Surrey mother faces long wait for new kidney, son launches campaign to find donor
Posted July 31, 2022 3:10 pm.
Last Updated August 3, 2022 1:56 pm.
A mother in Surrey waiting for a kidney transplant needs to wait even longer due to her blood type.
53-year-old Poonam Hamal was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 2011. Her blood type of B+ is making the chances of getting matched with a donor harder.
“Six-to-seven years, my doctor says it takes time for the waiting list. And I’m very worried… because after seven years what’s going on inside my body? I have no idea. So I’m very scared,” said Poonman.
Her son, 24-year-old Shaurab Hamal, was weary of watching his mom go through the pain of dialysis, so he took matters into his own hands by starting a campaign to find a donor, and putting up posters around the Lower Mainland, in the hopes of finding a match.
“It’s not pleasant to see her connected to a machine and the symptoms,” said Shaurab. “Some days she’s unable to do anything really and her head constantly hurts but she just powers through the day.”
Poonam undergoes dialysis every day for about nine hours since her kidneys can’t filter toxins from her body.
“It is very painful. The fluid has to drain from my body,” Poonam explained, “Most of the time the fluid doesn’t drain properly- and the fluid deposits in my wrist and ankle and makes them swell.”
“I try to stay all the time happy — but most of the time I feel sad,” adding she is ready for a kidney transplant so she can have a normal life again.
CityNews Image
Dr. James Lan is a transplant nephrologist at Vancouver General Hospital and says one’s blood type will determine the likeness of getting matched with a donor.
Another contributing factor to getting a kidney transplant is the antibodies of the patient — which Poonam developed during her pregnancies, making it harder to find a donor.
“When someone is exposed to someone else’s molecules, they can make antibodies and those antibodies are not great for transplants because they can attack the organ and cause rejection,” said Lan.
Lan says dialysis can be a life-altering process because of how tiring it is.
“Most patients, they don’t feel good when they go through dialysis their body goes through a lot of stress and even the next day when they aren’t on dialysis they feel fatigued — because of that most patients don’t work.”
(CityNews Image)
Poonam has plans to watch all three of her children get married and have families of their own. Despite the pain, she is positive a donor will match her.
“I always say my blood type is B positive,” said Poonam. “I have to be positive.”
Anyone who thinks they can help can visit kidneyformum.com for more information.
