The first two patients who underwent the historic kidney transplant operations at the Georgetown Public Hospital last year, Winston George, 48, and Munesh Mangal, 20, have made significant progress in their recovery.
George has been sticking to his schedule where use of his medication and clinical visits are concerned. According to him, he is trying his best and feels 80% positive and is recovering well from the operation.
In an interview with Stabroek News last week, flanked by his daughter Melissa, who was his donor, George said he has been keeping a schedule of what type of foods he should or should not eat because after the surgery he was diagnosed with diabetes. He explained that it was attributed to his medication, noting that he had been using four different treatments since the surgery for the transplant to become “regularized” within his system. Along with those, he now uses medication to treat his diabetes.
He said that initially, his post surgery recovery period was difficult. But he was advised by the doctor that this was expected. He said some three months after the operation, his body became stabilized where recovery is concerned, and he has since been able to move around as he once did before the surgery.
An upbeat George said that the only problem he encounters at the moment is a slight ‘sway’ whenever he walks, but added that the doctors indicated that this occurrence was normal.
George said he once attended clinic weekly but as his condition improved he has switched to monthly visits.
Melissa said she has not experienced much discomfort so far except for slight pains close to the area on her body where the operation was conducted. She is an immigration officer and was once stationed at the airport prior to the surgery. But her employers understood her condition and she was transferred to the Central Immigration Office in Georgetown where she is much more comfortable. She said she sometimes feels a bit dizzy but noted that she is expected to encounter these and other minor ailments as she recovers from the operation. Her father expressed gratitude to this newspaper for highlighting his period of recovery so far, as well as the other patients who had kidney surgery operations. According to him, the initiative will provide a positive feedback to those persons who are seeking treatment for kidney ailments and who will one day have operations performed on them “to give them more time to live.” He said that in his case, the entire operation is a model which others can look up to and “be hopeful” that good things will come their way.
Meanwhile, Leelkumarie Mangal, the mother of Munesh Mangal, reported that her son has been recovering well from the operation, noting that he recently started his new job as a carpenter. She said he had been complaining about a slight pain near to the area on his lower abdomen where the operation was conducted, saying it sometimes hampers his movements. Munesh was on a visit to Berbice when this newspaper visited and was unavailable for an interview.
According to Mangal, the young man had been keeping himself in check where the use of his medication and his timetable of clinic visits are concerned. She said as a procedure, Munesh sought post-surgery treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital on a weekly basis, which eventually turned into monthly visits -an indication that his condition was improving.
Her condition, she noted, had improved over the past several months but she noted that she has been experiencing severe pain in her back and that she sometimes experience bouts of fever. She said the doctor informed her that such ailments were expected as she recovers from the operation. According to Mangal, she has been trying to her best to stick to doctors’ advice, restraining herself from conducting certain activities within the home environment. But she noted that she lives alone with Munesh and as such her financial situation is difficult, especially where paying her utility bills and sourcing money to buy food is concerned. She said she worked for a few months as a cook but because of severe pain she had been experiencing about her body, she was forced to resign from the job. As such she said that she would be grateful if kind hearted persons or organizations could assist her as she recovers from the operation.
During the interview with this newspaper, Mangal continuously expressed gratitude to the surgical team which carried out the surgical operation and especially the man behind the scenes, George Sukdeo, whom she noted greatly assisted her and her son.
Stabroek News was unable to contact the other patients Mohamed Sharrif and Jairaj Singh who had their transplants earlier this year. Singh died two months later at the GPH from complications while recovering from the operation.
Sharrif, however, is said to be responding positively to treatment locally, after returning to these shores from the United States, where he sought treatment immediately following his operation.
The four kidney operations were conducted by a team led by US-based surgeon Dr Rahul Jindal. They had all been deemed successful, except in the case of Singh, whose body, according to reports, was not responding to the donation. The donor, his son Biraj Singh, is in good health, according to his wife.
