Vivek’s journey from kidney disease to the World Transplant Games

AFTER battling chronic kidney disease (CKD) and undergoing a successful transplant, Vivek Reddy shared his journey of resilience, family support and determination as he prepares to compete in the World Transplant Games.

- MONISHKA GOVENDER

The 56-year-old father of two and former IT account executive found out about his illness by chance in 2004.

“At the time, my daughter Kelicia, who was 4 years old, had presented signs of early kidney disease. In the process of identifying the cause, the nephrologist had screened my wife and I to establish if there was a genetic link. After the screening it was established that I had already developed a more advanced stage of CKD, of which I was unaware of.

“CKD in most cases is difficult to reverse. The focus is then on placing the patient on a management plan to extend the usable life of the kidney for as long as possible. Also, until one reaches close to end-stage kidney failure, there are no physical symptoms. Therefore the condition may only be detected when it is too late to manage.”

Reddy said with regular visits to his nephrologist, a healthy eating plan and regular exercise, he extended his kidney function up to February 2015.

“This was when I reached end-stage kidney failure, having a kidney function of less than 15%.”

He said this end-stage failure was predictable based on his kidney function results.

His sister, Vijay Reddy, said she was willing to donate her kidney to Reddy. However, a rare problem was identified on his sister's artery which made her unsuitable as a donor.

“Subsequently my brother, Derick Reddy, and brother-in-law, Gino Manikam, also offered to be donors. But they too were unsuitable donors. My wife’s blood group was also incompatible with mine,” said Reddy.

In July 2015, Reddy was added to the organ donor waiting list.

“I was not hopeful of finding a donor. Emotionally, it was difficult as I had always banked on the fact that I would receive a transplant from a family member, as we had planned.”

In August 2015, Reddy started dialysis and this meant significant changes in his lifestyle.