News / Local
Daughter gives father kidney
07 Feb 2016 at 03:38hrs | Views
THE biggest gift that a person can give to you is a vital body organ. Money and other things may be important but a heart, a kidney or a lung will change your life. Dr Naboth Chaibva, a local medical practitioner and former clinical director at Ingutsheni Central Hospital, is a living testimony of a person whose life has changed following a successful kidney transplant in September last year.
"Sometime in 2012 I could feel I was not well. I could also see all the signs and symptoms of renal failure but I was in denial. I didn't bother to get checked by a doctor and I just kept on going and deteriorating at the same time. I was finally seen by a doctor in 2013 and they told me I had renal failure. I started being monitored every three months, doing kidney function tests but the situation worsened in 2014 and I started dialysis. I was doing it twice a week but the situation never changed and I was wasting away slowly," he said.
Dialysis was then increased to three times a week as the situation was deteriorating rapidly. With dialysis being a temporary measure, the family then began discussing the possibility of getting a kidney transplant which is a permanent solution.
"My daughter Heather Chaibva-Govere - a nurse - started talking about a transplant before any of my children and we began looking at the possible donors. My son who is a doctor volunteered after Heather, my sister, brother and wife also volunteered to be donors. Unfortunately my wife was turned down because of age, a donor has to be below 65 years of age," he said.
Dr Chaibva said when he had to choose a donor he opted for Heather because she was the one who had volunteered first without any hesitation. He said he was touched by her decision.
"I was really amazed and touched by her act of kindness because she is a married woman with children and she decided to make such a huge sacrifice putting her life on the spot all for me. It is not always the case that transplants are successful, the donor can get complications too but Heather put all that aside and offered to be my donor," he said.
He said he asked her several times about the choice that she had made as he wanted to be certain that she herself was cocksure about her decision.
Fast forward to 5 September 2015 and Heather, Dr Chaibva and his two attendants Miriam and Cynthia Chaibva left for India where father and daughter underwent a series of tests for a month before the actual operation. The transplant was done successfully at a cost of about $25 000 although they incurred more costs outside the procedure.
"Basically you need $40 000 because besides the operations we had to pay for airfares, accommodation, food, drugs and other expenses which is quite a lot," he said.
Asked on what pushed the fairly young married mother of three to donate her precious kidney when she could have easily thought of the life ahead of her, she said she did it for the glory of God and what her father still had to offer to society.
"The need to help another human being and give them a better quality of life pushed me in this direction. "He still has a lot to contribute to the world. I have always believed in being a donor. I am actually a registered organ donor in the event of my death, although being a living donor is much more for helping others and for the glory of God," she said.
On the reaction from her husband, she said he was very supportive.
"My husband has been supportive right from the start, but that does not mean he didn't have his own fears. We are parents and I suppose we all fear, but the family as a whole were supportive and have walked this journey with us throughout. My husband's family have walked through this with a lot of other renal donors and recipients in the family, they were able to even support us," said Heather.
She said she did experience pain initially but said she is well now.
"I lead a healthier lifestyle now which everyone should be working towards. I was not allowed to exercise for three months and all that is gone now. I have to drink three litres of water every day. In the grander scheme of things there is absolutely nothing that I do differently now; I am still the same," Heather said.
Heather added that being a living donor never means one must endanger or risk their own health; a lot of tests are done to ensure that one is healthy before one can even be considered to be a donor.
"We all generally need to ensure that we reduce the amount of weight we have so as to be healthier human beings, have a great mental attitude and be spiritually strong — I serve a Mighty God! I am always willing to speak to people that are willing to help others in this way.
"I just want to say it is so possible to be a living donor and such an amazing process. India is doing really great work, the team there is so experienced. God Bless Dr Viji our surgeon and I hope a lot more people are helped like my father was," she said.
Dr Chaibva's wife, Miriam, who also travelled to India said it was a tough time for the family when they discovered he had renal failure and needed a kidney replacement.
"It was a difficult time indeed, we watched him suffer while he was on dialysis as he would go for six-hour sessions three times a week, he had trouble sleeping and would prefer to just lay awake so that was hard for me," she said.
Mrs Chaibva also said she did not readily accept that her daughter was going to be the donor of the kidney.
"I was not too sure about the whole idea as I was scared of what the outcome would be. I was not sure if they would make it looking at the stories that we sometimes hear but I put all my faith in the Lord and we managed to come back home with them both," she said.
She, however, chuckled over the Indian cuisine which was not too familiar with them, forcing the family to find accommodation that was self-catering so that they could cook what they were accustomed to. Professor Hilary Musundire who attended a thanks giving ceremony for Dr Chaibva at his family home in Bulawayo last week, said most renal failure patients end up dying unless they receive a working kidney through a transplant.
"Kidney transplants require availability of functioning kidneys. Kidneys cannot survive longer than 48 hours outside of living body. In the case of Dr Chaibva, his daughter, Heather, was willing to donate her kidney — a tough decision for a young mother," he added.
