clinical data or tests of any sort, he was able to tell us confidently that Leanne would not be a suitable donor. "Donor specific antigens," he explained, "are your problem here." In short,and in principle really, he agreed with the findings of the State doctors. My body will definitely have developed an immunity to Leanne's tissue, through having had Jo's kidney in my body. In fact, he said,"The surgeons will probably watch the kidney turn black before they can even stitch you up". Yup, that's how quick it is. It can reject before I wake up. Imagine coming out of a transplant surgery and heading off for dialysis!

One solution offered, which for me is of academic value only, is what they call de-sensitising. It's basically a two week process of killing off all my bone marrow and charging me a quarter of a million Rands for it! And yes, of course, all the same risks still apply, and then some. Or, as Dr Paget recommended, I 'simply' get another donor!!!?^&%$#

It was one of those trips where we travelled to find a pot'o gold at the end of the rainbow, in the sense that he would agree with my DBN doctors that all was fine. But, given the nature of the news from him, it was like we just found the pot...empty. The news was not good, but in a sense, it was validation of the niggling doubt we had been harbouring, so the trip was still valuable indeed. Besides, so long as we have an empty pot, there exists the possibility of filling it!