How I got my kidney transplanted at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital at Kolkata, India

This is an account of how I got my kidney transplanted at Apollo Gleneagles

Right to Left: Ma San San Shein, Daw May Si, Mg Aung Myo

Hospital at Kolkata in India. I am a 66-year old Myanmar woman, and live in Yangon, Myanmar, with my family of four, consisting of a 41-year old son and a 35-year old daughter. Both of them are married.  I have suffered from what doctors have diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis since my early twenties.   I was given pain-killer drugs for immediate relief of the pain I suffered. So whenever I felt a slight pain I took them without knowing that they might damage my kidneys and cause stomach trouble.  My husband has all too often warned me not to take them unless the pain is too severe to bear.  But I have not taken note of his warnings seriously and continued to take them, in the belief that the doctors would have not prescribed them for treatment

of my arthritis if they would have adverse effects on my internal organs.   Over time I have also developed high blood pressure and have to take anti-hypertension drugs to manage my blood pressure.  Then, one day about a year ago, as I felt somewhat dizzy, I went to see a general practitioner, who took my blood pressure immediately.  Its systolic level was found to have shot up to 190, way beyond the normal range of 120.   I was given some anti-hypertension drugs to take.  In spite of such medication, my blood pressure did not go down to the manageable level but still remained rather high for some time. So, at the suggestion of my husband, I consulted with a specialist in internal medicine, who ordered me to take a blood test for creatinine.  The result of the test showed a high level of creatinine at over 580, as against the normal range of 0.55.   She at once referred me to Dr. U

Khin Maung Htay, a kidney specialist at Asia Royal Hospital. When I saw him, he checked my medical test results and asked me how many children and brothers and sisters I had. My husband at once sensed that the doctor was thinking of recommending a kidney transplant for me.   As such a transplant to be done abroad was far beyond our financial means, we decided to change the doctor. Another doctor I saw at the same hospital was Dr. Daw May Mya Win. I explained to her that my husband was a retired Government official and that we had to live on his pension and the salary he earned working at a private company.  So, a kidney transplant was out of the question under the

circumstances that we found ourselves in. But I might be able to arrange for my dialysis in case they became absolutely necessary by dipping into our savings.  She said that she would try to control my cretinine level through

medication less it should surge up beyond an unmanageable level. Thus I took medical treatment for my kidney trouble under her.  Despite her

medication, however, my cretinine level kept on going up until it reached over 900.   Such being the case, Dr. Daw Khin Mya Win had strongly recommended an immediate kidney transplant before my renal failure had gone beyond medical help.   She pointed out that dialysis itself was not a cure for kidney failure and that only a transplant was a final solution. It meant that there was no choice but to decide to go for dialysis or transplant, as my kidney failure had reached the end stage. It is common knowledge that dialysis is only a stop-gap measure to prevent a complete renal failure before a transplant can bemade.   As the patient with an end-stage kidney failure will have to undergo dialysis twice or thrice a week involving almost the same

amount of cost as the transplant itself over the long-term, my family have finally decided that I should have a kidney transplant abroad, probably at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, Number one hospitals in eastern India.  Then, we got in contact with Daw Sanda, who herself had donated her kidney for her father, U Hla Thein, who had undergone kidney transplant surgery at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital in Kolkata. When we asked her about how such a transplant at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital could be arranged, she said that Thidar Aye Mya Co. Ltd, (Myintsima Ghone Buddhagaya Pilgrimage Tour Co.) in Yangon, Myanmar, was the agency that could do it through Bodhisukha Parahita Myanmar Temple, headed by Reverend Sayadaw Dr. Nando Batha.  Daw Sanda emphasized that the first thing to do was to find a kidney donor for transplant and that without a donor nothing further could be done.   Luckily for me, with the help of Daw Sanda herself, I found a kidney donor, Ven. U Visitta, a Buddhist monk in Mandalay.

Now that a kidney donor had been found for me, another most important

problem was how to raise the funds needed for the transplant surgery at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, which it was said might cost around US$ 20,000, including living costs there for four persons—my son, daughter, donor monk and myself.   So we decided to sell out our fifth-floor apartment for what price it might fetch.  In the end, we had succeeded in rounding up enough funding for the transplant by selling the apartmenttogether with contributions from close and dear friends living abroad and here.   After that, the donor monk was requested to come down to Yangon from Mandalay for a medical check-up to see whether the tissue of the donor and the recipient of his kidney would match up or not.  Soon after the donor arrived in Yangon, a tissue cross-match test was taken and much to our great delight and surprise, the test proved that the tissue of both the donor and the recipient matched up on six counts tested.

