Carrie a living kidney donor for dad

WHEN Jimmy Moroney welcomed his baby daughter, Carrie, into the world 31 years ago, little did he know that one day she too would be giving him the gift of life.

Jimmy is one of three living kidney transplant recipients in the Mid-West, having received a kidney from his daughter last February at Beaumont Hospital, the national centre for kidney transplantation.

Since the operation, Ennis man Jimmy’s quality of life has changed immeasurably. He and his daughter are now urging others who are considering donating a kidney to a loved one to do so, with Carrie saying, “It is all good things that come out of this”.

Jimmy’s kidneys failed after years of suffering with diabetes and he was on dialysis for two and a half years in Limerick.

The 63-year-old former bus driver said, “Dialysis is hard; when you’re on it you’re going down every second day for it and it’s four hours. When you’re on dialysis you can do nothing basically. You can’t hold down a job, healthwise you’re not able for it and time-wise I wouldn’t be able.”

He revealed he was reluctant at first to consider a living donor and it was his family who encouraged him.

“I was hoping all along to get a kidney from a deceased person but then the family started giving out. My family looked into it and all five, including my wife Ann, were matches and were all willing to have the operation. Carrie happened to be the highest match. I was worried. I didn’t know what the effects would be on her as she is only a young girl. But then they explained everything to me at Beaumont and Carrie looked things up herself,” he said.

Carrie stressed she had no hesitation in undergoing the operation to help her father.

“When you can do it and there are no side-effects for yourself, then why wouldn’t you? He gets his life back basically,” she said.

What followed was a long process of testing Carrie – and her kidney – before the actual operation took place.

Jimmy explained, “A live donor actually has less of a risk of rejection. They have the kidney checked out thoroughly beforehand, whereas with a deceased donor, time is of the essence. Carrie had lots of tests, her kidney was checked everywhere.”

Before the surgery, both Carrie and Jimmy were given a thorough understanding of what the transplant would entail.

The whole family travelled up to Dublin for the transplant on February 4 this year, staying in the Irish Kidney Association’s renal support centre on the grounds of the hospital, funding for which is raised every year with the West Clare Walk.

While there, Carrie met with Alan Healy, who was donating a kidney to his mother.

“It was brilliant meeting him because he had the surgery the week before and he gave me lots of tips,” she recalled.

When asked if she was nervous about the surgery, Carrie declared, “Shockingly no. All the way through I was thinking I will get nervous at some stage, I’ll get nervous at some stage. But no, even when I was heading down for the operation, I think I was singing. They explain absolutely everything to you in minute detail, so you know exactly what to expect.”

 

Carrie also explained that contrary to popular belief, donors and recipients are not in the same operating theatre for the transplant.

“There are two wards in Beaumont; St Damian’s, where I was and St Theresa’s, which is a specialised ward designed to make sure there are no infections. I was brought down at 9am and was in recovery by around 12.30pm or 1pm. Then dad was brought down at 1pm for the transplant and was back at 5pm.”

The day after the operation, both father and daughter were walking around the wards.

“There is no problem with the operation. I often had more pain taking out a tooth,” quipped Jimmy.

Jimmy was in hospital for a week following the operation, while Carrie was there for four days, before going to stay at the centre.

“Having the family so close was just fantastic. When I came out of hospital, I was able to head over and back to him,” said Carrie.

Her father is just as enthusiastic in his praise for the centre. “The Irish Kidney Association are fantastic and they do great work. Of course, the surgeons and staff at Beaumont, I couldn’t praise them highly enough.”

Since the surgery, the pair have been doing really well. Jimmy still has to attend check-ups every two weeks, eventually phasing down to one check-up a year.

“I couldn’t be better, no ache or pain or nothing. They haven’t given me the all-clear to do things like lifting. I won’t get that for a minimum of three months after the surgery but I’m tipping around. There is no comparison between being on dialysis and getting the transplant,” he said.

Carrie is also doing well and looking forward to getting back to navigating on the rally circuit in the near future.

“I’ve been great since. I’ve never had an operation before but outside of the first few days feeling stiff, I’ve been absolutely perfect. It was explained to me that my other kidney will grow a bit to take on the extra work. I’ve had no side-effects whatsoever. The only downside to being a donor would be workwise. You are going to be out for a certain length of time but I was lucky with Top Oil, who told me whatever you need to take, there is no problem,” she said.

Jimmy urged others in the same situation to consider looking into the option of living organ donation. “I would encourage them 100%. Anyone who can do it, there is no bother and it should be done. The only problem is funding, which is lacking so they can only do so many operations. If it wasn’t for this, I’d still be going up and down for dialysis. It doesn’t matter if it’s a young person donating to an older person, or vice versa, male to female, female to male. None of that matters. I would advise anyone to do it, especially donors that are thinking about it and are maybe hesitating. It’s life saving, you get your life back.”

While the family have always been close, when Carrie was asked if this surgery brought father and daughter even closer, she laughed, “There’s no difference in the relationship, other than he has my spare parts.”