They are a remarkable couple. The wife made the record as the first to undergo successful kidney transplant at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba. The donor was her husband. For them and for LUTH, it was a moment of faith, reports OYEYEMI GEBNGA-MUSTAPHA
Mrs Olufunke Mary Oladeji could not have wished to set this kind of record. But it was inevitable the 38 year old had to do. To save her life...
The private wing of Ward E7 of the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba recently for home after coming under doctors’ knife as he first kidney transplant patient in the hospital, relatives, friend, and well wishers practically rolled out the drums to thank God for her survins a two year ordeal. He husband of Evangelist Faith Bible International Mission, Ikotun a suburb of Lagos who donated one of his kidneys for the transplant recalled that she was disarmed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the General Hospital, Igando on November 6th, 2009. That was after repeated visits to different hospital. She was heavy then, to lose the pregnancy after eight months. Pastor Oladeji who is the Registrar of the Mission’s Bible Crusade at Mafoluku, Oshodi said as Christians they began to pray for divine healing, backing it up with medical treatment. “With money, prayers and Faith we forged on. Right from November 7th, she commenced dialysis. This was thrice in a week. That consumed much of our money. Per week, we spent a minimum of N70, 000. That is, if there were no complaints. The amount covered vaccines and drugs. But if there were complaints, the money would shot up”. The dialyses and drugs ate deep into their savings with some drugs costing as much as N26,000. Specialist at LUTH, however, warned that dialyses offered no permanent solution, and encouraged them to embrace transplant. The cost? Seven million naira. The couple trusted in God. Then came next challenge: where would the kidney come from? The Consultants asked them to explore getting from siblings. But when no one was willing to donate this kidney, the husband volunteered. What gave him the courage to do that, he was asked. “I got my inspiration to bestow one of my kidneys from the fact that Christ died for us all. So if Jesus can give his life, why can’t I give an organ to the person I profess to love for better or worse. She is my wife. The mother of my five year old son. I found satisfaction from doing that donation,” he said. “I see the donation as a form of victory for all pastors in the body of Christ, the reason being that on different occasions, we hear of certain atrocities claimed to be have been perpetrated by pastors. This particular one is positive and the world should know of good deeds that pastors can do. When I made the donation, I felt normal. But as the hospital community was celebrating it, I felt good and I can now encourage more people to toe the line” added Oladeji. The wife was full of gratitude to God as well as. Even its mask covering her face (to ward off dust or ingesting same) could not hide her spirit. She said she was glad to survive her two year old trauma. She said: “Really, there are many people who have come down with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as indicated by our attendance at the Dialysis Centre of LUTH. There is no age grade. Children, ages eight, twelve, 21 years old are all queuing up for dialysis. It does not know gender or background. It is high time the government created awareness on renal failure. “Majority of people don’t know about it. CKD patients are at the mercy of government. Government should focus attention on it and pump in fund, just like it is doing in respect of malaria, HIV/AIDS. The money spent on dialysis is much. And it is not a permanent solution. The least time one should dialyse is three times a week. All things being equal, if there are no complaints, just straight dialyses, it costs N70, 000. This is because it is a government owned hospital. In private hospital, it is more. Some don’t have the money, and end up dying. “I bless God that am chosen out of the three people prepared for the transplant. I cannot thank LUTH enough for what it did to me and for me. Starting with the preparation, to the purchase of drugs. Not to talk of the transplant, and then the drugs- antibiotics, drips. They start from N27, 000 upwards. Some are damn too expensive because they are orphan drugs and imported. And how does she feel being the first kidney transplant patient of LUTH? “I feel very happy. It is by the grace of God. So many people have died. Since 2009, they have been preparing about three of us. This is because the consultant in charge of my case said I can benefit from transplant. Now that the transplant has been done, I want Nigerians to come to my aid. I have been placed on special diet. There are some foods I must take and I cannot drink any how water. I need support financially. They should also help others in that centre. Many are dying needlessly”. Her husband added: “Dialysis is time and money consuming. The experience and eventual transplant has consumed a lot of money. I rallied round for help. I met a lot of non governmental organisations (NGOs) to no avail. This is because, most NGOs don’t believe in dialysis but transplant. The Consultant Nephrologist, Dr Toyin Amira assisted by connecting me to Nathan Foundation. It was ready to assist but the conditions it gave, I could not meet. I was asked to produce my DNA test less than two weeks. “My appeal to Nigerians with milk of altruism is to still help me financially. The appeal is based on the fact that we’ve spent all we had. We spent a lot from 2009, 2010 till date when the transplant was performed. Because there was no week she won’t be dialysed. And my wife has just been discharged and requires to eat special food and drink special water. After the transplant, she still needs to take drugs, and some of these cost N200, 000.00 and above. “It is the person who feels it that knows how it feels. We’ve been there and we know what it is all about. Anytime I see people who are still undergoing dialysis, I feel for them. My family as a result of this experience is exploring setting up an outfit to help out in the future. Many have died and more will still die as a result of the financial constraint. You see, there is no way one wants to manage it that one will not spend up to N22, 000.00 per session on dialysis. So we need money to stabilise as a family,” said Oladeji. Source:http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/18692-%E2%80%98god-inspired-me-to-donate-my-kidney%E2%80%99.html
