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ALMOST 20 years ago, Abdulhamid Turkomani fell in love with and wed his sweetheart Orayb Abubshait. Little did he know that after they got married that she would one day save his life with the ultimate gift of love … one of her kidneys.
Sitting next to his bubbly and beautiful wife, 51-year old Abdulhamid, assistant CEO of Riaya Hospital in Saudi Arabia, eased back in his chair at his home in Saar and spoke of the day that he visited the hospital in 1992 because he was suffering from a pain in his side. He was diagnosed with a deteriorating ‘horseshoe kidney’.
The congenital condition occurs during development in the womb and results in the two kidneys fusing together to form a horseshoe-shape. The disorder affects approximately 1 in 400 people, most commonly in men. Although it generally displays no symptoms, there can be complications and deterioration, as in Abdulhamid’s case.
“At first, I had to monitor my diet and pay attention to my health. I gave up eating meat because the animal proteins were hard on my kidneys,” said Abdulhamid.
This allowed him to live normally for a while, but after some time he needed to decide whether he should go on dialysis or find an organ donor. At the time, the family discussed the possibilities and his younger brother, Emad Turkomani, found out that he was a good match and generously donated his kidney to Abdulhamid.
“When I had to think about the idea of a transplant, it became a struggle because I thought of my brother and I feared for his health and family,” said Abdulhamid.
After his transplant, everything seemed to move along smoothly and with a healthier lifestyle and diet, he was able to enjoy his new kidney for nearly eight years.
However, to his dismay, a malignant tumour was discovered on his kidney during a check-up at Johns Hopkins’ Aramco health care centre in Saudi Arabia. This occurs very rarely and because it posed a threat to him with the potential of the cancer spreading, medics had to remove the kidney and start the time-consuming process of dialysis to filter his blood.
“Some doctors say that he saved his brother’s life by taking the affected kidney,” said his wife, Orayb. “With his routine check-up, they were able to find it in the early stages, but a lot of times there are no obvious symptoms.”
Abdulhamid continued with dialysis for two-and-a-half years. The process involved injecting two needles into a graft of a fused artery and vein, where one needle captured the blood and one returned it. The needles were connected to plastic tubes that were attached to a dialysis machine next to him. For six-hours-a-day, three-days-a-week, the machine worked as the kidneys naturally would, and removed extra fluid and waste from Abdulhamid’s blood.
“We take our kidneys for granted. The machine only cleans up a moderate percentage of what the kidney does. Imagine what you eat every day and your kidney filters it for 24 hours, while a machine will take only a moderate percentage of it. However, it does make your life easier when it cleans it out,” said Abdulhamid.
He also mentioned his disdain for the frequent needle pricks: “I didn’t like the needles. They were huge and the nurses have to be specialised when inserting them. Sometimes they hit a nerve and it hurt and sometimes I suffered headaches.”
While Abdulhamid was in the hospital, he was surrounded by the love of his family and friends and it allowed him to keep a positive outlook during his dialysis treatments.
“It was a long journey and my wife and children stayed with me. I had a lot of friends and family supporting me during my ‘non-kidney days’. My son, Sayf, 16, did a class project showing how dialysis worked, and my daughter, Deema, 13, would share with her friends that her dad had no kidneys. It was good that everybody knew and that my friends and family stood by me. It helped a lot and made a big difference,” he said.
While he went through dialysis treatments, he started the search for his next organ donor. His twin nephews, Abdullah and Abdulhameed, wanted to donate their kidneys for his second transplant, but the tests showed that their antibodies and antigens didn’t match and he had to go back to square one.
Orayb, 41, who is a community service co-chairperson for American Women’s Association in Bahrain, recollects the difficult time and said: “It was a big disappointment when we found out that his nephews weren’t a good enough match. During his dialysis, we missed him at a lot of different occasions and school events. Being on dialysis is not easy. It’s not a life at all.”
At that time, Orayb considered donating her kidney. Abdulhamid was not keen on the idea at first because he was worried about the effects of the surgery on his wife and family, but Orayb sneakily found a way to get herself tested to see if she was a potential match.
“The problem with the twins’ tissues was that they were too closely related to Abdulhamid’s,” said Orayb. “He needed a match that wasn’t directly related to him. I talked to his doctor and good friend, Dr Abdurazaq Amir at Aramco, and I told him that I am willing to do it, but if it was a match, then he had to be the one to tell Abdulhamid.”
Nobody knew Orayb was going through the tests except for her children and her doctor. Her family wasn’t made aware of Orayb’s plans until a week before surgery.
Surprisingly, after a series of tests, it turned out that Orayb was a perfect match. Although Abdulhamid remained reluctant, the doctor convinced him to go through with it.
December 21, 2009, was the day Orayb went to the hospital prepped for surgery. To have peace of mind, she sent her son to visit friends in Hong Kong and her daughter to stay with a friend in Bahrain.
There was an emergency surgery that came in before her, so she had to wait. During that time friends started to call her and gave her numbers to call so she could buy a kidney for Abdulhamid instead of having to go through with the surgery herself. With her mum, dad and sister by her side, she smiled the whole time so her family wouldn’t worry.
“I refused to buy a kidney from anybody because sometimes people abuse the system. I told everyone that I was going to surgery right then. It was hard and it didn’t really hit me until I was on the operating table. When I woke up from surgery, I told my sister that I have never felt as proud of myself as I did right then. It was a completely different feeling when you are able to go through something like this,” she said.
The day following surgery, the doctors checked to see if Abdulhamid could walk. He was able to and stepped right to Orayb’s room across the corridor. He wasn’t able to speak easily at the time, but warmly greeted his wife and walked back.
“It was amazing seeing him for the first time after surgery and it was fun to later walk in the hospital corridors together at 4am! We had the whole hospital to ourselves,” Orayb said as she smiled.
While Orayb was able to leave the hospital two nights after the surgery, Abdulhamid stayed at the hospital for follow-up care and to make sure his body would not reject the newly-transplanted kidney. The doctors ran tests every day and then phased the tests off eventually.
After two years, he was able to stop going to the hospital for regular check-ups. He currently takes four main medications to suppress his immune system so it doesn’t resist his transplanted kidney and his care is a continuous process in which he must monitor his fluids and diet. He also avoids large crowds since his weak immune system makes him susceptible to bugs.
“It’s interesting, because when you get out of surgery, you have to wear a mask and people think you are contagious when you are really trying to avoid catching something from them,” said Abdulhamid.
Gulf States encourage organ donation. Because Orayb so kind-heartedly gave her kidney to her husband so he could survive, she was awarded an honorary medal and certificate signed by the late ruler of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Abdulhamid added: “We couldn’t have done this without our family and friends. I was lucky because I had the support for the kidney transplant and also have the support to continue with the aftercare. We grew stronger as a family.”
For anyone who has to experience an organ transplant, Abdulhamid advised them to look within the family to see if there was anyone willing to donate. He mentioned that when organs are purchased through brokers, it is difficult to say what happens to the donor and there have been scandals of the poor being coerced into selling them.
High blood pressure and diabetes can lead to damage to the kidneys as well. The couple continue to raise kidney awareness, especially on World Kidney Day which takes place on March 12.
Abdulhamid and Orayb enjoy spending time with their children, Sayf and Deema, who both attend the British School of Bahrain. The children rock the house in a band they play in called The Getaway. The couple met while working together in the hospital at oil giant Aramco’s Saudi HQ and wed in 1995. They will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this October.
* To learn more about World Kidney Day and overall kidney health, visit www.worldkidneyday.org
