This is old news, but if you are a fan of the Adrian Mole Diaries as I am, it might be of interest, in addition to quite a shock. (Hope this is not a double post - I searched for her name and nothing came up.) I only noticed this article while rereading her columns from a decade ago.
Sue Townsend undergoes life-saving kidney transplantThe author had the operation after her son gave up one of his organsRichard Brooks, Arts Editor
As Christmas presents go, it is even beyond the vivid imagination of Adrian Mole.
Sue Townsend, the best-selling author who created the aspiring teenage nerd, has received a life-saving kidney transplant thanks to her son, Sean, who donated the organ.
Townsend discloses for the first time today how the gruelling eight-hour operation has given her new hope after having to endure regular dialysis for the past two years.
The transplant, however, was not without complications. Townsend’s body initially rejected the donor kidney and a subsequent infection forced the 63-year-old author to return to hospital 17 times in the space of a week. Sean, the eldest of Townsend’s four children, volunteered to go under the knife when his mother’s two “dud” kidneys were on the brink of failure because of her long-term diabetes. She had been on a waiting list for a transplant for two years, but no other suitable donor emerged.
“[My kidney's] had been going downhill for five years,” she said. “I had got down to about 5% function. Behind my back, the family got together and decided that one would donate one of their own [kidneys].”
Townsend’s children, Sean, Daniel, Victoria and Elizabeth, and her second husband, Colin, all had hospital tests to establish who would provide the best match. It was Sean, a 44-year-old science writer, who, after checks on his kidneys, plus his heart and psychological health, was deemed most appropriate. “There was simply no question about donating my kidney as I was the best match,” he said this weekend.
Townsend sprang to prominence in 1982 with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13Ç, which was later made into a popular television series.
For many years Sean thought that Mole, a working-class teenager growing up in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, had a bit too much in common with him. The author has denied he was the inspiration for her character but at university and in his early career Sean disguised his mother’s identity from friends.
Townsend, who was celebrating Christmas this year with Sean and the rest of her family at her home in Leicester, has decided to speak openly about her health problems and the transplant in order to promote the work of the UK National Kidney Federation.
There are 10,000 people seeking a kidney transplant in Britain, but a shortage of donors means that three patients on the waiting list die each day. Last year, 1,570 patients received transplants. Of these, 507 gained a kidney from a living relative.
Townsend’s transplant — which she regards as an early Christmas gift from her son — took place in September at Leicester General Hospital, a centre of excellence in the treatment of kidney problems.
The operation took more than twice as long as usual because Sean’s kidney did not initially take. “It went black,” said Townsend. “So the surgeon had to take it out and start again. The team also had to decalcify my veins, which were blocked by the thick blood that comes with kidney failure.”
No sooner had she been discharged than Townsend was back in hospital with an infection. Even now, she still returns twice a week for check-ups.
Townsend’s health problems stem from Type 1 diabetes, from which she has suffered for 30 years, requiring three insulin injections daily. The author has been registered blind for five years, and has only shadowy vision, which means she has to dictate her work to one of her grandchildren.
She has also developed Charcot’s disease, a neural condition that has affected the bones in her feet. This has proved even more upsetting to Townsend than the steroids she must take, which have given her a puffed-up face.
“I can’t wear shoes now, only what I call my Tweenie boots,” she said. “My one big luxury was my Prada shoes. But not any more, now that’s really upsetting.”
All this comes on top of a heart attack 20 years ago, and she gets around in a wheelchair.Townsend, however, refuses to accept that she has been dealt a cruel hand.
“Not a bit of it,” she said. “I’ve got four children, a lovely husband and 10 grandchildren, plus we had 19 for Christmas lunch made by Colin.”
To that, she can add her new kidney. “Well, I’ve actually got three now — even if two are next to useless. Mind you, Sean is very proprietorial about what he still calls ‘his kidney’.”
Townsend chronicled Mole’s life over a series of books, most recently with Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years — a play on words for the now middle-aged character who has prostate problems.
She is turning her attention to the high number of children with diabetes. She is also appalled by those with lifestyles that could lead to the incurable condition.
“Just look at the obesity problems, particularly with girls, who have such terrible diets,” she said. “How many youngsters — even those in their twenties — can cook fresh food for themselves? Not many.”
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6968594.ece
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