However, the decision Dot Whelan made to donate a kidney to her youngest daughter, Carmen, was an easy one.
In 1985, Carmen aged 15, was diagnosed with glomerulnephritis. The severity of the disease caused her kidneys to fail in August 1998 and haemo dialysis started the same year. Six-hour stints of dialysis were endured at home, three times per week.
Side effects such as low blood pressure, vomiting and excessive itching were just a few of the conditions Carmen endured while on dialysis.
“Her fluid intake was restricted to 500ml per day; this would then cause dehydration, which in turn caused skin irritations and, if the 500ml was exceeded, she would then get extremely sick,” Mrs Whelan said.
Mrs Whelan and her husband, Frank, received a call in January 1990 to say a kidney had become available.
“We had to wake-up Tracey from the fuel distributors to get petrol and only had five hours to get Carmen to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she would receive a kidney transplant,” Mrs Whelan said.
“This kidney only lasted until 1997, as the same disease came back killing the donor kidney.”
Carmen, who lives in Melbourne, had to then go back on dialysis at a self-care centre in Brunswick.
“We couldn’t expect our children to donate, as some of them hadn’t started a family and our youngest son only has one kidney. This was enough for both Frank and I to both decide that we would be tested.
“Because of Frank’s diabetes and me only being part compatible, the options looked very grim,” she said.
“The doctors broke the news to Carmen that it would be very unlikely she would find a match due to antibodies in her blood.
“When the doctors told Carmen this news, I decided to step forward and be tested a second time,” Mrs Whelan said.
“This is where Dr Cohney Solomon at Royal Melbourne Hospital came into the picture. He was conducting a trial to bring unmatched donors and proposed recipients into harmony, forming a match.”
This procedure consists of a plasma exchange to reduce antibodies in the recipient’s blood and injections of gamma globulin.
During this period, regular tissue typing blood tests were conducted on Mrs Whelan and Carmen. Mrs Whelan donated her kidney to Carmen on April 21, 2004, with Carmen the first person in Victoria to receive a transplant under the trial.
“The procedure was very painful but was controlled with morphine and the stay in hospital was only one week,” Mrs Whelan said.
“It was tough being on the other side of the ward to Carmen, but this is practised in case of mix ups with drugs and the related parties seeing the other person in pain and distress.”
This procedure has proven to be very successful and since this transplant, many more have been carried out. Kidney transplants can now take place where donor recipients have different blood groups to their donors.
“Dr Solomon’s aim is to take a kidney from any person and transplant it into another,” Mrs Whelan said.
“There are many other families who have been through the same experience as us in this area. Mary Ryan donated her kidney to her son, Tom; Dianne Kelly gave her kidney to her son, Andrew; and Marlo Smyles received a kidney from her sister.
“I urge people to express their wishes to donate to their loved ones, even though a lot of kidney transplants come from live patients, other people are dying waiting for organs,” Mrs Whelan said.
With Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week running from February 17 to 24, Member for Murrumbidgee, Adrian Piccoli is encouraging all residents of the area to register as a consenting organ and tissue donor.
“Registering as an organ and tissue donor has been made easy – to the point where it is now a simple act with the greatest potential to save or transform the lives of so many people,” Mr Piccoli said.
“I understand that in 2007, 198 people donated, while there are 1875 people on transplant waiting lists,” he said.
“But while the need for organ and tissue donation is obvious, it’s the one form of generosity that cannot be spontaneous.
“It depends on potential donors registering their consent and discussing it with their families, partner or friends.”
“It’s very important to talk about your wishes with these people now.
“It is easier to have your wishes respected and fulfilled when they are known by more than one or two family members,” Mr Piccoli said.
Organ and tissue donation registration forms are available through Medicare offices or online.
For more information call 1800 777 203 or visit www.medicareaustralia.gov.au.
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