“If God gives me a second chance to
live after this kidney transplant, I want to become a pastor. I will pray to
God to give me the power to heal the sick, especially people with kidney
problems. I want to become a pastor because I want spiritual healing for people
that have renal failure.” These were the words of a 41-year-old
man, Tokunbo Ogunlusi, who needs the princely sum of N7 million for a kidney
transplant. Ogunlusi’s renal failure started six months after his wedding in
2008, affecting one of his kidneys.
Though the marriage has not been blessed
with any child, his faithful wife has resolved that what God has joined
together, no renal failure could put asunder. She has refused to leave her
husband, a native of Aramoko-Ekiti in Ekiti State, to carry his cross alone.
She has remained a faithful partner and
has been helping her husband to live through the end state renal disease and
hypertension. But Ogunlusi is not only lucky to have a good wife, his mother
has also volunteered to donate one of her kidneys to him. They have been doing
some tests to determine the compatibility of their kidneys. Ogunlusi, a
distributor of home videos in Ogba, Lagos, told Daily Sun how the problem
started. He said: “It started with malaria, which I treated severally but it
refused to go.
This made me to seek medical attention
at a private hospital. But the hospital referred me to the Gbagada General
Hospital.” “Some tests were conducted after which I was diagnosed with kidney
problem. I was placed on dialysis. At the initial stage, it was once in a week.
Now, the dialysis is twice a week because my condition is deteriorating. I pay
N20, 000 for each dialysis.
“Since then, I have tried to raise funds
for the kidney transplant but it has not yielded positive result. The hospital
even sent a medical report of my kidney disease to the Commissioner for Health,
Lagos, in April 2009, but nothing has come out of it.” A medical report by Dr.
B.O. Ojuroye of the Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos State and dated November
24, 2008, disclosed that Ogunlusi came to the hospital on September 3, 2008
with a year’s history of hypertension, a week history of facial and abdominal
swelling, oliguria and fever.
“Following a thorough assessment, he
was diagnosed with end state renal disease and he is presently on maintenance
haemodialysis. However, the patient would eventually need a renal transplant
which offers a better hope for survival,” Ojuroye said. By 2009, Ogunlusi has
been placed on a maintenance haemodialysis two times every week. He said his
kidney picked up in 2010 and was stable for about one year, but lamented that
the problem has come back.
The turn of events, he said, made him
proceed to the St Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, for some tests with his mother, who
has agreed to donate one of her kidneys to him. “My mother has said she gave
birth to me and she wants me to give birth to my own children too. She told me
she succeeded her parents and she wants me to succeed her too. This is why she
volunteered to donate one of her kidneys for me to live. “The transplant and
drugs for a year will cost about N7million. I need the help of Nigerians and
corporate organisations.
Source: Sun
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