A contractor by profession, Mr. Mulherkar Suhas was always on the go, rushing to and fro between Ratnagiri and Pune. Sometime in 1986 he suffered a severe headache, there was redness in his eyes, his face was swollen and he felt very giddy. His wife insisted that he consult a doctor. The doctor who examined him, rushed him to a hospital and admitted him immediately. His condition was diagnosed as uncontrolled hypertension. He was then prescribed medicines to bring it under control.
After that episode Suhas kept a check on his blood pressure every three months. The medicines were not completely effective in controlling his condition but he did not have any major problems for nearly six years till 1993. Meanwhile, Mr. Mulherkar returned to his busy schedule as his business interests were suffering. As Mr. Mulherkar said, “At that point in time I felt that they were a priority over my health which I now regret”. He paid a heavy price for the choice. He had chronic kidney failure.He underwent dialysis while waiting for a kidney donor. He was fortunate to have a sister who generously donated him a kidney. Three months after the condition was diagnosed he underwent a kidney transplant operation. During the period after the operation he was at home.
Mr. Mulherkar said, “The inactivity gets to you more than anything else”. Slowly he started getting out and started working in a phased manner trying to cope as much as possible. He refused to take the certificate of invalidity given to patients with kidney failure from the Bombay hospital where he was operated. This was because he felt that he was living as normal a life as any other person barring few precautions he had to take.
As he was on immuno–supressants (drugs that are given to prevent the kidney from being rejected as a foreign body), he was more prone to catching infection as his immune system was compromised. He thus he had to undergo a change of occupation because he was unable to cope with what he was doing earlier and took to being a real estate agent.
Though the transplanted kidney was given a life of only one year as the match was not ideal, it kept functioning for three years. Now he has to undergo dialysis thrice a week but does so only twice a week due to financial constrains.
Though he clarifies that he would not discourage others, he is not too keen to have a transplant for various personal reasons. Apart from the prohibitive costs that a transplant operation itself entails, there are post–operative costs also. Being on immuno–supressants, he has to be particularly careful about picking up infections and therefore avoid visiting unhygienic surroundings. Then there are side affects of the medication and incase of infection, very specific drugs are to be taken which are also very costly. He also feels that the whole process would put pressure on his family.
Mr. Suhas Mulhekar
(0 vote)
