A North Lanarkshire gran is celebrating a remarkable double – 30 years since her life-changing transplant and the 30th anniversary of the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Speaking for the first time about her kidney transplant, Margaret Stewart, 66, said her world had been turned around by the operation – and she can’t believe the donated organ is still going strong three decades on.
Margaret, from Shotts, said her incredible health boost after the precious transplant in November 1994 gave her the energy to care for daughter Catherine and son Colin, follow her dream of international travel and eventually get back to work.
Telling her story during Organ and Tissue Donation Week, NHS Lanarkshire patient Margaret said: “I thought the kidney might only last about 10 years, but I’ve been looking after it the best I can and it’s kept me going all this time.
“It means I still have the vitality to live an active retirement and look after my lively three-year-old granddaughter, Lucy.
“And it makes a difference to the little things, too. I love my cups of tea but my fluid intake had to be limited before the transplant, so I really appreciate being able to have a nice brew any time I want,” laughed Margaret, as she raised a cuppa to toast the two 30-year anniversaries.
Her health issues began in 1988 with mystery knee pain and she went on to have further problems with her joints and skin as well as fatigue, anaemia and high blood pressure.
Medics were baffled but then a new doctor recognised her symptoms and she was diagnosed in 1991 with systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune condition.
“I was told it could be managed and there was a one in 1000 chance it would affect my kidneys – but I was one of the unlucky ones,” recalled Margaret.
“I started having kidney problems and the doctors at NHS Lanarkshire saved my life in 1993 when the lupus flared up and I was rushed to hospital for emergency haemodialysis to treat kidney failure.
“I was an inpatient at Monklands Hospital for nearly five months, receiving dialysis and even chemotherapy to try to kick-start my kidneys. In 1994, after lots more hospital visits, I was told I’d need long-term dialysis and I started using home dialysis, trying to get on with life while using it.”
But Margaret knew a transplant was the ultimate goal and she was delighted when she was offered one only a few months after joining the list.
She had a six-hour operation at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, receiving the new kidney to replace the function of both her ailing kidneys.
“It gave me my life back,” said Margaret.
“I had energy and an appetite. Before that, everything had been a real effort.”
She was able to bring up her kids, travel to Europe and the US and got a job in a school before joining the organisation that saved her life, working with NHS Lanarkshire in recruitment.
Now retired, Margaret still gets blood tests and a check-up every three months at University Hospital Monklands, Lanarkshire’s centre of excellence for renal care.
On the 30th anniversary of the donor register, she hailed the generosity of the anonymous person who gifted their kidney, and is urging the public to consider organ and tissue donation – and to tell their loved ones their wishes.
Margaret said: “My family are all signed up to the donor register because they have seen first-hand how important it is. It gave me my second chance.”
Margaret is now under the care of Dr Shahzad Shah, Consultant in Renal Medicine, who said: “What a privilege and delight it is to look after transplant recipients like Margaret, watching them flourish and giving back to society. You cannot understate the benefit this treatment brings.
“As our post-transplant treatment becomes more refined through research and experience, we are seeing these organs work longer than ever.
“With more people than before waiting for a transplant, it’s never been more important to make a decision about organ and tissue donation, record it on the register and tell those close to you.
“Nine out of 10 families will support organ and tissue donation if their loved one had confirmed their decision before passing away.”
Register your donation decision and find out more at www.organdonation.scot or call 0300 123 2323.
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