How to react? Very unfortunate?
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May 23, 2009 at 2:39 am
I am re-producing an Article published in – Times of India, Mumbai – Saturday, May 16, 2009. I feel, perhaps half of the story/report is published and not completely reported.
But I do not how to react on such issues. Basically the patient was started suffering from GBS, how did the Doctors operate him for appendicitis? Had he not been operated and instead proper medicine-IVIG is injected, he would not have died. It’s a very shocking.
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Kin of 2 brain dead patients donate organs –
Mumbai: Within a span of 72 hours, two families donated the organs of their loved ones who had been declared brain dead at Sion Hospital and Hiranandani Hospital in Powai.
On Wednesday, 16-year-old, Ajinkya Karve’s mother Nalini donated his kidneys at Sion Hospital. And, until late on Friday, doctors at Hiranandani Hospital were retrieving the kidneys and cornea of a male donor, said hospital officials.
Tilak Nagar resident Nalini Karve, a widow who cooks in various households, had a strong motivating factor; she had lost her husband to renal failure last year, “so, when an opportunity presented itself to help others in a similar plight, she took less than a few minutes to decide on donating her son’s kidneys, “said Sion Hospital’s urology department head Dr Sujata Patwardhan.
Likhita Karve, Ajinkya’s 22 year-old sister, said “Mother felt that through this donation Ajinkya can live on.”
One of the kidneys has been donated to a kidney-failure patient in a Nanavati Hospital.
However, the family is devastated. “Ajinkya was always full of energy” says Likhita. So when he complained of pain in his legs on May 2, his kin rushed him to the family doctor, “She asked us to take him to Sion Hospital where he was operated for appendicitis”. As he could barely stand up after the operation, he was shifted to the medical ICU on May 5. “Within 11 days, he passed away,” said Likhita.
According to Sion Hospital doctors, Ajinkya was suffering from an auto-immune disease called Guillian Barre’s syndrome in which the body’s immune system itself attacks the nervous system. The patient slowly loses sensation in his extremities and even the breathing gets affected.
Ajinkya’s condition deteriorated to such an extent that his brain stem was affected and he reached the brain death stage-which is when doctors asked his mother Nalini-who has three other children-to donate her son’s organs.
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May 23, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Hi Sandeep
This was a terrible tragedy. Unfortunately GBS is still a mystery to many in the medical profession.I don’t know what the doctors did to come up with an appendicitis diagnosis. I see a need to get more information out to the public on GBS and other auto-immune diseases. this is very sad. Thank you for sharing. -
May 23, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Sandeep, I’m soo sorry to hear of such mistakes. I don’t understand for one thing how they came to dx appendicitis. Don’t they know there is a blood test they can use to make that dx? And secondly, why did they come back with a dx of GBS, and continue to donate his organs?! Those antibodies are in those organs, the recipients can develope severe reactions to those antibodies, like they can if they were healthy, but now they added the gbs to the mix. Boy that would upset me if my loved one received those organs and had a problem develope. I feel really bad for the families’ loss and the recipients’ futures. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for organ donation, but not when there is gbs involvement. It sounds to me like that hospital needs a few dr information packs sent to them.
Hope you are doing ok Sandeep. Haven’t seen you in awhile. Take care. -
May 24, 2009 at 6:54 am
That is sad! What a terrible tragedy! Thanks for sharing! Makes you realize just how precious our life can be ansd we should enjoy every moment we have! For we never know what could happen! Hugs
Linda H -
May 25, 2009 at 1:44 am
Can we donate our organs after having GBS? How long would we have to wait? Can we ever donate blood?
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May 25, 2009 at 5:06 am
Shie – Thanks for your inputs on the subject.
Cheryl / Linda – thanks for your kind words. I am doing well. Credit goes to awareness of my limitations due to GBS.
The last week of May, I enjoy (?) the birth-week of onset of GBS. This is the forth birth-week. I still remember the days from 22nd May till 9th June 2005, when I was down in Hospital and was totally unaware about GBS.
Cheryl – reading your reply I am also curious to know especially in the above case, whether those organs, when deterioration due to GBS is not stopped, will work properly? I will have to approach the Sion Hospital Authorities for the answer.
Carolyn – as far as blood donation is concerned, after onset of GBS, I have been donating the blood for last three years. I did every time disclose this fact to doctors at that time. There should not be problem.
Regards
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