'I have a whole new lease of life', says transplant recipient

An Irish-Canadian retiree who received a life saving kidney transplant in June says that now she is healthy again she can't wait to return to Westmeath, her late father's home county.

Last September through the Westmeath Examiner, Shelagh Shelby Brennan reached out to her local relatives in a bid to find a donor.

A retired nurse, she went into kidney failure in late 2019 a few months after she and her brother visited her late farther Terence Brennan's home village of Tyrrellspass, a trip they both have very fond memories of.

After leading a very active life, Shelagh, who celebrated her 65th birthday by going sky-diving, spent over two years on hemo-dialysis, which significantly impacted on her quality of life.

Following her diagnosis, three people (a family member, a friend who she hadn't seen since she was 13, and an anonymous individual) offered to donate one of their kidneys, but all three would-be donors proved unsuitable after testing, much to Shelagh's dismay.

She decided to go back on the waiting list for a transplant from a deceased donor earlier this year.

In early May, she got a call telling her that a kidney from a deceased donor had been found. However, after spending the night in hospital preparing for the transplant she was informed that it wouldn't be going ahead as the kidney was not viable to transplant.

She went home to continue her wait and a few days later on May 10 her beloved mother Joan passed away at the grand age of 99.

“I said to her: 'When you get to the other side send me a kidney' ," Shelagh recounted.

Less than a month after Joan's death, Shelagh got a call from her hospital telling her to come in right away.

“I was told this was a very good kidney for me with the various matching of everything. This person was on life support. On June 10 they did the surgery in the evening and the next morning at six o'clock I was up walking. I felt great.

“It was a wonderful transplant. I have no idea who this person is other than I know they are a deceased donor. I have written to the gentleman that manages putting donors in touch with recipients and vice versa and said I'd like to meet the donor's family. I just am waiting to see if that is something that they want to do."

Shelagh was discharged after three days and for a number of weeks was doing really well before she started to feel sick. She initially thought she had a gastric bug, but her condition worsened and she was hospitalised as she was dehydrated.

It transpired that she was suffering side effects from the cocktail of anti-rejection drugs she was taking. After a process of trial and error, she was finally put on a combination of drugs that are softer on her system and in the last month or so she has been feeling much better.

In the last few weeks she has been making up for lost time, attending her 50 year high school reunion and going out for dinner with friends. Still immunocompromised, she wears a mask when she is out, but is not letting it hold her back. One of the things she is most looking forward to is making a return visit to Westmeath.

“I am just going, there is no stopping me...Since my kidney failure I just went right downhill. I could do very little. I have a whole new lease of life.”