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SEPTEMBER 2015
Page 7 Awards for staff who make a difference
Page 5 Blood pressure: Know your numbers
Thirty year wait for kidney transplant David Dawson’s 30-year wait for a new kidney is over after a successful transplant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. The 52-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent had given up hope of ever getting a suitable donor organ after one failed transplant in 1984. “I had accepted that I would be dialysing for the rest of my life,” he said. “It’s absolutely brilliant, I’m on a high right now. The operation went well, I’m feeling well and the doctors are pleased with me.” When the transplant co-ordinator called David at 4am, he nearly didn’t answer because he thought it would be a crank call. But 12 hours later he was in a theatre undergoing the operation he’d been dreaming of for three decades. “I just wondered who the hell it could be calling so early,” he said. “But the phone went three or four times and I eventually decided to go downstairs and answer. “It was QE transplant co-ordinator Sheryl Parsons. She told me they had a possible match and that I needed to get to Birmingham as quickly as I could. “Tissue typing and cross-matching had to be done at that stage and I had to go on dialysis for four hours when I arrived. “Just before I came off that the co-ordinator came and said it was a match and I just broke down and cried.” David’s condition only came to light when he went for routine medical in his late teens: “I wasn’t ill before I was diagnosed. I just went for a medical before starting a job and the urine test showed some blood. That’s when it all started,” he said. David underwent a transplant at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in 1984 but that kidney failed after nine months and he had been waiting for a second chance ever since. “You see other people getting transplants after a matter of months and you get to a point where you think, this is not going to happen. “But the message I would give to people in the same position now is to never give up hope, never say never. It can happen no matter how long you’ve been waiting.” David, speaking days after the operation, can now make plans to enjoy a more normal life. “I’ll be a lot fitter and free from the dialysis, which has taken up three days of my life every week,” he said. “The problem will be finding
Page 13 Energetic fundraisers step out for charity Pop-up clinics for free staff flu jabs The countdown has begun to enable staff to receive their free flu jabs at new pop-up clinics. The clinics are just one of the new ways for staff across the hospital to protect their families and patients against the bug. These sessions will be available this year at QEHB with free sessions available to staff on their way into work. Throughout the first weeks of October and November, there will be a pop-up clinic based in the Atrium and another at the B1 staff entrance – giving both night shift workers and those about to start the day shift the opportunity to get the vaccine at the most convenient time for them. A roving band of peer vaccinators will also be visiting wards and departments from the start of October, offering the flu-busting jab to all staff where they work – ensuring no front-line member of staff misses out on the opportunity to protect their families, patients and themselves. Drop-in clinics will also be available in the Heritage Building (Queen Elizabeth Hospital) and Nuffield House during October. Check the Trust intranet for confirmed dates and locations. For more information see page 3
The message I would give to people in the same position now is to never give up hope, never say never. It can happen no matter how long you’ve been waiting. David Dawson, transplant patient things to do with myself now.” The former jewellery repairer can’t wait to start enjoying some of the foods he has not been able to enjoy. “I’ll be able to go and have a pint now,” he said. “But, believe it or not, I’m really looking forward to having a banana and one of the first things I intend to do is to have a Costa coffee because I’ve never had one – they weren’t about 30 years ago!” See the centre pages for more details about how to join the organ donor register
Donate your organs: Save a life Life changing transplants can only take place if people agree to donate their organs. Consultant renal surgeon Clare Pattenden, who performed Mr Dawson’s transplant, said: “About a third of patients waiting for a donor kidney are considered significantly sensitised. This means they have high antibody levels that react to foreign tissue (or a transplanted organ). If you have high antibody levels it is harder to match that patient to a donor kidney. “People develop antibodies as a response to exposure to foreign tissue, such as a previous transplant, a blood transfusion, significant infection or pregnancy. Relatively few highly sensitised patients receive a transplant and they wait significantly longer than unsensitised patients for a compatible donor. “The scoring system for sensitisation is expressed as a percentage and David was
97 per cent sensitised. That means he had antibodies to approximately 97 per cent of the population. Understandably that made it difficult to find a compatible kidney. “Obviously David being offered a kidney for the first time in nearly thirty years was remarkable considering this and transplanting him gave us all great joy. For a man to wait so long and remain in such good health is a clear demonstration of his excellent ongoing renal care from the Stoke Nephrology team. “There are hundreds of highly sensitised patients in this country waiting in similar states, many of whom will never receive a transplant and either become too unfit or die on the waiting list. “The message is simple: more patients will have the opportunity to receive a lifechanging transplant if more people join the organ donation register.”
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