Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, has recorded its first kidney transplant after a procedure that lasted five hours, fifteen minutes, thus making the successful transplant the first of its kind in Ekiti/Ondo axis of the country.
The procedure was carried out on a 46-year-old player in the Entertainment Industry (name withheld) who was diagnosed to be hypertensive as far back as 2017 and had not been passing urine in the last six months as a result of which he has had difficulty breathing. He also required regular dialysis to keep him alive.
According to a statement by the Director of Corporate Affairs of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Mr. Tunde Olofintila, the patient who came entirely on his own to the Hospital on April 12, 2021, became critically ill in February 2021 – almost at the point of death.
When the patient got to ABUAD Multi-System Hospital in April, he was impressed with the way he was attended to after which he proceeded to make enquiries about kidney transplantation in ABUAD Hospital which commenced operation about three-and-half years ago.
Convinced that his case would be resolved in ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, he started looking for kidney donors, but he was not immediately lucky to get one.
His words: “When I brought the first prospective donor, he was found not to be fit to donate. I then brought in the second prospective donor. Again, he was found not to be fit. Then I brought in a third, my brother-in-law (name withheld)”.
He added: “After all the screenings, the third prospect was found to be fit. We were all happy and convinced that we were getting a solution to the problem. It was then the series of counselling session for both of us, the donor and recipient, began. We were severally counselled”.
According to Dr. Stephen Olawale Oguntola, the Coordinator of the Transplant Programme and Lead Nephrologist with the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, “the transplant was done simultaneously on Wednesday, October 13, using a dedicated twin-transplant theatre right here in this Hospital, thus making it the first successful kidney transplant in Ekiti/Ondo axis of the country”.
Oguntola added: “the kidney function started improving right inside the theatre with the new kidney producing 2.3 litres of urine before the end of surgery which lasted for 5 hours, 15 minutes.
“Thereafter, the kidney function has continued to make a sustained improvement. We are very happy about the way both the donor and recipient have responded to the procedure. Both of them are in very high spirits. In fact, the donor was discharged on October 20 and with the look of things, the recipient will be discharged in a couple of days to start his normal life after the transplant”.
The Consultant Nephrologist thereafter called on members of the public to avail themselves of the facilities and equipment available in ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, stressing that “ABUAD is an enclave of endless possibilities”
Narrating his experience, the lucky patient who had been to the Indian Embassy thrice but could not get a visa because of Covid-19, was full of gratitude for the Founder& Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, and the Medical team that attended to him.
His words: “When I got here for the first time, I was surprised that a lawyer could put a gigantic Hospital like this in place. At some point, I asked myself how a lawyer could think of this type of thing for humanity. This has endeared me to him the more. But for him, I would have died.”
Source: Vanguard News Nigeria