LIFE'S CHALLENGES

3 Kidney transplant, 13 operations, 10 years of dialysis and yet optimistic.

In his 29 year Emmanuel Njagi Githae has been to hospital far more times than he can actually remember. He has gone through three kidneys transplants 13 major operation and has been in dialysis for more than 10 years. After years of suffering one day on a hospital bed in India writhing in pain the doctors delivered the worst news to Emmanuel about his ailing kidney. However, not even such news could vanquish his courage and faith in God

It was an a Saturday, I woke up in the wee hours of the night feeling completely worn out. I had a running stomach and felt a bit dizzy, I called my parents and as I prepared for hospital I passed out in the bathroom. After sometime I opened my eyes and the faint intermittent beeps of hospital equipment grew louder and louder as I slowly regained consciousness, I was in Kijabe hospital .After several tests the doctors concluded that I needed to have an operation immediately, I held on strongly to my faith in Christ entrusted my destiny to God and fully surrendered to his will.

A few hours later, I was out of the theatre and all, looked well; in fact I was confident that that was the end of my troubles , I was mistaken. While receiving the post-operation treatment doctors noted a sharp rise in blood pressure indicating that something was seriously wrong. i was diagnosed with some renal complication which I thought would soon fade away until one Dr. Joshua Kayima advised to seek admission at Kenyatta referral hospital immediately and be introduced to a process  called dialysis. After my first dialysis I hoped that that was the last time I visited Kenyatta little did I know it would almost became my second home. After several test and visit to Kenyatta the hard truth soon dawned on me. I was suffering from total kidney failure, a condition the doctors described as chronic renal failure. My family members were very supportive though financially strained as they struggled to cater for the dialysis which amounted for 10,000 per week excluding accompanying medication. A kidney transplant was the only option out the predicament  , but judging from the financial strain that my family was going through it was almost helpless to raise 1.5 million for a kidney transplant in India, but I held on to my faith in gracious God.

After 3 years, my family members finally decided that I should go for a kidney transplant in India . God works in miraculous ways! in October 2004 , family and friends raised exactly Ksh. 1.5 million and on 20^th January 2005 , I arrived at the institute of kidney disease and research center in India ready for my first kidney transplant. I went through numerous tests. My loving father was the donor. After hours in the operation room, the transplant was successful and everyone was thankful to God . Everything went well until the doctors detected a high grade fever that was a threat to the graft. I was going through indescribable painful episodes but yet refused to despair. Frantic effort by the doctors to save this kidney did not bear fruits. The news that I had lost the graft was devastating. My father was disappointed to say the least.

I lost the kidney but nit my faith in god. In may 2005, Eliud Mumo my elder brother offered to donate his kidney and flew to India. Tests were keenly done and on 3^rd June 2005, I was I the theatre for the second time. The operation took six hours and it was successful. Everything looked fine and I knew that finally it was over. Late August the doctors were confident that finally it was over. I was discharged and flew back to Kenya.

I had to go to Kenyatta for regular checkup. In one such visit at Kenyatta, the doctors noticed an abnormal increase in the toxic levels in my blood. After tests, a decision was immediately arrived at in had to fly back to India and I had to fly alone as our kitty was running low. In India, the doctors were frantic and got me admitted immediately. I was put on medication for some time and two months later I was stable enough to go home.

A few days later, the same complication came up and I had to travel back to India all alone again. This was devastating and stressful to say the least. On arrival, several tests were done and puzzled doctors sadly concluded that kidney was too weak to be resuscitated. That is how I lost the second kidney.

The doctors dint give up on me , in fact they sought to establish why the graft were failing . They therefore, recommended a third transplant. In God‘s own gracious ways, a third willing donor was found. My loving cousin Albert Njugi was the third willing donor. After several tests, the doctor disqualified this donor. My dear sister who had accompanied my cousin decided to take up this position. I fervently prayed for God’s grace to abound my situation. The third operation was successful that the doctors and nurses celebrated when it was over. I was grateful to God that after another ten and half months in India I was on my way back to my motherland, Kenya.

A month later, I was taken to Kenyatta hospital with the same complication, five days later, before I could fathom what was going on, I was in another plane to India. On arrival, I found the doctors ready and waiting for me. They frantically put their skilled hands to work but it was it was a bit too late. I had lost the third kidney. These experiences were overwhelming. The doctors scratched their head harder to figure out the cause of the phenomenon. What followed was a string of complicated tests that lasted for days. Eventually, the nephrologists professor in charge of the institution came over with some sad news for me ; I was suffering  from a condition they called lupus nephritis , A condition that causes the body to reject any foreign body ( like implants ) due to high number of antibodies. This implies that I cannot be a candidate for another transplant again. I have to continue with dialysis henceforth.

This was the moist devastating news in my life. After three kidneys transplant all the financial expenses, myriad of prayers from my family, friends and i- the problem was as fresh as the first time I made my first journey to India. At that juncture I simply prayed to lord, ‘oh Jesus, my eternal lord and God , I thank you for your providence grace and blessing . Let every beat of my heart be a new hymn of thanks giving to you. Oh loving god , let every drop of my blood in me circulate for your glory . Dear lord my soul is in songs of adoration for your mercy. I love you God for yourself alone ,’sadly , as packed to leave the hospital , I had some new faith that God through his own ways will provide and protect me and touch people like you(the reader) to help me cope up with the medical bills especially dialysis .So far God has been faithful concluded Emmanuel in a smile.  

As the peeps from the dialyzer continue intermittently , during the four hours of dialysis , Emmanuel still holds on to his faith- that one day his kidney will come round for God’s own glory ; but meanwhile he has to go through dialysis at least twice a week . Gitau hopes that more people would understand that it would take more than sympathy to keep this dialyzer beep going on. May God bless you as you purpose to contribute to Emmanuel’s medical fund.

God Bless

Your kind donation can be forwarded to;

Emmanuel  Njoci  Gitau Medical Fund

Equity Account No.:….0640193356740…..

Finance bank no. …… 001000021886…..

M-Pesa No. 0721 103518