-awaiting further tests before returning home
NINETEEN-year-old Satish Gobin who was expected to return to Guyana this week, from India, after receiving a new lease on life, through the donation of  a kidney from his mother, Shureen Ragbeer, is still there awaiting additional tests. The boy and his mother blood groups were compatible for the organ transfer based on tests done at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The two are being treated at the Pushpavati Singhania Research Institute (PSRI) in New Delhi, India. The costs of the entire undertaking totals more than US$15,000.
His father, Mr. James Gobin, told the Guyana Chronicle that both mother and son are doing well.
He said, “They will be back on the 14th of next month…we are very grateful for the assistance we received and the support from everyone.”
Suffering from chronic renal failure the young man was first diagnosed with the disease in February and has since received the attention of the Three Rivers Kids Foundation – a Canadian based support group.
The Foundation also supported his dialysis treatments here in Guyana.
Dialysis services here are offered via a partnership between the private and public sectors; hence the cost is now a subsidized, $45,000, at the 5G Dialysis Centre, South Ruimveldt.
The Three Rivers Kids Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to helping sick children in Guyana whose parents are too poor to afford medical care.
President of the Foundation, Mrs. Jeanette Singh, told the Guyana Chronicle that those in need of assistance can contact telephone number 225-7758 or visit the Foundation’s website www.threeriverskidsfoundation.org.
Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), also known as chronic renal disease, is a progressive loss of renal function over a period of months or years.
The symptoms of worsening kidney function are unspecific, and might include feeling generally unwell and experiencing a reduced appetite.
Often, chronic kidney disease is diagnosed as a result of screening of people known to be at risk of kidney problems, such as those with high blood pressure or diabetes and those with a blood relative with chronic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease may also be identified when it leads to one of its recognized complications, such as cardiovascular disease, anemia or pericarditis.
Chronic kidney disease is identified by a blood test for creatinine. Higher levels of creatinine indicate a falling glomerular filtration rate and as a result a decreased capability of the kidneys to excrete waste products. Creatinine levels may be normal in the early stages of CKD, and the condition is discovered if urinalysis (testing of a urine sample) shows that the kidney is allowing the loss of protein or red blood cells into the urine.
To fully investigate the underlying cause of kidney damage, various forms of medical imaging, blood tests and often renal biopsy (removing a small sample of kidney tissue) are employed to find out if there is a reversible cause for the kidney malfunction.
Recent professional guidelines classify the severity of chronic kidney disease in five stages, with stage one being the mildest and usually causing few symptoms and stage five being a severe illness with poor life expectancy if untreated.
Stage five CKD is also called established chronic kidney disease and is synonymous with the now outdated terms end-stage renal disease (ESRD), chronic kidney failure (CKF) or chronic renal failure (CRF).
There is no specific treatment unequivocally shown to slow the worsening of chronic kidney disease.
If there is an underlying cause to CKD this may be treated directly with treatments aimed to slow the damage.
In more advanced stages, treatments may be required for anemia and bone disease.
Severe CKD requires one of the forms of renal replacement therapy; this may be a form of dialysis, but ideally constitutes a kidney transplant