...Twins suffer kidney failure same time and need transplant

UNITED IN PAINS
 From JAMES OJO, Abuja
The joy, which heralded the birth of twin baby boys into the Sani Peter family of Ejule-Ofante village, in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, 15 years ago has been replaced with gloom and despondency. First, their father was killed 11 years ago, in an auto crash, when they there just four. Now, the twins, all boys, are at risk, as they have been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. They are undergoing dialysis at the National Hospital, Abuja and waiting when kidney donors will emerge to replace their damaged organs in order to remain alive.

 For the traumatised family, the arrival of donors has been a long wait, as the only volunteer of one kidney later bolted, after agreeing to a fee and the trip to India for kidney transplant. Also, the twins and his mother going to India, with the donor, seems to have retreated, following the disappearance of the man who agreed to donate his kidney.
 Lamenting their fate one of the twins said: “We are confused, we don’t know what to do, a family member who agreed to donate his kidney for one of my twins to live has disappeared; he has not been seen for some weeks.
 “He accepted to donate his kidney when tests showed that my kidneys were not compatible and can’t be used. Luckily one of my brother-in-law’s kidneys was found suitable and he initially accepted to donate it, only for him to back out without telling us.

 “He just refused to show up on the day we were to go to the Immigration office to complete the processing of travel documents. And believe me, he had not showed up since,” the distressed mother lamented.”
 When Mrs. Peter spoke to Saturday Sun, she expressed surprise that the twins have to suffer the same ailment at the same time. She narrated that it was some time in February 2011 that one of the identical twins complained of fever and when he threw up, he was rushed to a nearby hospital, from where he was referred to the National Hospital.

 She said: “Ogwu (Igala native name for twins) was rushed to the emergency ward of the National Hospital; he was saved through oxygen; it was after series of tests that we were informed that one of the kidneys was bad. From that day, my joy disappeared and since then, I have been living in sorrow.
 “We got a kind woman whose organization volunteered to sponsor our trip for kidney transplant in India, but my brother-in-law was convinced not to help us and we are stranded. It seems the woman was not happy and we are just praying that she will not turn us down whenever we get a donor,” she lamented.
 The predicament the Peter twins actually got worse when the second twin was also discovered to have similar problem. It was during a visit to the hospital that he also took ill some time in August and a round of tests confirmed that he too has kidney failure.

  Their mother said: “My little hope was shattered when doctors invited me to their office and urged me to take heart. They told me that the worst had not happened except that my second twin also has kidney failure.
 “As a mother, the sad news threw me off balance and I was confused. I don’t know what to do; it was too much a burden to carry.”
 Doctors said the twins need kidney transplant urgently because there is a limit to which they could withstand dialysis.

Saturday Sun gathered that a specialist hospital in kidney transplant has been contacted in India, but insists that the twins must come with a donor, which doctors say was better and cheaper than to get a donor in India.
 Funding had been the major constraint of the Peter family. The donor, who showed up but later disappeared, made a demand of N1.5million before he would donate one of his kidneys. The NGO had volunteered to foot the bill to India, but had to beat a retreat when the donor refused to cooperate.
 Already, the twins have been stabilised in health and they can carry on with minimal activities. They have been discharged by the hospital to return for weekly dialysis for a fee of N30, 000 weekly. However, outstanding debt owed the hospital for treatment so far is above N300, 000, according to hospital sources and the management had halted its humanitarian gesture.

 It was also gathered that the debt would have been more but for the magnanimity of the management to charge the twins as children. Kids treatment, it was learnt, is subsidised, in accordance with the policy of the hospital.
 The twins are waiting for kidney donors and financial help to facilitate the trip to India. They are now at the mercy of kind hearted Nigerians and the management of the National Hospital in footing the bills on dialysis, drugs and donation of kidneys to replace the damaged organs.

 On their sick bed at the National Hospital, the twins look pale, but still put up a cheerful face, as they listen to their mother and their elder sister pleading for help from Nigerians.
 Their local church in Mpape, a suburb of Abuja, has stepped in to help raise funds for the Peters and the twins are pleading with kind Nigerians to come to their aid. One of the identical twins said he wanted to study medicine, while the other said he preferred to be a priest.
 Doctors say that delay in doing kidney transplant would be tragic for the twins because they cannot fully recover just on dialysis, especially given their tender age.