Hoping for a second chance

A 20-year-old West Clare patient with end-stage kidney disease is back on the dreaded waiting game for the second time in six years.
Sarah Keogh, Knockadereen, Tullycrine, Kilrush, got her first kidney in the summer of 2006 following a successful transplantoperation at Temple Street Hospital, Dublin.
This transformed her daily routine providing her with a “new lease of life” and a lot more energy, ending the requirement for dialysis and a stringent diet.
Unfortunately, she was taken aback when this kidney failed in May 2010 while doing her college exams in UCC. She has since changed course and is now completing Applied Social Studies in the University of Limerick.
It took almost a year for her to be healthy enough to return to the transplant waiting list on February 2011. She is currently on perinatal dialysis four times a day for about 20 to 30 minutes for each session.
“It was a bit of a shock at first and was a bit difficult to go back to dialysis again. You have to keep going and you get used to it. I can still go to college and on holidays.
“Baxter, who provide the medication, will deliver it to a holiday destination abroad once they are given proper notice,” she said.
First diagnosed at the age of 12 at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, she received medical treatment in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children and Temple Street Hospital.
A year later, she ended up on a programme of night-time dialysis for six out of seven nights, 10 hours a night and also had to adhere to a strict diet as part of the regime. About two and half years later, a new kidney became available in the summer of 2006.
Urging Clare people to support Organ Donor Awareness Week, Sarah stressed the decision to carry a donor card at all times could give the gift of life to a patient waiting for the all important call.
“It means so much to a kidney patient to get a new kidney. It completely changes their life. Once you get the transplantation, you can eat a lot more food and do the normal things without having to watch fluid intake and don’t have to work your day around when you need dialysis,” she said.
One of five children, she is daughter of Martin and Mary Keogh.