Transplant man backs donor change 22 February 2006 By NIKKI MACDONALD
Norman Hopkins was lucky. After 3½ years waiting for a kidney transplant, being kept alive by dialysis four times a day, his sister finally gave him back his freedom.
Many are not so fortunate, living poor-quality lives with the constant burden of dialysis, or dying before a suitable transplant organ becomes available. The Dominion Post reported yesterday that Organ Donation New Zealand planned to broaden the donor criteria, to allow surgeons to take organs from patients who had irreversible brain damage, but who were still breathing for themselves. Organs are presently taken only from donors certified as brain-dead. Mr Hopkins, a 52-year-old Wellingtonian, said anyone who had waited for an organ transplant would welcome the move. "The most distressing thing is seeing good organs thrown away when people don't understand what the issues and benefits are. You can't blame them, they are making those decisions in very difficult situations of grief and loss. Anything that makes more organs available is of benefit." Mr Hopkins had an illness in his 20s which damaged his kidneys. Eighteen years later the kidneys finally packed up, forcing him on to daily dialysis. Rather than go into hospital several times a week to have machine dialysis, Mr Hopkins opted to use home dialysis four times a day to remove impurities and accumulated wastes and toxins. He needed two sets of equipment – one at home and one at work. Mr Hopkins was fortunate enough to cope well on dialysis, keeping his job as an accountant and cycling to work. But it was still an unpleasant waiting game. "It is inconvenient, time-consuming and generally not a very good quality of life for most people. There are unscheduled trips to A&E at midnight, your diet is restricted." Holidays were also a major exercise – carrying dialysis equipment and organising for dialysis bags to be sent to your destination, Mr Hopkins said. Finally getting a transplant in 1999, using his sister's kidney, "changed just about everything". "I am living a normal life now, apart from taking anti-rejection medication and three-monthly visits to the specialist. "Apart from that I can eat, drink and do anything else a normal person my age can." Mr Hopkins also wants a change to an opt-out system, which would make all New Zealanders donors unless they expressly chose not to be Courtesy of the Dominion Post - www.stuff.co.nz
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