The process of waiting on and receiving a kidney transplant can take years, but it has been reported that in an act of comradery, an Iraq veteran received a kidney donation this week in California that was donated by a fellow Marine left brain dead following a training accident. The process took two days, not five years.
Sgt. Jacob Chadwick of San Marcos survived a 2009 combat tour in Iraq only to suffer organ failure. Chadwick has a new lease on life thanks to a kidney donation from fellow Marine Patrick Wayland, who died last week. Wayland had suffered heart failure Aug. 1 during survival training at Florida’s Pensacola Naval Air Station. He died Aug. 6. Wayland’s family asked his doctors to find military recipients for their son’s organs.
If a potential transplant candidate has someone interested in donating a kidney, tissue typing is done to see how closely his/her antigens match the recipient. Other blood tests (including the cross-match) will be done to determine if the pair is compatible. If the transplant candidate does not have someone able to donate a kidney, the antigens identified in the recipient are used to match with a donated cadaver kidney.
Nearly 90,000 Americans are on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
Kidneys for transplantation come from two sources: living donors and deceased (non-living) donors. Living donors are usually immediate family members or sometimes spouses. Deceased donor kidneys usually come from people who have willed their kidneys before their death by signing organ donor cards. Permission for donation can also be given by the deceased person’s family at the time of death.
Kidney transplantation involves placing a healthy kidney into the body where it can perform all of the functions that a failing kidney cannot.
The new kidney is placed on the lower right or left side of your abdomen where it is surgically connected to nearby blood vessels. Placing the kidney in this position allows it to be easily connected to blood vessels and the bladder. The vein and artery of your new kidney are attached to your vein and artery. The new kidney’s ureter is attached to the bladder to allow urine to pass out of the body.
A successful kidney transplant provides increased strength, stamina, and energy. After transplantation, a recipient should be able to return to a more normal lifestyle and have more control over daily living including a normal diet and more normal fluid intake without being bound to dialysis schedules.
The risks of kidney transplantation are the same as those of any surgery. There is the risk of bleeding, infection, or breathing problems. One may also experience some side effects from the medications, and a person could be more prone to infections, since the medicine taken after transplantation lowers the body’s ability to fight infection.
There is also the risk of rejection. Since the body recognizes the new kidney as a foreign object, it will normally try to get rid of it or “reject” it. However, meds are administered to prevent rejection.
Because of years of experience, research, and improved medicines that prevent rejection, kidney transplants are very successful with few complications after transplantation.
Written by Sy Kraft