Life after transplant

While donating a kidney to a patient suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an extremely noble cause, it is also a tough life-changing decision to make.

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Malaysia is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping Malaysians suffering from end stage kidney failure who lack access to or cannot afford dialysis treatment. NKF currently has over 1,700 dialysis patients receiving subsidised dialysis treatment in 27 dialysis centres nationwide.

Nurul Adhwa Abd Rahim received a kidney from her father eight years ago. She was first diagnosed at 22 years old, after doctors detected something amiss in her urine and ordered further testing. Nurul had no symptoms at all and her disease was categorised as auto-immune disease.

Her father and donor, Abd Rahim Atan, donated his kidney when he was 54 years old. During that time, he was concerned that he would not be able to donate due to his age, but, however, he was cleared for the transplant after getting a clean bill of health.

Dr. Nur Hidayati Mohd Sharif, a Consultant Nephrologist, shares her perspective on the kidney organ donation situation in Malaysia and why organ donation is important.

She also talks about:

What can be done about the shortage of organ donors in Malaysia
Who can be a donor and the factors that can encourage organ donation
Some of the organ donation myths or misinformation that cause confusion
The advancement in transplantation

Lastly, Abdul Rahim and Nurul Adhwa share their donation story. Nurul talk about how her life was like before the transplant. She emotionally relates the feeling when she learnt that her father was donating one of his kidneys to save her life.