06-04-2010, 01:00 AM
Quote:Maple Ridge firefighter Dennis Teboekhorst holds his 5-year-old daughter Grace, whom he will be donating a kidney to. Grace has only 5 per cent kidney function right now and doctors are hoping to do the transplant by July 2010.
The Maple Ridge family of a five-year-old girl awaiting a kidney transplant has launched a campaign to reduce wait times for live organ donor testing and speed up the transplant process.
Dennis Teboekhurst was told in January he was an eligible kidney donor for his daughter Grace, who suffers from a rare kidney condition. However, more than six months later, the family is still waiting for test results before the surgery can go ahead. Teboekhurst has his last round of testing scheduled for next week, and the family hopes to have the transplant completed next month.
But that’s too long, says the family, and they want the provincial government to increase funding to make the process more efficient in order to save lives.
Friends of the family have set up a Facebook group called “Help Grace Get Her Kidney!”, which calls on Health Minister Kevin Falcon to increase funding for organ transplants and reduce wait times for donor testing. The group already has 1,300 members. A similar plea for increased funding has been posted on the Maple Ridge Firefighters union website.
“B.C. Transplant has been fantastic,” says Teboekhurst. “But they can only do so much with the funding they get.”
Live donors must undergo months of exhaustive testing to make sure their organ will be a match for the recipient, and to make sure they will have no ill health effects from the procedure.
The average time for testing is two to three months, says Dr. Jean Shapiro, the medical director for renal transplant at Vancouver General Hospital. However, waits of six to 24 months are not uncommon, as 20 to 30 per cent of donors are not immediately suitable. Along with blood, urine, and radiological tests, potential live donors must undergo psychological screening to determine the genuineness of the offer and make sure the donor isn’t getting paid to donate the organ, which is illegal in B.C.
Shapiro said the health and safety of the live donor is the key concern.
“We need to make sure we’re not going to imperil the donor, and that’s a big responsibility,” she said. “If there is too high a risk, [a donor] will get turned down.
In general, most things go straight forward, but anything can hold it up. We live in an obese society, so some people may require three to six months of weight loss.”
There is room for improvement in the testing process, however.
“I think we could use more personnel,” said Shapiro. “We’re underfunded in that sense, and that’s true everywhere.”
One area in particular that could speed up the testing process is the number of lab technicians processing the results.
“I think we’re leaders in live organ donation in this province,” she said. “Health care in Canada is generally well funded, and we have it very good compared to most. But understanding that, we can certainly improve.”
Quicker transplants can save the health care system money, Teboekhurst notes. According to B.C. Transplant, the average cost of kidney dialysis treatment is $50,000 a year. By comparison, the one-time cost of a kidney transplant in B.C. is approximately $20,000, with an additional yearly cost of about $6,000 for anti-rejection medications.
More than 4,700 organ transplants have been performed in B.C. since 1968.
There are currently 332 people waiting for an organ transplant in B.C., while 108 transplants have been performed so far this year. Many of those waiting for a solid organ transplant die while waiting for a suitable transplant as there is a chronic shortage of hearts, lungs, kidneys and livers for transplant in B.C.
The province’s aging population, as well as strict motorcycle helmet and seatbelt laws, mean there are few suitable deceased organ donors available, leading to a greater reliance on live donors, says Shapiro.
“We have way too many people waiting for organ donation in this province,” she said.
and there's nothing worse then waiting it out for over a year
only to be told that it's not going to happen, especially if
it happens more than once. It is emotionally draining.
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