Kidney transplantation at Perpetual hospital

THE Perpetual Succour Hospital (PSH) is once again performing kidney transplants, 20 years after it stopped doing the surgical procedure.

The first recipient of its more advanced kidney transplantation program is 46-year-old Jaime Llego.

Llego was on the verge on a kidney failure when he was given a new lease on life by his 27-year-old niece Mary Mae Gallaneda.

The mother of a seven-year-old daughter donated one of her kidneys to her uncle.

“God gave us two kidneys, one to keep and one to give,” Dr. Alan Simporios, one of the PSH’s surgeons.

He said the hospital was the pioneer of kidney transplantation outside Manila in 1986.

The program was stopped in 1995 after Dr. Ruben Maguad, head of the Kidney Center, believed that the lack of high-tech equipment could endanger the life of a patient.

However, Maguad said he believes PSH’s program today is at par with similar programs in the capital.

He said they stared out with one machine in 1986. Now, the hospital has 25 more for dialysis and transplantation.

“For such a difficult form of surgery, you need a team of gifted surgeons. This is a team,” Maguad said.

He urged the public to watch their weight because diabetes is a lifestyle disease.

“Unli(mited) rice troubles me because it is the practice that would be most dangerous to our health,” he said.

Cost

A kidney transplant costs between P650,00 and P700,000 (excluding the organ). The hospital, though, is willing to give discounts, especially if the patient is sponsored, said Simporios.

Llego advised other diabetics to take care of their body so they can avoid kidney complications that might result to an organ failure.

Llego started undergoing dialysis last July. His family decided to push through with the transplant procedure last April with the help of a sponsor.

Gallaneda said she hopes her uncle’s body won’t reject her kidney so he can lead a normal life. (Johanna Marie O. Bajenting/USJ-R Mass Comm intern)

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