New kidney gives family renewed hope
Alida de Beer
It was early evening when Joseph Tigere got a call from George Hospital with the news that there was a kidney waiting for him at Groote Schuur Hospital - he had to go in without delay.
“My wife, Regina, saw on my phone that it was the renal unit and I wondered why they would be calling so late,” said the 30-year-old father. He has been waiting for a kidney since early 2011 after having had kidney failure.
“When I heard the news, I was shocked. I could not believe it. It was something I have been waiting for for almost five years.”
Joseph got someone to rush him to hospital from where he was transported by ambulance to Cape Town for the operation the following day. There he also met the young woman who received the other kidney of the donor, who had passed away. The two patients visited and encouraged each other after their operations and they remain in touch. “She is like a new-found sister to me,” said Joseph.
Before, with both kidneys diseased, his life had been dramatically affected. Two years ago the George Herald reported on how he chose to keep himself alive with peritoneal dialysis, which he did at home in a cubicle in the family’s shack. Their home had to be kept dust free to minimise the risk of infection, which could be deadly. The peritoneal dialysis was done by attaching a drip (containing water and electrolytes) to a plastic pipe that protruded from his stomach. It was a huge challenge, which shack living amid dusty roads did not make any easier, and throughout he struggled to provide for Regina and their children.
But the transplant on 21 August brought new hope for the family, despite a setback for Joseph’s dreams of starting his own woodworking business. Most of the tools that he had laboriously acquired over time had to be sold to make ends meet. Previously, he had hoped to find a place with electricity where he would be able to manufacture furniture, but it never happened. “I have not lost hope, though. As soon as I get my strength back, I would like to work and save to buy new tools.”
He will be on chronic medication for life to prevent organ rejection and is currently wearing a mask when he ventures out in public, which elicits a lot of questions and curious glances. But Regina and the children, John (8) and Memory (6), are extremely happy to once again have a healthy husband and father around the house.
Joseph says the mask attracts curious glances, but it is doctor’s orders until his immune system is stronger after the kidney transplant.
Joseph with his wife, Regina, and their daughter, Memory. Photos: Alida de Beer
