Kidney transplant recipient lives with advice
AFTER 10 YEARS
A KIDNEY transplant recipient the Region 1 Medical Center in 2013 has endorsed the advocacy of the Department of Health (DOH) for organ donation to give others a new lease on life.
Serafin Feraren, a businessman who received his new kidney in January 2013 donated by Rodilla Espanol, his househelp from San Fabian town, said were it not for the donation, he would have been long dead by now.
He was profuse in thanking both Espanol for sharing one kidney that prolonged his life and the doctors who performed the procedure in a testimonial he delivered during the advocacy forum on organ donation organized by R1MC on June 18.
He admitted he was first diagnosed to be diabetic and attributed it to his unhealthy lifestyles from boyhood to manhood. Apart from his diabetes, he suffered from hypertension and when he was feeling weak, he most often resorted to self-medication, which may have complicated his medical condition even more.
For his diabetes, he was advised by his doctor to take insulin and because insulin is costly and in order not to overburden his family, he soon stopped taking it.
“That was my mistake,” he said, as he soon found out he had a kidney problem when he took a medical examination, along with his wife and two children, a requirement for migration to Canada.
He said his wife and children were given a clean bill of health except him. Upon the advice of the Canadian embassy, he consulted a nephrologist to help him. He had two options left: take regular dialysis or have a kidney transplant.
He came to R1MC in his native Dagupan City, where Dr. Abraham Coqua, a noted kidney doctor, gave him hope that he can prolong his life if he can find a kidney donor.
He was fortunate that their own house help, Rodilla Espanol, agreed to share one of her kidneys to him. The transplant was performed by Dr. Adolfdo Parayno, a kidney surgeon from Calasiao and Dr. Coquia.
It’s been 10 years since he received a new kidney.
Feraren was among the 12 kidney patients who underwent kidney transplant at R1MC since 2012 , said Dr. Joseph Roland Mejia, R1MC director.
R1MC is now the only DOH-accredited government-owned Renal Transplant Center north of Manila. Its first kidney transplant operation in September 2012 was successful and was followed by several other kidney transplant procedures.
His advice to avoid dialysis and kidney transplantation? Adopt healthy lifestyle, drink plenty of water and don’t hold back urge to urinate. (Leonardo Micua)
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