John has been saved TWICE by his family of organ donors

John has been saved TWICE by his family of organ donors: A kidney from his father kept him alive 17 years ago, now his sister has given him one of hers
By ANGELA EPSTEIN
PUBLISHED: 19:38 EST, 22 July 2013 | UPDATED: 19:38 EST, 22 July 2013

Arriving home after a triumphant performance in a local 10km race, Jane Batty could have been forgiven if she'd spent the rest of her day crashed out on the sofa.
She'd powered through to the finishing line in just 39 minutes and 50 seconds - and as the first woman to complete the race - Jane was shattered but exhilarated.
However, putting her feet up was the last thing on the 45-year-old's mind. After a quick shower and lunch with her family, Jane was ready to take on a different challenge.
By 4pm she was at Sheffield's Northern General Hospital in preparation for surgery the following morning in which she would donate her left kidney to her brother, John. One moment a serious runner, the next organ donor - all in the space of under 24 hours.
'People say organ donation is a huge thing to do and use words such as “bravery” and “courage” - but I don't really see it like that,' says Jane, who has run marathons worldwide and is a senior manager with Disneyland Paris.
'It seemed the most logical thing to do. I was fit and healthy and could manage with one kidney. I desperately wanted to help John - he's my big brother.'
Doing something extraordinary to help their loved ones seems to be a trait in the Batty household. For Jane is the second relative to help her brother, John, 51, who has suffered with kidney problems since childhood.
Their father, Colin, now 80, had donated a kidney to John 17 years ago.
John, who is married with two children, was born with a condition known as megaureter: an abnormal widening of the ureter, the tube which runs between the kidneys and bladder. This can cause infections and obstructions and, in some cases, lead to kidney failure.
John's condition was managed with medication plus regular check-ups to monitor his kidney function.
But at 35 he started having headaches and cramps - signs that toxins, no longer being dispersed from the body by the kidney, were beginning to affect his muscles and circulation. Scans and tests revealed his kidney function was only 11 per cent - he was in chronic renal failure and was put on dialysis.
This involves inserting a needle, attached by a tube to a dialysis machine, into a blood vessel. Blood is then transferred from the body into the machine, which filters out waste products and excess fluids.
The filtered blood is then passed back into the body. John had to have this done three times a week, for seven hours at a time, in hospital.
'I always knew my kidneys would fail at some point,' he says. 'But when they did it was pretty hard. I was running my own marketing business and my daughters Jasmine and Kirstie were only three and five. But if I didn't have dialysis I'd die.'
Survivor: John has suffered with kidney problems since childhood
...with his father Colin
Survivor: John, who has suffered from kidney problems since childhood, was donated a kidney by his father Colin in 1996
Once he started dialysis, John was put on the transplant list for a kidney from a recently deceased person (he would need only one). However, unbeknown to him, his father, Colin, had put himself forward as a live donor.
'I was staggered when Dad told me he'd offered his kidney,' recalls John. 'It was an amazing gesture, but I was worried he'd become ill because of the operation. But Dad is very insistent. He'd just retired and had always kept fit, so he wouldn't take no for an answer.'
Doctors told John there was no reason why his father would suffer any ill-effects, as long as he maintained a healthy weight and exercised regularly (lack of exercise and obesity increase the risk of diabetes, which can seriously damage the remaining kidney).
The operation to donate Colin's left kidney went ahead in December 1996. John's own kidneys weren't removed - this is a more complex operation - but left to shrink while the donor one was placed nearby.
Both men were in hospital for six days before recuperating for several weeks at home.

'I was staggered when Dad told me he'd offered his kidney,' recalls John. 'It was an amazing gesture, but I was worried he'd become ill because of the operation. But Dad is very insistent.'

Apart from taking anti-rejection drugs to stop his body attacking the new kidney, as well as regular check-ups, life for John returned to normal. 'I had so much more energy and could chase after the kids in the park. I even started to do more exercise. It was wonderful.'
John's experience had been more fortunate than many others. More than 10,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant - every year, 1,000 of them, around three a day, die waiting for an organ to become available.
This drastic lack of donor organs had recently been highlighted in the Mail's End The Donor Crisis campaign, which has encouraged thousands of readers to join the organ donor register.
But with kidneys, there is another option, as a living person can donate a kidney - only one is needed for the body to function normally (parts of other organs including the lung, liver and pancreas can also now be transplanted from living donors).
In 2005, the NHS launched the Renal Taskforce to increase the number of transplants performed from living donors, with significant results. From April 2010 to April 2011 there were 1,020 living donations (compared with 1,667 donations from people who had died).
Under laws introduced in 2006, people can sign up to give living donations to strangers. These 'altruistic donations' require donors to undergo psychological assessment before being accepted onto the register.
Nothing lasts forever: When John's donated kidney started failing in late 2012, sister Jane offered to give one of hers
The main issue with living donation is rejection, which is why a family member is the best person to be a live donor; they are more likely to have the same tissue type and blood group as the recipient, which both need to match.
But the issue for John was different - having been given a 64-year-old kidney, he was told by doctors it wouldn't last for ever. Indeed, a few years ago John started experiencing dropping energy levels, leg cramps and headaches, signs that his 'new' kidney was failing.
Towards the end of last year doctors put him on the donor list - that's when Jane offered to donate one of her kidneys.
John, who lives with his wife, Liz, in Dronfield, Sheffield, was 'utterly overwhelmed'. Jane, who lives with her partner in Paris, says: 'I saw Dad go on to live a full, healthy life with one kidney so I didn't see why I couldn't do it, too.'
Since John received his first donated kidney, surgical techniques have changed. Colin's kidney was removed by open surgery but Jane had a keyhole procedure called laparoscopic nephrectomy.
With this procedure, an 8cm cut is made in the abdomen bellow the belly button, while two tiny incisions are made to the side of this, explains Jane's surgeon, Badri Shrestna. A thin tube with a light and a camera on the end (a laparoscope), and surgical instruments are then passed through these incisions.
'The camera sends pictures to a TV screen so I can see the kidney and surrounding tissue, and remove the kidney this way.
'This surgery has been shown to cause less blood loss, less pain and has a shorter recovery time than having an open operation.
'Because the other organ compensates, the remaining kidney function of the donor should improve - so if you have 100 per cent function with both kidneys you'll get up to 80 per cent with one.'
During the operation, John's old kidney from his father was left in place, and the new one was transplanted into the lower abdomen.
Once connected, the blood flows through the new kidney, which makes urine, just like the old kidneys did when healthy.
The next morning, John was able to walk from his ward to see his sister. Jane recalls: 'His face had a great colour and he seemed so perky and bubbly. It was a very emotional moment. I knew this had been the right thing to do.'
There's no suggestion kidney donation has compromised Jane's longevity, adds Mr Shrestna. Some data even shows life expectancy increases because the donors must remain fit and healthy to avoid developing diabetes.
The Batty family are now backing the Gift Of Life campaign, which aims to sign up 12,000 more organ donors before the British Transplant Games take place in Sheffield next month - a competition John's aiming to take part in.
'It's been a long journey,' he says. 'I'm here because of the incredible generosity of my father and sister. Organ donation is so important and there are others who haven't been as fortunate as me.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2374372/John-saved-TWICE-family-organ-donors-A-kidney-father-kept-alive-17-years-ago-sister-given-hers.html#ixzz2ZrND5WUI
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