Bengaluru: Paramesh S Nair, a seven-year-old, had to undergo liver transplant surgery not once but twice. The first time was when he was two- and-a-half years old and the second time was when he was six. Both the times, the organs were harvested from brain-dead individuals.
The period in between was an emotional roller-coaster ride for his parents, with them going through many highs and lows. But their waiting, trust and patience did pay off in the end.
This seven-year-old was suffering from Biliary atresia, which is congenital. He was diagnosed with the disease at two-and-a-half months. Since Paramesh did not get a match from his parents, they had to wait for a donor.
Deepthi Ajay, his mother, says, “We have doctors in our family so we were aware of the medical details of the situation. It was an alarming one. We just clung to the hope that something would turn up. So, we registered with the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka for Transplantation and waited.” The first surgery took place when little Paramesh was two-and-a half years old, in the month of April. But it was not smooth and uneventful but trouble-filled. In the month of March when the family were in Kerala, they got a call that the liver of a three-year-old was available at Manipal Hospital. The child had succumbed to his injuries after an accident. Deepthi recalls, “We rushed back from Kerala. But by the time we reached here, there were some legal issues and they could not retrieve the organ. We were heartbroken.”
Fortunately for them, after three weeks, they got a call that a 48-year- old woman’s liver was available and the surgery took place immediately. For a year the child was fine, but after some time, his body went into rejection. So the search for a liver continued. A ray of hope came when last year in November, Deepthi’s aunt, who is a doctor herself, agreed to help. Their delight was short-lived. She suffered a mild cardiac arrest on the operation table and the entire procedure had to be called off.
Again after a few weeks, the couple was informed that the liver of a 28-year-old who had died in an accident was available at Narayana Health. Soon the liver was finally transplanted into the seven-year-old. “Today he is healthy and doing fine. We had put him in home tuitions till now but from next year he will start going to regular schools,” declared his elated mother.
NH creates awareness
A contingent of doctors comprising pediatric liver transplant surgeons, heart transplant and renal transplant teams from Narayana Health City, came together to spread awareness on the importance of organ donation and organ transplants on the occasion of World Organ Donation day observed on August 13.
Recently, in the span of two weeks the hospital performed 4 heart transplants and has seen an increase in the number of cadaveric organ donations. Time is very crucial in heart transplants and the Bangalore City traffic police gave their full support in arranging a green corridor to transport the organs of the brain dead donor to the recipients.
