Medical teams in British Columbia completed 217 organ transplants in the first six months of 2022, with 130 of those involving kidneys.
According to statistics kept by BC Transplant, 38 of those transplants involved living kidney donors, with 96 transplanted kidneys coming from deceased donors. There also were two pancreas-kidney transplants.
As of June 30, there were 460 people in B.C. awaiting kidney transplants, while 3,733 recipients were being followed post-transplant.
Some other numbers of interest:
There were 46 liver transplants in the first half of 2022, all of them involving cadavers. At the same time, there were 18 people on the waiting list, with 1,028 recipients being followed post-transplant.
Medical teams also performed nine heart transplants prior to June 30, with nine more people on the waiting list, and 376 recipients being followed.
My wife, Dorothy, underwent a kidney transplant almost nine years ago. But I doubt that I will ever forget when she was told to go ahead and try to find a
donor. At that time, I don’t think potential recipients felt that they should be too aggressive in their search. I do know that in the beginning Dorothy (a) was in denial, and (b) was especially concerned about not wanting her problem to also be someone else’s problem. . . . Times have changed, though, and now we even have people like Vic Morin of Kamloops, who has a decal in the rear window of his car asking folks to consider donating a kidney to him and including a phone number.
And now Transplant Ambassador Program (TAP) has taken things a step further. As Avis Favaro of CTV reports: “Canadians in dire need of a kidney now have a chance to directly appeal to potential living donors thanks to a new service that lets them share their photos and life stories in hopes of finding a transplant match.
“The novel service is offered by Transplant Ambassador Program (TAP), a Canadian support group for people with kidney disease. The site’s Patients Seeking Donors section takes inspiration from dating apps, where people post photos and share insights into their lives in their callout to potential donors.”
This sounds like a terrific idea and given time here’s hoping it produces results.
Favaro’s story is right here, and the TAP site is right here.
This story is from early in May, but it’s well worth a read and a watch.
Qualicum First Nation Chief Michael Recalma underwent a kidney transplant in February and made his first public appearance early in May, telling Michael Briones of the Parksville Qualicum Beach News that he feels “amazing.” . . . “It’s just been amazing,” Recalma said. “The transformation, the change from a sluggish guy. I called myself a turtle. To change into . . . I have energy. I have the right colour back on my face and I have gained some weight. There’s nothing wrong with that at all.” . . . The complete story is right here.
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
Do good, feel good! Register to be an organ donor and get that warm fuzzy feeling. 1 organ donor can save up to 8 lives. Taketwominutes.ca #TakeTwoMinutes
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