So we made contact with Thidar Aye Mya Co. Ltd, in preparation for the trip to India.   As my husband was working at a private company, it would be impossible for him to come along with me to India.   It was learnt that the kidney transplant would take at least 3 months there and so he could not take leave that long from his work.  Thus, it was arranged for my son and daughter to accompany me on the trip to India, so that they could take care of me during the course of my medical treatment.

Now the dice had been cast and all that remained to be done was to obtain a passport for the donor monk and to renew the passports of my daughter and mine.   We were told by Thidar Aye Mya Co. Ltd. that it would take about two or three weeks to get the travel documents processed through the channels of different Government Departments. The most difficult problem we faced was how to arrange for my son to get back home as soon as possible from the ship on which he was serving. His tour of duty on board the ship was almost up, and due to be back according to the shipping company.   But the difficulty was that the ship he was on was then still out at sea in the Persian Gulf and its date of arrival at the port where he was going to disembark was

unknown.   So we went to the shipping company and asked the officials of the company to send an e-mail to the captain of the ship my son was serving on, requesting him to release my son from his duty and allow him to fly back home from the next port at which the ship was going to put in.   Our efforts worked out well as expected and my son arrived back home in time to accompany his mother to India.

Thus, it was on the 23rd of July, 2013 that I was finally able to take the afternoon flight of Air India to Kolkata accompanied by the donor, my son and daughter. We were seen off at Mingalardon Airport, Yangon, by my husband and his friend U Kan Thein.   Kolkata was about one hour away by air from Yangon and we arrived there about 4 o’clock in the evening.   On arrival at Kolkata Airport we were met by Ven. U Uttara, a monk from Bodhisuhka Parahita Temple and taken in an air-conditioned SUV500 car to the Temple where we were assigned a room to stay in for the duration of my medical treatment there.   We were soon settled in there and and we were requested to contribute Rs. 100/= per head per day for maintenance of the Temple.   The next day I was taken to Apollo Gleneagles Hospital about 20 miles away from the Temple. I was then admitted to hospital where I had to undergo dialysis about three times a week to reduce my creatinine level before transplant could be undertaken.  Meanwhile, the four of us were interviewed by the Medical Council, and the donor and my son as his supporter by the Judicial Council for granting permission for transplant.   Permission for transplant was eventually granted by Medical Department, Government of West Bengal.  The monks from Bodhisuhka Parahita Temple were very helpful to us.   They were well versed in English and Indian languages and had had excellent dealings with doctors and nurses at Apollo Gleneagles Hospital. They did whatever they could to make things smooth for us at the hospital as well as at their Temple where we were staying.   Without the help they gave us very willingly, we would, of course, be at a loss what to do on our own.  They helped not only us but also other patients having end-stage kidney failures, who were waiting for kidney transplants.  There were about 10 patients with 30 attendants who came along to provide medical care to the patients.

After about 20 dialysis, I was allowed to undergo kidney transplant surgery that involved taking out the donor’s kidney and joining it to one of my two kidneys. The surgery took about 3 hours and I had to stay at the hospital for 14 days for post-operation medical care. The donor went back home by air 15 days after surgery.   As for me, only after the doctors were assured that the transplant was a complete success I was allowed to check out of the hospital.   Before the surgery we were taken on a visit to Buddha Gaya—the sacred place where the Lord Buddha achieved enlightenment under the Bodi Tree on his own and without any help from anyone else.  My joy knew no bounds when I had the opportunity to visit Buddha Gaya and make obeisance to the image of the Lord Buddha seated under the Bodi tree there. While paying obeisance to the Lord Buddha, I prayed that my kidney transplant would be a complete success without any complications whatsoever.  To my great joy, my prayers were answered at long last, and on the 9th of September, 2013 I returned home happily by air with a freshly installed kidney in my body together with my son and daughter after a stay of about two and a half months at Kolkata. On arrival at Mingalardon Airport, we were met by my husband waiting to welcome back home. Thus has come to a joyous end my odyssey of seeking medical treatment for my kidney failure abroad.

With great thanks to all

Daw May Si