Right Here Waiting

Patients and hospitals face organ
donation problems

By Chloe Chan

    Late Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiao-ping became a cornea donor. Provisional Legislative Council President Mrs. Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai donated a kidney to save her daughter. However, not all people have such generosity and initiative.
     Before transplant, 40-year-old patient, Ms Cindy Chow suffered physical as well as psychological torture due to kidney failure in 1993.

     Said Ms Chow: “At the first three months after I learned that my kidneys failed, I had to stay at hospital two to three times a week to receive a 24-hour peritoneal dialysis.”
     Peritoneal dialysis is the injection of liquid into the abdomen to filter out poisonous elements.
     Ms Shelley Ho, the Transplant Coordinator of Queen Mary Hospital, said, “Most patients with kidney failure are treated with either haemodialysis (commonly known as blood cleaning) or peritoneal dialysis (often called abdomen cleaning). However, dialysis is time consuming and restrictive.
 		Photo by Chloe Chan

Ms Shelly Ho promotes organ donation.
     “A kidney failure patient can drink only a cup of water for the whole day, even in summer,” Ms Ho said.
     Said Ms Chow: “I was very depressed at that time. I had to receive peritoneal dialysis three times per day for every six to eight hours. I could not stay long outside.
     “Besides, I had to follow strict fluid and dietary restrictions. I could neither drink too much water nor eat salty food. Otherwise, they would make me swell and my kidney overloaded.”
     Ms Ho said, “Patients may also have complications such as high blood pressure and anaemia.
     “Very often, the patients will lose their jobs as they have to spend much time on dialysis. Also, as they are generally weaker, so most employers are unwilling to employ them.”
     Ms Chow was under the treatment for one year, until she received a “transplant call” from the hospital.
     “I could not believe it when the hospital informed me there was a cadaveric kidney suitable for me. I was really lucky, as many people have to wait for more than 10 or 20 years to get a transplant.”
     Ms Liza Cheung, the Transplant Coordinator of Prince of Wales Hospital, said, “The donation rate is low in Hong Kong. For every 10 persons, only three will agree to donate.”
     In Hong Kong, some 2,000 people hope to regain a normal and healthy life each day through transplants.
     The shortage of kidney grafts is particularly critical. In 1997, there were 950 patients on the waiting list with only 11 kidneys donated by the end of March.
     Both Ms Chung and Ms Ho agreed that the traditional concept of Chinese people is a great hurdle to organ donation.
     Said Ms Cheung, “Chinese people tend to preserve a ‘complete body’ after death. This reduces the chance of being saved for most patients.
     “In recent years, with the promotion of the government and the Medical Authority, the general public has adopted a relatively open attitude towards organ donation. However, Hong Kong people are still rather conservative.” Other reasons for lack of consent include inability to accept the death of a loved one, lack of knowledge of the wishes of the deceased, religious beliefs, and fear of disrespect to the deceased..
     Ms Ho said, “It is expected that the deceased’s family will be in a time of grief, shock or anger. Although some of them may be rather emotional and radical, we do consider their plight.”
     Said she: “Once I tried to persuade a man to donate the organs of his wife. He listened to me patiently and suddenly said, ‘You are lucky that you are a woman. I would beat you if you were a man!’
     The man calmed down later after listening to Ms Ho, but he insisted on keeping the “complete body” of his wife.
     Though some frustration may be encountered, Ms Ho never surrenders as this job gives her great satisfaction.
     “One day, a woman came to my office with her 2-year-old daughter who had received a cadaveric liver transplant to thank me,” Ms Ho said. “The little baby girl was so timid, innocent and lively. I was so joyful that I could help them.”
     “Once, a woman agreed to donate her husband’s organs,” said Ms Cheung. “When she was signing the agreement, her little daughter asked what it was and she wanted to sign it as well.”
     Her mother then asked her to mark her fingerprint on it. “It was so moving as the little girl didn’t even know her father had passed away,” she said.
     “To persuade the family is really a difficult job,” Ms Cheung said. “However, once I see some patients regaining a normal and healthy life, I believe that this job is worth doing.”


 Believe It Or Not



October, 1997

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