Party celebrates longest surviving Canadian kidney transplantPosted By Dominique Milburn
Posted 1 month ago
When Dr. Ken Hughes was being transported to what was the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1974 to undergo a pioneering kidney transplant, he was also travelling into the record books.
Hughes, who is now 72, has become the country's longest surviving Canadian procedure kidney transplant patient.
"There are people who have been living longer than Ken, but their surgeries were done in Boston or the United States," said wife Nancy. "We can't find anybody who has survived so long after a Canadian procedure. It's very special."
Ken, a retired associate professor of medical physiology and past president of the Kidney Foundation of Canada (KFC), was diagnosed with Nephrotic syndrom in the 1960s. The nonspecific disorder damaged his kidneys, causing them to leak large amounts of protein. In the later part of the decade, Ken said he was an experimental patient for doctors in Canada and the US studying kidney disease and treatments, and was even once treated with snake venom.
"I was an experimental patient in what became dialyses later on," Ken said. "I was in dialysis treatment that was very new at that time, and it was self-administered. I had great trouble putting that needle into my own vein."
As Ken's kidney functions continued to drop leading up to his transplant, the search heated up for a donor match. After all three of his sisters endured testing to find an appropriate match, luck was on their side when the family's youngest, then 25-year-old Laurelle Murdoch, was found to be a "superior match."
"Right up to the surgery taking place, I was uneasy at the thought of taking a kidney from any one of my sisters," Ken said. "In the hospital, I recall her saying if I didn't use hers, she'd give it to the next best match, so I might as well."
Ken had a lot in his favour. He never developed diabetes, or high blood pressure– two of the most menacing conditions for organ recipients.
Now, joined by friends, neighbors and representatives from the Kidney Foundation of Canada, Nancy and Ken say the celebration is bittersweet.
"He knows so many who have died," said Nancy. "He's been very lucky."
On Sept. 13, the Hughes' hosted an open house celebration at their picturesque heritage home in Goderich's west end. More than 60 well-wishers attended the event.
In the 1970s, kidney transplants were a relatively new and experimental procedure. Successful kidney transplantations were undertaken in 1954 in Boston and Paris, but until the development of effective antirejection drugs, the procedure sometimes had a struggling success rate. Now, the KFC says overall, transplant success rates are very good. Transplants from deceased donors have an 85 to 90 per cent success rate for the first year. That means that after one year, 85 to 90 out of every 100 transplanted kidneys are still functioning. Live donor transplants have a 90 to 95 per cent success rate. Long-term success is good for people of all ages.
http://www.goderichsignalstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1754023&auth=Dominique+Milburn
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