In previous tweets, we have published a series of popular science on living relative kidney transplantation. After the series was published, the backstage received a private message like this: Can children donate kidneys to their parents?
The answer is yes. However, this situation is not common. Living relative kidney transplantation is still mostly parents donating to their children. Recently, Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University conducted a special living relative kidney transplantation operation, and the donor was the patient’s daughter (the donor daughter was 35 years old and the recipient mother was 62 years old). Deputy Chief Physician Wang Jina, who has been engaged in clinical work in kidney transplantation for more than 10 years, said that this operation was the third case of a daughter donating to her parents in the Kidney Transplant Center of Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University. Both the “kidney removal” and “transplantation” operations were successful. At present, both the donor and the recipient have recovered well and have been discharged smoothly. The recipient’s blood creatinine has returned to normal levels when he was discharged.
For such a rare case of living relative kidney transplantation, with the consent of both parties, we interviewed the mother and daughter and tried to restore and reproduce such a warm story.
The picture shows the daughter and mother (provided by the daughter)
The first time I saw the kidney donor DQ (pseudonym) in the ward was on a Monday morning. That day she was going to undergo a “laparoscopic nephrectomy”, which is a kidney removal surgery for her mother’s kidney transplant. Unlike many patients who are about to lie on the operating table, she was not nervous at all, with a smile on her face and a relaxed gait. I asked her if she was afraid? She shook her head and said that she could finally help her mother get rid of the trouble of dialysis, and her expectations far outweighed her fears. Then, a faint smile bloomed on her cheeks. At that moment, the editor was also moved by her filial piety and optimism.
On the fifth day after the operation, the mother and daughter recovered smoothly, and the editor had a brief exchange with her. She said that she was born in a warm and harmonious family of four, and she also has a younger brother who is a dozen years younger than her. The siblings were raised by their mother since childhood. My mother was originally a very optimistic and active person who liked to make friends and travel outdoors. In 2012, my mother was diagnosed with kidney disease. Initially, the condition could be controlled by drugs. Although the blood creatinine was still rising, it did not affect her life much. Since her mother became ill, she began to pay attention to the treatment of kidney disease. Gradually, she began to know that her mother would eventually need a kidney transplant or dialysis treatment. Only after a kidney transplant could her mother return to a normal life. In the past two years, her mother’s condition has worsened, her blood creatinine has gradually increased, and she had to start dialysis treatment. “Two years ago, my mother started peritoneal dialysis. She had to do it for about 4 to 6 hours a day at home. She usually did it herself, and I sometimes helped. This was a torture for her, who was always active, every day.” She said.
Since she started peritoneal dialysis, my mother’s movements have been restricted, and she can no longer go out and travel as she did before. This was a big blow to my mother, who was originally lively and cheerful, and her mood and mental state were also greatly affected. Seeing that my mother, who had raised two children and worked hard for most of her life, was just about to get through it, her health was not good. DQ was also very tormented, and she wanted to help her mother get rid of this pain as soon as possible.
When asked, “How did you think of donating a kidney to your mother?”, her answer surprised and warmed me. “It was a natural thought,” she blurted out, “I also registered for kidney transplantation at that time, but I had to wait in line, and it took a long time. If I waited one more day, my mother would suffer one more day. So while registering, I started to do kidney transplant matching tests. At that time, I thought that I would match first, and if I didn’t match, my brother would go. Fortunately, the test results were a match, and I met the donation conditions, so I naturally thought of donating a kidney to my mother.”
What a simple reason! I sighed in my heart, maybe her love for her mother is an instinct!
Thinking of myself, I asked myself, if the same thing happened to me, would I have such courage and courage? Would I have many concerns? I actually didn’t have an answer in my heart.
I asked her, don’t you have any concerns? Aren’t you afraid that donating a kidney will affect your health?
She said: “I usually pay attention to popular science in this area, and I know that donating a kidney may have a little impact on my physique, but one kidney is enough for me.”
It is still very plain language, and it also reveals trust in modern medicine.
I can’t help but ask her curiously: What is your mother’s attitude when you make such a decision?
The mother’s tone is distressed and happy: “I was very opposed at first, I said how can that be possible.”
At this time, DQ naturally took over the conversation: “In fact, my brother and I are ready to donate a kidney to my mother. For me, there is a home only with my mother. If I can save her, I have no reason not to do this. I told my mother that this kidney is given to you, and you can accompany us for the next 10 or 20 years, how happy it is. If I can save her but don’t save her, I can’t get over it in my heart, and I will feel guilty when I think about it in the future.”
After she and her brother persuaded her, her mother finally accepted this heavy love.
In addition to being moved by the deep affection between mother and daughter, the true love between DQ and her husband also touched me.
During the hospital stay, the editor saw that the daughter’s husband had been accompanying her at the bedside. Later, when his wife was discharged from the hospital, he continued to take care of his mother-in-law while taking time to go home to take care of his wife. Talking about his wife donating a kidney to his mother-in-law, he said: “I often read some popular science and know that you can still live a healthy life with only one kidney, so of course I support it.” Such a harmonious family is really enviable.
At the end of the interview, I asked DQ if there was anything she wanted to say to her mother. She said that she had been in poor health since she was a child and had asthma, and her mother had always been running around, taking care of her and accompanying her. Now that her mother is sick, it is her turn to take care of her mother. I hope my mother will take good care of her body and return to her previous state as soon as possible, returning to the optimistic and cheerful mother who is a “social bull”.
After talking with DQ, there are two points that touched the editor.
First, she has a clear understanding of kidney donation from living relatives, including whether it is safe to donate a kidney? Is the clinical efficacy of kidney transplantation from living relatives reliable? And whether it needs to be checked for matching… She understands these issues very well. This may be due to the fact that she began to pay attention to this knowledge and actively seek treatment methods after her mother became ill.
Second, donating a kidney to her mother was her instinctive reaction, without much consideration, and was a natural expression of love for her mother.
This mother and daughter is the third case of a younger generation donating to an elder in this transplant center. There were two previous cases. The first case was Tian Shiguo, one of the top ten touching figures in China in 2004, who donated to his mother. The second case was in 2014 when the son (20 years old) donated to his father (40 years old). They are still in good health.
Warm reminder: It is safe for living relatives who meet the conditions to donate kidneys, but after all, there is no “spare tire” in the body. The kidney donor needs to undergo regular physical examinations after surgery to facilitate early detection and early treatment of potential kidney diseases.
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