The celebration which was attended by medical practitioners, friends and family from the city and beyond. Prof Musundire also revealed that his son, Rufaro, lost a kidney at the age of nine. He is now 24 and has participated in several marathons including the recent 42km Cape Town marathon in South Africa. He is preparing for the Comrades Marathon to be run in KwaZulu-Natal next year. He has also set up a fundraising platform for raising awareness on kidney donation and male cancers.
"Sometime in 2012 I could feel I was not well. I could also see all the signs and symptoms of renal failure but I was in denial. I didn't bother to get checked by a doctor and I just kept on going and deteriorating at the same time. I was finally seen by a doctor in 2013 and they told me I had renal failure. I started being monitored every three months, doing kidney function tests but the situation worsened in 2014 and I started dialysis. I was doing it twice a week but the situation never changed and I was wasting away slowly," he said.
Dialysis was then increased to three times a week as the situation was deteriorating rapidly. With dialysis being a temporary measure, the family then began discussing the possibility of getting a kidney transplant which is a permanent solution.
"My daughter Heather Chaibva-Govere - a nurse - started talking about a transplant before any of my children and we began looking at the possible donors. My son who is a doctor volunteered after Heather, my sister, brother and wife also volunteered to be donors. Unfortunately my wife was turned down because of age, a donor has to be below 65 years of age," he said.
Dr Chaibva said when he had to choose a donor he opted for Heather because she was the one who had volunteered first without any hesitation. He said he was touched by her decision.
"I was really amazed and touched by her act of kindness because she is a married woman with children and she decided to make such a huge sacrifice putting her life on the spot all for me. It is not always the case that transplants are successful, the donor can get complications too but Heather put all that aside and offered to be my donor," he said.
He said he asked her several times about the choice that she had made as he wanted to be certain that she herself was cocksure about her decision.
Fast forward to 5 September 2015 and Heather, Dr Chaibva and his two attendants Miriam and Cynthia Chaibva left for India where father and daughter underwent a series of tests for a month before the actual operation. The transplant was done successfully at a cost of about $25 000 although they incurred more costs outside the procedure.
"Basically you need $40 000 because besides the operations we had to pay for airfares, accommodation, food, drugs and other expenses which is quite a lot," he said.
Asked on what pushed the fairly young married mother of three to donate her precious kidney when she could have easily thought of the life ahead of her, she said she did it for the glory of God and what her father still had to offer to society.
"The need to help another human being and give them a better quality of life pushed me in this direction. "He still has a lot to contribute to the world. I have always believed in being a donor. I am actually a registered organ donor in the event of my death, although being a living donor is much more for helping others and for the glory of God," she said.
On the reaction from her husband, she said he was very supportive.
She said she did experience pain initially but said she is well now.
"I lead a healthier lifestyle now which everyone should be working towards. I was not allowed to exercise for three months and all that is gone now. I have to drink three litres of water every day. In the grander scheme of things there is absolutely nothing that I do differently now; I am still the same," Heather said.
Heather added that being a living donor never means one must endanger or risk their own health; a lot of tests are done to ensure that one is healthy before one can even be considered to be a donor.
"We all generally need to ensure that we reduce the amount of weight we have so as to be healthier human beings, have a great mental attitude and be spiritually strong — I serve a Mighty God! I am always willing to speak to people that are willing to help others in this way.
"I just want to say it is so possible to be a living donor and such an amazing process. India is doing really great work, the team there is so experienced. God Bless Dr Viji our surgeon and I hope a lot more people are helped like my father was," she said.
Dr Chaibva's wife, Miriam, who also travelled to India said it was a tough time for the family when they discovered he had renal failure and needed a kidney replacement.
"It was a difficult time indeed, we watched him suffer while he was on dialysis as he would go for six-hour sessions three times a week, he had trouble sleeping and would prefer to just lay awake so that was hard for me," she said.
Mrs Chaibva also said she did not readily accept that her daughter was going to be the donor of the kidney.
"I was not too sure about the whole idea as I was scared of what the outcome would be. I was not sure if they would make it looking at the stories that we sometimes hear but I put all my faith in the Lord and we managed to come back home with them both," she said.
She, however, chuckled over the Indian cuisine which was not too familiar with them, forcing the family to find accommodation that was self-catering so that they could cook what they were accustomed to. Professor Hilary Musundire who attended a thanks giving ceremony for Dr Chaibva at his family home in Bulawayo last week, said most renal failure patients end up dying unless they receive a working kidney through a transplant.
"Kidney transplants require availability of functioning kidneys. Kidneys cannot survive longer than 48 hours outside of living body. In the case of Dr Chaibva, his daughter, Heather, was willing to donate her kidney — a tough decision for a young mother," he added.
The celebration which was attended by medical practitioners, friends and family from the city and beyond. Prof Musundire also revealed that his son, Rufaro, lost a kidney at the age of nine. He is now 24 and has participated in several marathons including the recent 42km Cape Town marathon in South Africa. He is preparing for the Comrades Marathon to be run in KwaZulu-Natal next year. He has also set up a fundraising platform for raising awareness on kidney donation and male cancers.
Source - sundaynews
