Living with an organ transplant

By Judy Rupp, Commentary

April 3, 2007

About 350,000 Americans are living with an organ transplanted from another person, and that number would be much higher if enough donor organs were available.

It's human to fantasize about having another person's heart or lungs, and mythical accounts of organ transplantation appeared many years before the necessary knowledge and technology were available.

The first successful human organ transplant was performed as recently as 1954 -- a kidney grafted from one identical twin to the other, a perfect genetic match that did not require immunosuppression.

Considerable progress has been made since that time, and you may know at least one person who has been the recipient of a vital organ such as a kidney, heart, lung, liver or pancreas.

There are clearly not enough organs to go around, and each year about 60,000 people waiting for organs do not get them; many die while waiting.

For a person who has been on a waiting list for months or even years, a transplant procedure is a major event. At the same time, the early enthusiasm must be tempered by the realization the challenge of keeping the new organ healthy and functional requires a lifelong commitment that includes:

• Taking powerful anti-rejection medications
• Exercising extreme care to avoid disease-carrying organisms that might sneak past the compromised immune system.
• Controlling the disease process that caused the original organ to fail.
• Recognizing the new organ as an unnatural presence, the immune system sets out immediately to destroy it. The risk of rejection is particularly high in the first year.

Anti-rejection medications, however, have side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, puffy face, weight gain and mood swings. And they work by suppressing the immune system, thereby leaving the patient vulnerable to infections and other illnesses.

Right after surgery, when doses of anti-rejection medications are high, the person with a transplanted organ has to be extremely wary of exposure to germs. As time goes by, medication doses may not be as strong, and the patient can ease up on some of these safety measures but still must maintain a cautious attitude about hygiene and health.

The treatment plan that accompanies an organ transplant can be difficult to follow but when a patient is compliant, the chances of long-term success are great. About 80 to 90 percent of transplanted kidneys still are functioning five years later. Five-year survival rates are 73 to 78 percent for liver, 45 percent for lung, 80 percent for pancreas and just over 70 percent for heart transplants.

After recovery from surgery, the patient is likely to feel like a new person, able to do things that weren't possible before. One of the most prominent success stories is NBA player Sean Elliott who was back on the basketball court seven months after getting a kidney transplant. Most recipients are happy with simple pleasures and the knowledge that has given the gift of life.

Rupp is information and assistance case manager with the Northern Oklahoma Development Authority Area Agency on Aging.

Copyright © 2006, The Enid News & Eagle, P. O. Box 1192, Enid, OK 73702.

This article posted April 16, 2007.