2 ms·

A family member had acute kidney failure back in the mid 60s, when kidney transplantation was still quite new in the UK where she lived. She was in her early 20

A family member had acute kidney failure back in the mid 60s, when kidney transplantation was still quite new in the UK where she lived. She was in her early 20s and it wasn't looking good as they had no donors. Just as they were about to draw the line, a 17 year old kid who had been riding a motorbike was brought in, and fortunately for her it was a match. After the transplant, she was told she most likely wouldn't turn 30. Turned that due to that message she decided to never have kids, as she was worried she'd pass away before the kid grew up. That was a real shame, as she had a long and quite normal life, almost reaching her 70th birthday.

theropost 2y ago
Same here, except it turned out a bit the opposite. My grandmother died in her thirties during the mid-1960s from kidney failure since a transplant wasn't really an option in our small town. She left 7 kids at the time. It is still an incredible challenge to find a donor though, and even if one is found, there is a high risk of rejection - we still have a long way to go in this area of medicine.
- tushar-r 2y ago
  >there is a high risk of rejection I've been told otherwise by my doctors (I'm on dialysis awaiting a transplant.) The drugs these days are so good that 99%+ have no issues with rejection if they take their drugs properly.
  - magicalhippo 2y ago
    Interestingly the family member I described stopped taking the meds they gave her shortly after being discharged from the hospital. No idea if it worked for or against her, but clearly she managed a long time despite them.
    - tushar-r 2y ago
      Hmmm...the senior doctor in my case spent a fair bit of time telling me about the medicines and making sure I was aware of how closely they need to be monitored and taken. In his setup, each patient is given a notebook with a template to track medicines and fluid intake/outgo etc. He won't see you post transplant unless you bring the book with the latest info! (He is quite old - in his 80's. Will be retiring after the current set of patients are done with surgery + 1 year!)
      - magicalhippo 2y ago
        I'm assuming drugs today are much better and more targeted than what they had 60 years ago.

theropost 2y ago

Same here, except it turned out a bit the opposite. My grandmother died in her thirties during the mid-1960s from kidney failure since a transplant wasn't really an option in our small town. She left 7 kids at the time. It is still an incredible challenge to find a donor though, and even if one is found, there is a high risk of rejection - we still have a long way to go in this area of medicine.

tushar-r 2y ago
>there is a high risk of rejection I've been told otherwise by my doctors (I'm on dialysis awaiting a transplant.) The drugs these days are so good that 99%+ have no issues with rejection if they take their drugs properly.
- magicalhippo 2y ago
  Interestingly the family member I described stopped taking the meds they gave her shortly after being discharged from the hospital. No idea if it worked for or against her, but clearly she managed a long time despite them.
  - tushar-r 2y ago
    Hmmm...the senior doctor in my case spent a fair bit of time telling me about the medicines and making sure I was aware of how closely they need to be monitored and taken. In his setup, each patient is given a notebook with a template to track medicines and fluid intake/outgo etc. He won't see you post transplant unless you bring the book with the latest info! (He is quite old - in his 80's. Will be retiring after the current set of patients are done with surgery + 1 year!)
    - magicalhippo 2y ago
      I'm assuming drugs today are much better and more targeted than what they had 60 years ago.