Girl needs new kidney

[okarol]

Girl needs new kidney

By Dr. Willie Ong
Sunday, October 19, 2008
The Philippine Star

Molly Sampang, 25, is the youngest daughter of Federico, a technician, and Marilou, a housewife. Through her father’s hard work, Molly was able to finish a vocational secretarial course.

But in 2006, she suddenly experienced difficulty in breathing and her arms and legs went numb. Doctors found her two kidneys inflamed and damaged beyond repair.

In January 2007, she was given two options: a lifetime of dialysis or a kidney transplant if she can raise the money.

Molly’s dialysis costs P10,000 per week or around P500,000 a year.

If doctors reduce her dialysis to P8,000 per week, she would feel terrible because the waste in her body would accumulate.

Specialists told Molly that a kidney transplant is her only hope.

The transplant would cost P1.2 million as a private case, but can be reduced to only P200,000 as a charity case at the National Kidney Institute.

Faced with these tough choices, Federico wrote Operation Damayan, The STAR’s socio-humanitarian arm, to ask for help.

“I will kneel down in front of anybody just to get some money for my daughter. We have sold most of our possessions in her 18 months of dialysis,” Federico says.
What is chronic kidney failure?

The kidney’s main function is to remove wastes and toxins from the body, thus if the kidneys fail, the wastes would accumulate in the body and this can be fatal.

According to Dr. Elizabeth Montemayor, head of the Nephrology section of the Philippine General Hospital, there are around 5,000 Filipinos needing expensive dialysis every year, and half of these patients do not have the money to even start dialysis.

“Sad to say, these poor patients just die,” Montemayor says.

The top three causes of kidney failure are uncontrolled diabetes, untreated high blood pressure and kidney inflammation of unknown cause. Molly suffers from the latter.

The problem with kidney disease is that patients only develop symptoms when the kidney function is below 25 percent, which is why prevention and check-ups are urgently needed.

The late symptoms of kidney failure are fatigue, anemia, vomiting, yellow skin and lack of urination.

Diagnosis is done by testing blood creatinine levels and urinalysis.

An ultrasound of the kidneys may also show shrunken kidneys.

Treatment of kidney disease depends on the stage. In the early stages, medicine and a low salt diet may be used to hold off the progression of the disease. Strict control of blood sugar and blood pressure levels are also crucial.

If untreated, kidney failure is fatal within months of diagnosis.

However, with dialysis or transplant, patients can live for a long time.

For Molly, who is at the prime of her life, her best option is a kidney transplant.

She already has a donor in the person of her brother, Jelmar.

“I love my sister and I would sacrifice for her,” Jelmar says.

At The STAR office, Molly sadly relates that her childhood dream has always been to become a secretary, but no one would employ her.
“Right now, my goal is to get well,” Molly says.

“Any amount will do. Any help would be heaven-sent,” pleads Molly’s father Federico.

For those who would like to help Molly raise the P200,000 that she needs for a kidney transplant to save her life, contact Molly at 0918-749-3582, or donate through Melita Dioso of the STAR’s Operation Damayan at 527-7901.

(The STAR would also like to thank kidney specialists Dr. Rey Tan and Dr. Agnes Baston for their advice on Molly’s case. E-mail comments to drwillieong@gmail.com.)

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