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Kidney recipient looks forward to normal life after history-making procedure
Failing kidneys, a weak heart, no suitable kidney donor - that was Mr Khairul Anwar Ibni's predicament a month ago.
The 46-year-old's doctor gave him only a few months to live. But two weeks ago, the former senior airline officer not only received a new lease of life, but also made history.
The life-saving kidney he received was from his wife, Madam Radiyah Mohamad Som, 43, a teaching aide. The couple have four children.
Mr Khairul's blood type is O+ while his wife's is A+. In medical jargon, the operation is called an "ABO incompatible transplant".
He became the first person in South-east Asia to receive a kidney from someone with a different blood type.
Dr Lye Wai Choong, a renal specialist in private practice at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, along with a team of four other doctors, was behind the transplant operation on May 27.
The high-risk procedure allows a recipient to accept a kidney from any donor even when blood types do not match - hence the "ABO" in its label.
Human blood groups are A, B, AB and O.
In standard kidney transplants, both donor and recipient must share a common blood group. If not, the kidney will be rejected automatically by the recipient's body.
In ABO incompatible transplants, antibodies are first removed from the recipient so that his body will not reject the new kidney.
The procedure, first carried out in Sweden in the 1970s, has become common in the United States and Europe since 2000.
Singapore's approach has been cautious. In the past few years, the restructured hospitals here prepared themselves with the necessary facilities and expertise to carry out such high-risk transplants.
Transplant nephrologists, meanwhile, talked to patients about the possibility of an incompatible transplant.
Many patients were reluctant to be the first. The high cost was also a deterrent.
While standard kidney transplants usually cost about $60,000, an ABO incompatible transplant can easily cost two or three times as much.
Mr Khairul's transplant is expected to cost $120,000. He has raised half the amount from public donations, and hopes to secure more.
When The Sunday Times featured him on May 4, three weeks before his transplant operation, he weighed just 55kg and could walk only with the help of a cane. He also had a sallow complexion.
But now, just two weeks after the operation, he walks normally, his joints no longer ache and his skin complexion has improved.
Said Mr Khairul: "For two years, the walking cane was my best friend. Two days after my transplant, I said goodbye to my cane."
His kidneys had started failing seven years ago. Still, the lead-up to his life-saving operation was nerve-racking.
The procedure was postponed from May 23 to May 27 because he had too many antibodies in him to safely receive an incompatible kidney. Special machinery was used to remove the antibodies.
There was also a worry that he might not even survive the anaesthesia because of his very weak heart. Two years ago, he suffered a cardiac arrest during an operation and his heart stopped beating for 10 seconds.
But the surgery itself went smoothly, said transplant surgeons Tan Eng Choon and James Tan.
Dr Lye, who was not in the operating theatre, received constant text message updates on its progress.
"My biggest worry was that the kidney would not work and turn blue," he said. A healthy, functioning kidney is pink in colour.
Mr Khairul is likely to be discharged this week. Over the next three months, he will be seeing Dr Lye for weekly check-ups. These will become less frequent in subsequent months.
Said Dr Lye: "Apart from having to take transplant medication all his life, Khairul can now live and work like any normal person."
Mr Khairul does want to return to work - and to eat bananas again, something he could not do because of their potassium-rich content and his failing kidneys' inability to excrete potassium efficiently.
"I love bananas. I had to go without bananas for the past seven years, and I can't wait to eat them now," he said with a laugh. |
