The saying by Vietnamese Proverb, brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet, got a new meaning for Chervon Meyer when her brother Joshua donated his kidney despite not having one blood type.
Meyer, who has been living with kidney failure for the past 10 years, underwent the ABO-incompatible transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital last month (January) through the Glycosorb ABO medical device.
In an ABO-incompatible transplant, the blood types of the donor and the recipient aren’t compatible.
The device was developed to remove the problem of ABO incompatibility by specifically reducing the level of anti-A/B antibodies in the recipient’s plasma.
The first ABO-incompatible transplant performed with Glycosorb ABO in Sweden in 2001.
During a press briefing held at the hospital this morning (20 February) medical staff explained that the procedure was the first for the continent.
Dr Zunaid Barday, a Nephrologist at the hospital, says the cause of the ABO-incompatibility is the anti-A and/or the anti-B antibodies in the recipient’s plasma.
He says these antibodies would immediately cause a rejection of the new organ and prevent a successful transplant.
Barday says: “Normally, we wouldn’t be able safely without a very complicated procedure called plasma exchange. The advantage of this new filter is that it allows us to remove just that specific antibody that would cause the rejection efficiently and safely.”
Meyer, Mitchell’s Plain resident, was admitted to the hospital’s renal dialysis programme and had been receiving treatment for the past decade.
She underwent the operation on Wednesday 25 January. She says she feels like a new person.
“I feel like I can achieve so many thanks to my transplant. I was scared and nervous. Thanks to the operation, I feel the exact opposite of what I felt when I was on dialysis. I am feeling great. I am grateful for the opportunity that God gave me to be healthy and to be there for my kids. Now I won’t be missing many things in my kids’ lives anymore.”
Meyer explains that she is still adapting to her new life.
“This is my first time being without dialysis in 10 years. So, it’s still a bit new to me. I still wake up in the morning for dialysis time then I realise I don’t have to. It’s still unreal. It’s like the biggest blessing. Besides my kids, I am just grateful for the opportunity.”
Grant-Lee Hoffman, Transplant Coordinator at the hospital, says 1900 people across the province are on renal dialysis treatment and 500 are waiting for a kidney transplant.
“It is safe and economic because in the old version, the patient was at higher risk of infection, and it was expensive.”
Meyer says she can now provide for her family, something she could not do.
“I would like to get a job. That is the main thing for me now. While I was on dialysis I had to beg for food and travelling because we were living on a disability grant and I needed to pay rent. The money went towards paying rent and I never had the opportunity to provide for my kids and buy them things.”
