After a decade of issues with kidney health – Cork woman Melissa Ward was running out of time and options as she struggled to find a donor.
But in her time of need, her sister Rachel gave her the ultimate gift by stepping up for the major transplant surgery – and she says it’s the best decision she ever made.
The two Ballincollig women were discharged from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin earlier this month after the operation on September 28th, which took just over four hours. The procedure went smoothly and the pair are recovering well – though it will still be many weeks before both sisters are in full health.
But despite everything that’s ahead of her, Rachel said she wouldn’t change a thing, and feels honoured to have been able to step up and save her sister’s life.
Melissa’s health struggles began a decade ago when she started suffering from Polycystic kidney disease (PKD). This is a condition in which clusters of cysts grow in the organ, which over time can cause the kidneys to grow and stop working.
( Left to right) – Melissa and Rachel Ward
Over the years, PKD started having a massive impact on Melissa’s life, making her constantly tired, greatly restricting what she could eat or drink, and leading to countless hospital visits. Before her operation, she needed dialysis three times a week in CUH – lasting 4 hours each – to help manage her condition.
After one of her kidneys was removed in 2021, she started searching for a donor but was never able to find a suitable match. Seeing what her sister was going through, Rachel knew she had to step in and help.
She told Cork Beo: “A lot of people say, ‘I don’t know how you could do it.’ But I say, why not? If you can do it, do. If you could save someone’s life, make someone better, why shouldn’t you do it?
“I actually feel great, I feel brilliant having actually done it. I have two brothers in Australia, they were willing to do it as well. But since I was here already, I said let’s go, let’s see if we’re a match…
“It turns out we had a 100% match. The doctors were amazed, they said we were matching like identical twins.”
In April this year, Melissa had to have her second kidney removed as it had swollen so much it was taking over her entire abdomen. Four months later, she went under the knife again as her PKD had a knock on impact on the parathyroid glands in her throat, which had to be removed.
After all she had endured, Rachel was more than happy to be able to help her – but didn’t stop some nerves from creeping in leading up to the big operation.
Melissa and Rachel in hospital
She said: “I was anxious for a good few months beforehand as the time was getting closer, thinking ‘Oh god what am I really doing.’ That morning then before the surgery, I was grand once I went down. It was like ‘Let’s just do it, has to be done.”
The surgery happened on 28th September and went perfectly. The pair were discharged from hospital on October 3rd.
“It was all done through robotic surgery, it took four and a half hours,” Rachel said. “The team in Beaumont were so fantastic, I had so many people coming into me checking up, thanking me for doing it… It’s amazing what doctors and nurses can do, seeing what they actually do, how hard it is.
“I think it’s a great thing to do for somebody, give someone another lease of life when you can, when you are healthy.”
Looking forward, Rachel said it will at least be another 9 weeks before she is fully back to normal. She added that she doesn’t feel any different after the operation, and will only have to make minor changes to her diet.
The National Kidney Foundation advises that for most living donors, life after donating a kidney isn’t too different than before the procedure. Many people can return to work a couple of weeks after they recover from surgery, return to physical activity, and eat a normal, well-balanced diet.
Melissa told Cork Beo that she is eternally grateful for the gift her sister gave her, adding: “I don’t see the benefits now, but this is completely and utterly life-changing. When I was on dialysis, my whole life was stopped. I couldn’t work, couldn’t travel abroad, could only have 500ml of liquid a day. It felt like I was stopped and going nowhere.
“There are so many options for me now, I can start working again, I can travel, I can eat what I want. I’ll never be able to thank her enough, she literally saved my life.”
Rachel said: “Nothing feels different. Not at all, I just have three tiny little keyhole surgery marks on my stomach and one little scar the size of my finger on the pelvic bone area. Very neat surgery, you can’t even see it.
“It won’t affect my life in any way; the only thing that is restricted is salt, and we’ll get over that. It’s after saving her life, because she wasn’t getting any other matches, getting no calls. So we’re looking forward now to going out and having an old drink to celebrate my 40th birthday.
“We were really close already before the surgery, but I feel this is after bringing us closer. It’s an unbreakable bond!”