![Southern Highlands veterinarian Dr Roslyn Fitzgerald. Picture supplied. Southern Highlands veterinarian Dr Roslyn Fitzgerald. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/190291005/b8dfa3c3-945b-44f6-b540-762a59201ea2.jpg/r0_0_1749_2014_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Seven years ago Southern Highlands veterinarian Dr Roslyn Fitzgerald donated a kidney to save the life of her then 27-month-old granddaughter.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
As DonateLife Week comes to a close Dr Fitzgerald spoke to the Southern Highland News about giving the ultimate gift, and explained why it was so important that people tick the box to become an organ donor.
READ MORE:
Her granddaughter will turn nine this year. However, she was born in renal failure at a hospital in Adelaide.
"The pregnancy held until 36 weeks but it was critical," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"My daughter didn't have any amniotic fluid left by that stage so the baby's heart was under stress."
Her tiny granddaughter was in renal failure "from the moment she was born".
"She wasn't producing any urine or anything, so at day three they got permission to put in a peritoneal dialysis, right into her abdomen," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"It was so critical and they were running out of time."
That was at three days, and for two years her granddaughter didn't eat or drink.
"She was in NICU [neonatal intensive care unit] and PICU [pediatric intensive care unit] for five months in Adelaide," Dr Fitzgerald said.
During this time support services provided by the Ronald McDonald House charity became crucial.
"I always put my extra dollars in and give a big shout out to anyone that eats at McDonalds," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"They do great, great things."
As far as a prognosis, doctors weren't able to predict an outcome for her granddaughter at this time.
"They took her home and she had a nasogastric tube," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"In Adelaide they can do transplants at 18 kilograms whereas Sydney and Melbourne do them at 10 kilograms. In the end they went to Melbourne because she wasn't gaining weight."
Her granddaughter gained weight to just under 12 kilograms. However, then she started to lose it.
"I stepped in because she kept having peritonitis because of the tube; it's very hard to keep that clean because of their nappies at night and everything else," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"She was having about 12 hours of dialysis a day at home, and she was losing weight. And she was sick, just so sick."
To get on a transplant list you're not able to be on antibiotics, Dr Fitzgerald said.
"You've got to be six weeks clear of an antibiotic course. The problem being that of course when you keep on running peritonitis you've got to keep having antibiotics," she said.
"So even though these kids are on the top of the transplant list, they can't stay on it because they're so sick."
Sadly, for many children they finally get to a stage where a transplant is no longer a viable option. They're simply too sick to proceed.
At the age of 59, Dr Fitzgerald was over the age recommended for donors. But by this time it was a matter of life or death for her granddaughter.
"I was over the age but I pushed to be tested and it came back that I was good, really good," she said.
"I was in good health because I've never smoked and I hardly drink."
By this time her granddaughter was 27 months old.
"In Melbourne they put a PEG [percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy] feeding tube in but to do that operation is not simple," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"You've got to be off dialysis for five days so that the abdomen dries out and the attachment of the stomach to the abdominal wall heals," she said.
According to Dr Fitzgerald, creatinine levels indicate the level of toxins in the body.
"So when muscles break down at a continuous rate creatinine is the figure that tells us for the last three weeks how well the kidneys are going," she said.
"Normally it should sit around 80 or 90 but she was always running at about 550, which if it was an animal in my care, I would say it was at the end of life.
"What people have got to understand is that these kids are top of the list but they're so sick that they can't receive a transplant," Dr Fitzgerald said.
Within hours of the transplant surgery her granddaughter's creatinine level dropped from 550 to 89.
It took about four months for Dr Fitzgerald to recover from the surgery, which also took a financial toll.
"It cost me a lot financially," she said.
"It would be nice if the government actually gave some level of support because if you're working for someone else you can take sick leave but if you're self-employed then that's it."
It will be seven years in January since her granddaughter's successful transplant surgery.
"She's still little but she's just sick of being special, and she doesn't want to know about any of it," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"She had her PEG removed because she didn't want to be different at school so the main thing is making sure she keeps her hydration up.
"I think that people have this idea that it only happens to other people. I think that they need to think about what would happen if my child, or my beloved needed it?"
She also urged people to consider the stress this puts on a family.
"I think the last thing is that people need to understand that the majority of marriages end when there is a sick child because all your hopes and dreams are dashed. The quicker that someone can step in and help, they save whole families," Dr Fitzgerald said.
"If you would be prepared to accept a transplant to save a beloved, isn't it right that you agree to do the same thing for someone else?"
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark our website
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Google News
Make sure you are signed up for our breaking news and regular newsletters