The private wing of Ward E7 of the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba recently for home after coming under doctors’ knife as he first kidney transplant patient in the hospital, relatives, friend, and well wishers practically rolled out the drums to thank God for her survins a two year ordeal. He husband of Evangelist Faith Bible International Mission, Ikotun a suburb of Lagos who donated one of his kidneys for the transplant recalled that she was disarmed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) at the General Hospital, Igando on November 6th, 2009. That was after repeated visits to different hospital. She was heavy then, to lose the pregnancy after eight months. Pastor Oladeji who is the Registrar of the Mission’s Bible Crusade at Mafoluku, Oshodi said as Christians they began to pray for divine healing, backing it up with medical treatment. “With money, prayers and Faith we forged on. Right from November 7th, she commenced dialysis. This was thrice in a week. That consumed much of our money. Per week, we spent a minimum of N70, 000. That is, if there were no complaints. The amount covered vaccines and drugs. But if there were complaints, the money would shot up”. The dialyses and drugs ate deep into their savings with some drugs costing as much as N26,000. Specialist at LUTH, however, warned that dialyses offered no permanent solution, and encouraged them to embrace transplant. The cost? Seven million naira. The couple trusted in God. Then came next challenge: where would the kidney come from? The Consultants asked them to explore getting from siblings. But when no one was willing to donate this kidney, the husband volunteered. What gave him the courage to do that, he was asked. “I got my inspiration to bestow one of my kidneys from the fact that Christ died for us all. So if Jesus can give his life, why can’t I give an organ to the person I profess to love for better or worse. She is my wife. The mother of my five year old son. I found satisfaction from doing that donation,” he said. “I see the donation as a form of victory for all pastors in the body of Christ, the reason being that on different occasions, we hear of certain atrocities claimed to be have been perpetrated by pastors. This particular one is positive and the world should know of good deeds that pastors can do. When I made the donation, I felt normal. But as the hospital community was celebrating it, I felt good and I can now encourage more people to toe the line” added Oladeji. The wife was full of gratitude to God as well as. Even its mask covering her face (to ward off dust or ingesting same) could not hide her spirit. She said she was glad to survive her two year old trauma. She said: “Really, there are many people who have come down with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as indicated by our attendance at the Dialysis Centre of LUTH. There is no age grade. Children, ages eight, twelve, 21 years old are all queuing up for dialysis. It does not know gender or background. It is high time the government created awareness on renal failure. “Majority of people don’t know about it. CKD patients are at the mercy of government. Government should focus attention on it and pump in fund, just like it is doing in respect of malaria, HIV/AIDS. The money spent on dialysis is much. And it is not a permanent solution. The least time one should dialyse is three times a week. All things being equal, if there are no complaints, just straight dialyses, it costs N70, 000. This is because it is a government owned hospital. In private hospital, it is more. Some don’t have the money, and end up dying. “I bless God that am chosen out of the three people prepared for the transplant. I cannot thank LUTH enough for what it did to me and for me. Starting with the preparation, to the purchase of drugs. Not to talk of the transplant, and then the drugs- antibiotics, drips. They start from N27, 000 upwards. Some are damn too expensive because they are orphan drugs and imported. And how does she feel being the first kidney transplant patient of LUTH? “I feel very happy. It is by the grace of God. So many people have died. Since 2009, they have been preparing about three of us. This is because the consultant in charge of my case said I can benefit from transplant. Now that the transplant has been done, I want Nigerians to come to my aid. I have been placed on special diet. There are some foods I must take and I cannot drink any how water. I need support financially. They should also help others in that centre. Many are dying needlessly”. Her husband added: “Dialysis is time and money consuming. The experience and eventual transplant has consumed a lot of money. I rallied round for help. I met a lot of non governmental organisations (NGOs) to no avail. This is because, most NGOs don’t believe in dialysis but transplant. The Consultant Nephrologist, Dr Toyin Amira assisted by connecting me to Nathan Foundation. It was ready to assist but the conditions it gave, I could not meet. I was asked to produce my DNA test less than two weeks. “My appeal to Nigerians with milk of altruism is to still help me financially. The appeal is based on the fact that we’ve spent all we had. We spent a lot from 2009, 2010 till date when the transplant was performed. Because there was no week she won’t be dialysed. And my wife has just been discharged and requires to eat special food and drink special water. After the transplant, she still needs to take drugs, and some of these cost N200, 000.00 and above. “It is the person who feels it that knows how it feels. We’ve been there and we know what it is all about. Anytime I see people who are still undergoing dialysis, I feel for them. My family as a result of this experience is exploring setting up an outfit to help out in the future. Many have died and more will still die as a result of the financial constraint. You see, there is no way one wants to manage it that one will not spend up to N22, 000.00 per session on dialysis. So we need money to stabilise as a family,” said Oladeji. Source:http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/18692-%E2%80%98god-inspired-me-to-donate-my-kidney%E2%80%99.html
