Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network - Patient Support Group

Patient Support Group

1. Planning for Surgery: A patient going for kidney transplant surgery needs some guidelines about hospital stay and what to expect. Support group can help in this planning.

2. Education on how to live with a Transplanted Kidney: A patient who has had kidney transplant needs to be adequately educated to keep a functioning graft. They have to take their drugs religiously. Support group can help in their education by distributing literature and by talking to the patients

3. Drug education: Education of transplant patients is essential as many of these drugs cause side-effects. Support group can help in this education process.

4. Maintenance therapy: Drugs to prevent rejection of the graft for kidney transplant patients are expensive. Many patients stop their drugs abruptly and land up with renal failure. Patients can be counselled by the doctors and certain drugs like Cyclosporine (Neoral) can be stopped after a certain time. Support group can help in advising the patient to go back to their doctors and explain to them about their financial problem so that the doctor could change the medication.

ROBLEMS OF KIDNEY DONORS

1. Inadequate education: Many a donor has gone through social, emotional or family pressures to donate their organs. Very seldom has a donor regretted this donation if it is done to a loved one and done voluntarily. However there are many unrelated kidney donors. Many times these patients do not understand or not told about the risk of surgery however minimum it may be. The support group can help in their education.

2. Regular health check ups: Yearly check up is essential for kidney donors. A support group can help in creating awareness among the donors.

PROBLEMS OF KIDNEY FAILURE RELATIVES

Seeing the suffering of a loved one is an agonising experience. Many a times one want to help but does not know how to contribute or do their bit. Then again there is an anxiety that if one family member has the disease would others also suffer the same fate. If dialysis is advised then one of the relatives has to constantly accompany the patient to the hospital. In many instances the full family life of a household can revolve around the suffering patient. Sometimes as much counselling of the relatives is necessary as the patients themselves. The support group will help the relatives to come to terms with the condition of their relatives.

MOHAN Foundation is committed to the cause of alleviating the suffering of Kidney Failure patients and helping to promote the cause of organ donation in India.