Today, around 60 kidneys are transplanted in Linz according to the latest scientific findings. What sounds so obvious today 60 years after the first transplantation and represents an enormous improvement in the quality of life for many patients is a highly demanding and complex procedure in which a well-coordinated interdisciplinary team must work together, as the Medical Director of the Ordensklinikum Linz Elisabethinen, Dr Michael Girschikofsky, explains.
Not only are highly qualified surgeons, anaesthetists, nephrologists and urologists responsible for such procedures, these doctors are also involved in scientific studies to further advance the techniques and technologies required for such surgical successes. Under certain conditions, it is already possible to perform transplants on cancer patients.
The Ordensklinikum Linz is also responsible for the transplant coordination of all organs in Upper Austria - a highly demanding and time-consuming task as it is very time-critical. In this context, Prim. Priv.- Doz. Dr Daniel Cejka, Head of the Department of Nephrology and Transplantation Medicine, would also like to raise awareness of the willingness to donate organs among the population.
Life with a new kidney
Rudolf Brettbacher reports on the positive impact a kidney transplant has on life. The 64-year-old is the chairman of the "Niere Oberösterreich" (ANÖ | Arbeitsgemeinschaft Niere Österreich (argeniere.at)) consortium and has struggled with diabetes since the age of 7. His kidney function began to deteriorate in 1990. "Late damage such as effects on the eyes, nerves, blood pressure, blood circulation and even the kidneys could not be avoided due to my history," says Brettbacher. "The light at the end of the tunnel for a life worth living, or any life at all, was getting smaller and smaller. In the time before the transplant, I was already in a very, very bad way." In 2000, he finally received the redemptive news: the kidney and pancreas could be transplanted into him. As he had already met a transplant patient five years before his operation, he was not afraid. "The transplant as a replacement therapy was a blessing and the best thing for me. Since then, I've been healthier than before and was able to work full-time in my job until the end of March this year," Brettbacher continues.
In his role as Chairman of the "Niere Oberösterreich" organisation, Brettbacher and the entire team want to support kidney patients and their relatives with questions about living a "good" life and integrating the diagnosis into everyday life.
#schongenial - We make positive things visible, we make positive things conscious! already brilliant!
