Successful Kidney Transplant for 12-year-old

A lease of life as 12-year-old boy undergoes successful kidney transplant

By Luke Kung’u

Chronic kidney failure in children is difficult to note since it may not have signs and symptoms but the unfortunate information is that it shows when around 80% of the kidney function is lost.

This will be more elaborate in children having fluid build-ups that present as swellings in the skin, congested lungs as well as high blood pressure. Chronic kidney disease leads to kidney failure, also referred to as end stage kidney disease, whose remedy is dialysis or kidney transplant.

Kidney disease in children is caused by birth defects, nephrotic syndrome, systemic diseases, hereditary diseases, urine blockage/reflux trauma as well as infection. A health care provider diagnoses the disease through checking medical history, physically examining the child and also by reviewing signs and symptoms exhibited. There are several tests that confirm the diagnosis such as kidney biopsy, blood test, urine albumin to creatinine ratio to name but a few.

Twelve-year-old Master Cyrus Karanja, second born in a family of four, is a living testimony that chronic kidney failure is manageable and not a death sentence. It was unfortunate that he was diagnosed with the disease in 2019 and for three years religiously attended dialysis sessions three times a week.

This was a difficult journey that required detachment from family life, class work and peers. It had a difficult toll on him as well as consuming family income, and agony experienced by the parents and siblings.

All this turmoil would come to a halt on 12th October 2022 when a kidney transplant was successfully done, donated by his 23-year-old maternal uncle, and he was discharged on 24th October 2022.

The kidney transplant for Master Karanja is a profound medical milestone that affirms our capacity to carry out such complex pediatric kidney transplants in our facility.

MAIN PHOTO | LUKE KUNG’U

Master Karanja with his father (R) mother (C) and Mr. James Gitau the maternal uncle (L) who donated the kidney.