| (NC)-Each year, a growing number of Canadians | | | | live kidney donor after he read about laparoscopic |
| make the heartfelt decision to give one of their | | | | surgery on the Internet. |
| kidneys to a relative or friend in need. | | | | "It was an easy decision to make because Michael |
| While this life-saving gesture is a blessing for the | | | | was in need," said Glenn. "While any member of |
| recipient, it can pose challenges on a number of | | | | our large family would have probably come |
| levels for the donor. The standard practice for | | | | through, I stepped up for the call because I was |
| removing a kidney is to make a 20- to 30- | | | | the youngest and most fit, and passed all the |
| centimetre incision across the side of the body, | | | | tests to determine if I was a suitable donor." |
| go through two to three layers of muscle and | | | | Asked about his recovery, Glenn recalls waking up |
| remove 10 centimetres of rib. With incurred | | | | the day after surgery and walking the long |
| scarring and several months of subsequent | | | | corridor to Michael's room. |
| inactivity, the decision to be a donor is | | | | "If it wasn't for the scar, I would never have |
| understandably daunting for many. | | | | believed that I had had surgery!" he said. |
| Yet thanks to an innovative medical procedure | | | | According to Dr. Mamazza, laparoscopic surgery is |
| called laparoscopic or "keyhole" surgery, painful | | | | advantageous for a number of reasons. For |
| incisions and long recovery periods may soon be a | | | | starters, live donor kidneys usually last twice as |
| thing of the past. | | | | long as kidneys taken from cadaveric donors - |
| "Compared to traditional means, keyhole surgery | | | | people who have died suddenly as a result of |
| is major abdominal surgery without uncomfortable | | | | some kind of trauma. In addition, live donors who |
| incisions and disfiguring," said Dr. Joseph Mamazza, | | | | undergo laparoscopic surgery suffer from minimal |
| lead surgeon and medical director of the Minimal | | | | post-operative discomfort and usually have a |
| Access Therapeutic Program at St. Michael's | | | | faster convalescence, with their hospital stay |
| Hospital in Toronto. "It involves an 8 to10 | | | | reduced from a few months to a few days. |
| centimetre cut in the groin area, so there is less | | | | "Keyhole surgery goes a long way in allaying both |
| chance of infection and other complications. " | | | | the donor and recipient's fear," said Dr. Mamazza. |
| During the procedure, doctors inflate the donor's | | | | Today, living donation is on the rise, accounting for |
| abdomen to make small keyhole-size incisions. A | | | | almost 40% of all kidney transplants performed. |
| laparoscope (tiny fibre optic camera) is then | | | | The world's first live donor keyhole surgery |
| inserted, along with long instruments used to | | | | procedure was performed in February 1995 at |
| sever blood vessels and detach the kidney. | | | | Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Since 2001, |
| Two years ago, Glenn Collins underwent the first | | | | The Kidney Foundation of Canada has supported |
| laparoscopic kidney retrieval in Southern Alberta in | | | | the work of Canadian researchers involved in the |
| order to help his older brother, Michael, a diabetic | | | | study of laparoscopic procedures. |
| who was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1997. | | | | The only national health charity serving the |
| Glenn's gift gave Michael a new lease on life, | | | | particular needs of people living with kidney |
| particularly since his brother had been deemed an | | | | disease, The Kidney Foundation of Canada funds |
| unlikely candidate for a transplant on account of | | | | research, provides educational and emotional |
| his age and medical history. | | | | support services, advocates for access to high |
| A strong advocate of organ donation, Glenn | | | | quality healthcare, and actively promotes |
| approached a clinic in Calgary about becoming a | | | | awareness of and commitment to organ donation. |