Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel after living with kidney failure for two and a half years, a Kitty man is now seeking the public’s help to cover the cost to determine whether he is a match with a donor he has found.
Joel Semple, who has been unable to work due to his illness, is currently seeking to raise a sum of $1.1 million to carry out a cross-match test to determine whether he is compatible with his donor or if he will need to find another. The test is to ensure the recipient does have antibodies that will cause their body to attack the kidney.
If they are a match, the transplant surgery will be performed at the George-town Public Hospital (GPH) free of cost.
As of February this year, a total of 31 kidney transplants were successfully completed at the GPH.
During a recent interview with Sunday Stabroek, the William Street, Kitty resident said that he was diagnosed with kidney failure about two and a half years ago.
Kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease, is the last stage of chronic kidney disease.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, acute kidney failure occurs when the kidney suddenly becomes unable to filter waste products from the blood.
Semple used to work at MovieTowne but was forced to quit his job due to his illness.
He explained that one day he was at work when he started to experience blurred vision. Initially, Semple assumed it was an issue with his eyes. So he left work and went to GPH to have it checked out.
After being examined, doctors informed Semple that his blood pressure was “sky high” at the time and as a result, he had to be admitted. Semple said he spent more than two months in the hospital and that during that time he underwent a series of tests. “…Then the doctor them explain to me is what really happened to me,” Semple said, before adding that he had been unaware about the seriousness of his condition.
‘You can’t make it’
Semple has two daughters, who live overseas with their mother.
He currently resides alone and takes care of himself.
Semple is currently surviving on dialysis treatment.
He is required to have at least three sessions per week but he can only afford two. “I does have to do it because you can’t make it without doing the dialysis,” Semple said.
One session of the dialysis treatment costs $12,000. Automatically, it means that Semple spends a sum of $96,000 per a month on dialysis treatment.
In late February, Head of the Multi-Organ Trans-plant and Vascular Access Surgery Department at the GPH Dr Kishore Persaud had said that the GPH has over 150 patients throughout the country accessing dialysis.
The figure was an estimated one since the facility does not have a renal registry. Out of that number, Dr Persaud had said 75% of these patients are in need of a transplant but do not have donors.
As an unemployed individual, Semple is finding it difficult to manage his treatment and often falls ill and he would have to go to the GPH.
“Couple a weeks ago, I take in sick. I was using the washroom and next thing you know, I can’t move, I can’t breathe and I fall down to the ground and I shout out. The neighbour, they hear me and they come and break down the door and so and they rush me off to the hospital,” he related.
“When they come, it’s like me body had a complete shutdown,” Semple added.
He added that currently he hardly sees properly. “If the kidney fix everything will go back to normal,” he said.
Anyone willing to assist Semple can contact him on telephone number 659-5535.
