Twins on road to recovery after kidney transplants

[okarol]

Twins on road to recovery after kidney transplants

'REMARKABLE EVENT' | Could leave hospital next week

December 8, 2007
BY SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH Staff Reporter/shogan@suntimes.com

Doctors at Children's Memorial Hospital were optimistic Friday about the condition of 10-year-old twins who received simultaneous kidney transplants this week.

They planned to move Nelly and Anji Polanco out of intensive care to the floor where other transplant patients recover. If all goes well, the girls could go home next week.

"The first thing we worry about is how well the kidneys are going to function," said Dr. Riccardo Superina, who performed the surgery on one of the girls. "Fortunately, they're functioning quite well."

A team of four surgeons performed the four-hour operations late Wednesday after kidneys became available from a donor who died in a traffic accident. The girls had been on a transplant list for six months.

"It's really a remarkable event," said Dr. Richard Cohn, the hospital's kidney transplant medical director. "You have identical twins. They each have the same kidney disease. They were both on dialysis. And each receive a kidney by the same donor."

Rachel Dalomba, the girls' mother, thanked the doctors and expressed condolences and gratitude toward the donor's family.

"I thank them because they gave both girls a chance to live a full and healthy life," she said. "They gave us the best gift. But, you know, they lost someone. I can imagine it being very tough for them."

Around their first birthday, the girls were diagnosed with cystinosis, a rare disease in which an amino acid, cystine, accumulates in the organs.

"They just stopped growing," Dalomba said. "I knew something was wrong."

The new kidneys will not be affected by the disease, the doctors said. The girls also have eye problems because of the disease, which doctors hope to control with eye drops and other medication.

Dalomba said she moved to Chicago from Rhode Island a few years ago so the twins could receive specialized health care. As their condition worsened earlier this year, the girls were put on dialysis.

"No more 5 a.m. dialysis," Dalomba said Friday. "They're happy about that. Not only am I going to get a little rest. They're going to get a little rest, too."

She said the twins were crying and fearful just before surgery. But now, they're looking forward to running and playing like other little girls.

"Anji's saying she's not going to be a shrimp anymore, she's going to grow," Dalomba said and laughed. "It's nice to see that they're acting like themselves so quickly after surgery."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/686929,CST-NWS-twins08.article

[Wattle]

   May the kidneys have a lonnnnng life in these little girls. What a wonderful Christmas gift... No more dialysis.   

[KT0930]

That's great! So happy for them and their family! 

[Sluff]

Amazing I hope these girls grow up and have a somewhat normal life. As normal as normal is with transplants.

[George Jung]

Family's twin blessing
UNIQUE SURGERY | 10-year-old identical twins each receive kidney, 'doing great'

December 7, 2007
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter sesposito@suntimes.com
At a time like this, Rachel Dalomba could really use an identical twin.

On Thursday afternoon, on either side of a hospital partition wall, lie her two 10-year-old daughters, Anji and Nelly Polanco. Each is groggy. Each has a nest of clear plastic tubing, I.V. solution bags and bleeping monitors hanging by her bedside. Each is achy. And each wants her mommy.

» Click to enlarge image
 
Nelly (left) and Anji Polanco, 8-year-old twins, recover after their kidney transplants at Children's Memorial Hospital.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)

» Click to enlarge image
 
Anji and Nelly Polanco, 8-year-old twins, who underwent a kidney transplant at Children's Memorial Hospital.
(Courtesy)

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"The first person a child calls is mom," explained Dalomba, 27, at Children's Memorial Hospital one day after each of her identical twin daughters received a new kidney. "You're back and forth, and you have to figure out who has the biggest problem. Are you in pain or do you just want to see mom? It's not easy."

Thankfully, the two little girls with springy, coppery-brown hair are recovering well after what's believed to be the nation's first simultaneous organ transplant surgery for twins, a hospital spokesman said.

"They're doing great," said Dr. Riccardo Superina, who performed the four-hour operation on Anji. "Blood tests indicate the kidneys are working. We expect that with each passing day, kidney function will return rapidly back to normal."

Looking forward to Christmas
Since birth, Anji and Nelly have suffered from cystinosis, a rare disease that blocks the body's normal production of amino acids; it's led to a host of chronic health problems in Anji and Nelly, including kidney failure.

Dalomba, who lives in the city, got word late Wednesday morning that two suitable kidneys were available -- from a victim of a traffic accident -- and by the afternoon, she hugged and kissed her girls before they were wheeled into the operating room.

"Thank you, thank you," was the message Dalomba wanted conveyed to the family of the person who donated the life-saving organs.

Thursday afternoon, Dalomba -- with the help of her fiance -- shifted back and forth between hospital beds and patiently answered a reporter's questions about her sick children and about having twins.

Yes, her daughters do like to wear similar clothes and they both love Hannah Montana and eggs for breakfast.

But Nelly is the quieter of the two, while Anji is more in-your-face and likes to tackle things head-on, mom said.

Thursday afternoon, Anji was also more chatty -- because she was on less pain medication.

She was upset about her hair. She said it's too short and makes her look like Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka character.

Anji was also thinking about her sister, her best friend.

Why are they best friends?

"Because she loves me," Anji said.

Anji is also thinking about Christmas. Both she and Nelly want a boxer puppy.

"Because they're cute and sporty," Anji said.



EDITED: Topics Merged - okarol/moderator