My favourite time after Christmas is Chinese New Year. It's an excuse to get together with the nearest and dearest, eat lots, be merry and consolidate those new year resolutions.
This year we celebrated with our usual 10-dish (plus an extra one for luck) feast, listened to everyone's stories and upcoming plans and trips for the year. There is one person in particular who always teaches us all.
He (Uncle X) told us of how it was that he came receive his kidney transplant, a remarkable 27 years ago. He had long suffered chronic kidney disease and had been on dialysis. He followed his doctor's instructions to eat healthily, fluid restrict himself with the aim to control his blood pressure to aid the function of his kidneys. Eventually there came a time when he was told he needed a transplant. At the time, there were few oriental people in the UK and the medical team told him they had never yet had a donated kidney from anyone of his ethnic background. This they believed would have impacts on the immunological interactions his body would have with a transplanted kidney.
Without going into the minutiae, each person's organs have recognition molecules that tells the body they are your own. This is a defence mechanism, so that for example if a foreign body or a pathogen (e.g. virus / bacteria) enters, your immune system knows to activate and fight it off. In the event of a transplant, the body is artificially immunosuppressed with medications so it will not recognise the foreign, transplanted organ. Successful transplants escape "rejection" - the receiver must take immunosuppressant drugs lifelong however. To increase the likelihood of a successful transplant, it is imperative that the receiver's "recognition molecules" (called HLA proteins) are as similar to the donors as possible - and usually this means that people from a similar ethnic origin will be a more likely match. (This is similar to "crossmatching" before a blood transfusion.)
The doctors said that Uncle X would be put on the waiting list nonetheless if he consented, but that he must realise a transplant would carry risks, and in this case, the extra risks that they did not know how successful a transplant from a non-ethnically similar person would be. Uncle X considered his options and said that he did not mind being the guinea pig, if it meant that they could learn from their actions. What a valiant thing to do.
One day, the doctors phoned Uncle X. They said a kidney had come through. They said he was second in line - this meant they had called another patient who they felt would be a better match. They advised the other patient to come to hospital immediately. If it turned out the other patient was not such a good match after testing, then Uncle X would be tested. He was asked to come to the hospital immediately.
Uncle X went to the hospital, and met the other gentleman. On arrival, he was told the other gentleman had not been such a good match after all. He saw him curled up in a ball looking away from him, of course emotions were running high. Uncle X was tested. The team told him he seemed a good enough match and again asked him if he were really to undergo the necessary procedures for the transplant. Uncle X accepted. He spoke with the other patient. He did not tell him that he had been granted the kidney but told him his time would come; it wasn't today but it would be another time. The other patient asked if he could meet with Uncle X at a later date and they became acquaintances.
Uncle X had the kidney transplanted successfully, and miraculously 27 years later is here to tell the tale. Even today, kidney transplants are estimated to have a 10 - 15 year shelf life.
I once again was in awe of Uncle X, his wisdom and his kindness, both qualities of which I can only continue to aspire to. Hopefully the one year older, one year wiser saying is true...
Here's to a healthy & happy New Year!
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