Local man undergoes fifth kidney transplant

Local man undergoes fifth kidney transplant
January 07, 2011 10:09 PM
BY RICHARD ROMERO - SUN STAFF WRITER

Gustavo Chavez enjoys riding his bike, weight lifting, playing darts, and other things that “guys like doing.”

What isn't immediately apparent when meeting Chavez is that he ails from obstructive uropathy and has recently undergone his fifth kidney transplant.

“I was raised in and out of hospitals, I developed a lot of fevers and the doctor just couldn't figure out why,” said Chavez, a Yuma resident who grew up in Los Angeles.

At 6 months old Chavez was diagnosed with obstructive uropathy, a disease that pertains to the narrowing of the urethra, which is connected to the bladder and the kidney.

“Slowly and slowly, my kidneys started deteriorating,” Chavez said of his childhood experience.

Chavez said doctors' first big steps to counteract the disease were taken when he was 7-years-old.

At 7, doctors implanted a drainage catheter to prevent urine from backing up into the kidney, causing infection.

Chavez said the procedure helped a little and he used catheters for about two years.

At 9 years old, Chavez's problems with his kidneys began to show up in his blood work and doctors introduced Chavez to dialysis, a process that uses an artificial kidney machine.

“It helps cleanse your blood and pull out all of the contaminants from your body — what the kidney does, because it's a filtering system; that's what it is,” Chavez said.

While Chavez was on dialysis, his father became interested in donating a kidney, but after tests were drawn up, the possibility was null.

“He had heart disease, so they couldn't do it on him,” Chavez said, adding that he would wait another two and a half years until a kidney was found for him from a cadaver.

Chavez's first transplant at 11 years old was big news, and not just for the Chavez family.

“They showed the whole transplant on T.V. ... It was a show called ‘Gift Of Life' and it was hosted by Mario Machado,” Chavez said.

According to Chavez, the show filmed the whole process from dialysis to the transplant.

However, eight years after the first transplant, Chavez was again in need of a new kidney.

“If it's not from a family member, it's not going to last too long. The lifespan ranges from five to ten years,” Chavez said.

After the use of a mobile type of dialysis and two more kidney transplants that didn't last, Chavez's brother, Adrian, stepped up to the plate and offered a kidney.

The brothers proved to be a match and the transplant was settled in November 1990.

“From the beginning, after the transplant, everything worked perfectly. I had no rejection episodes. It was good for almost 20 years,” Chavez said.

But by 2010, Chavez was in need of another transplant.

Younger brother Santiago volunteered to be a donor, and although the two were a match, doctors were a bit concerned that Chavez's body had developed antibodies that would make it harder for him to keep a kidney.

That was not the case, and his body was still in good condition to perform the much-needed procedure.

“Before this transplant, I was pretty worn out already. ... I would get tired just walking half a block,” Chavez said.

Chavez said his need for a new kidney also slowed him down at work. He works nights as a distribution specialist at Yuma Regional Medical Center.

Chavez said a major concern with the transplant was the fact that the kidney was being donated by his younger brother.

“I didn't want to because he's my little brother,” Chavez said. “You know, big brother is supposed to watch out for him.”

That second brother's transplant was a smooth transition.

“My body was telling me, this feels good,” Chavez said. “I'm not as depressed. ... My attitude's different; even my coworkers notice that.”

Chavez feels that his brothers have given him the gift of life.

“He came down for the holidays and got me a gift,” Chavez said, sharing a story about one brother. “I told him ‘You don't have to get me anything, you already got me the biggest gift anybody can get, you know? A second chance at life.' ”

http://www.yumasun.com/news/chavez-66679-kidney-transplant.html