Kidney transplant patients given requisite care at GPHC – Dr Purohit

Mar 30, 2009 News

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Kidney transplant patients are afforded after-care services at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation that has proven to be on par with services offered at other medical facilities outside of Guyana.

This is the view of Dr Ravi Purohit, a surgeon who has had direct involvement with the two kidney transplant operations that were undertaken here last year and last month respectively under the leadership of India-born doctor, Rahul Jindal.

Dr Purohit’s declaration came in response to questions about the capabilities of the local facility to adequately render follow-up care in wake of reports that the most recent kidney recipient, former Army Major Winston George was re-admitted to hospital with concerns about his health.

George had received a kidney from his 25-year-old daughter, Melissa George, an Immigration Officer.

The operation was successful and both patients were discharged within a matter of days.

However, George was readmitted to the public institution last Tuesday after he became concerned about his health.

The 47-year-old man, who was accompanied to the hospital by his wife, Lorraine, had disclosed that he was feeling weak and was hardly able to eat solid foods. He was also experiencing a burning sensation in his mouth and passed urine every time he consumed water.

Speaking from his bed in the High Dependency Unit of the hospital, George, who was being administered saline, related that it was since the previous week that he had told his doctor about his condition. He said that he was advised by the doctor to return to the hospital at anytime if the condition persists.

At that time George claimed that his main concern was the fact that he seems to be consuming more water than the doctor recommended.

He had attributed his weakness to the fact that he has not been eating much solid foods and his general health was been dampened by the burning sensation in his mouth, which had persisted for some time since his operation on February 1.

George said he was informed that the burning sensation is in fact a side effect of the operation and should have been appeased by the use of a mouthwash, which was provided by the hospital.

However he was later told that because he did not utilise the mouthwash in the correct way he had developed a fungus in his mouth, which is responsible for the burning sensation in his mouth.

His condition has since improved although he is now faced with concerns about his blood sugar level.

But according to Dr Purohit, who has responsibility for George’s aftercare, the fungal infection (Candida) that George has contracted is not uncommon in transplant patients.

According to Dr Purohit, with the utilisation of the available treatment at the hospital, George will be better in a few days and it is expected that he would be discharged soon after.

The Wikipedia free online encyclopedia states that “Candida is a genus of yeasts. Clinically, the most significant member of the genus is Candida albicans, which can cause infections (called candidiasis or thrush) in humans and other animals, especially in immuno-compromised patients.

“Transplant patients take medications to suppress their immune system as an anti-rejection measure, as do some patients suffering from an over-active immune system.”

Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy has said that the onus still remains on kidney transplant patients to also take responsibility for their recovery.

At a press conference held prior to George’s operation, the Health Minister related, “It is not only up to the doctor and how good a job they do but it is also up to patients, who also have a major responsibility. We can take care of them and provide all the things they need but if they do not take care of themselves they will not heal as fast. They must take their medication because that is something we cannot do for them.”

According to the Minister the issue of follow-up must be emphasised as important to patients since it should be a rigid responsibility, which is in fact critical to their recovery.

“When the operation on transplant patients is finished, how well they do will be dependent on how well they and their family follow instructions,” Minister Ramsammy asserted.

He also disclosed that even after Dr Jindal and his team leave Guyana, they continue to assist the local experts to monitor the patients.

“They do not disengage themselves from the patients. We are always talking with them and we do telemedicine conferences so in fact, they never walk away.”

Additionally, the Minister noted that the patients of the first transplant never stopped gaining the medical attention of the foreign doctors.

On July 12th last year 18-year-old Munesh Mangal of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, received a kidney from his 41-year-old mother Leelkumarie Nirananjan Mangal. They are both said to be doing well.

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