A Richmond resident is among those featured in an upcoming short TV series about transplant patients.
Suki Mangat, who is on a kidney transplant waitlist, is sharing his journey as a transplant patient on Knowledge Network's upcoming Transplant Stories series.
The four-episode series follows the stories behind some of the thousands of organ transplants performed each year in Canada, including footage from the operating room.
At the age of 16, Mangat suffered headaches, but his symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by his family doctor at the time.
Two years later, with a new family doctor, he learned he had the blood pressure levels of a 73-year-old man — news a teenager never expects to hear.
He was diagnosed with Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, also known as Berger disease, a chronic kidney disease that occurs when IgA protein builds up in the kidneys.
"My blood pressure was totally out of control... and that had totally damaged my kidney over the years. I didn't know what that meant back then," said Mangat.
"I thought I would just take a pill and I'll be alright."
That was until his kidneys failed in 1997 and he immediately began dialysis. After three and a half years on dialysis, Mangat had his first kidney transplant in 2001.
For about five months after the transplant, he said he felt good for the first time in a while but then started having pain in his hips.
Doctors found that the anti-rejection drugs for his transplant had affected his hip bones, leading to Mangat requiring two hip replacements.
"It was fine after that, I couldn't run or anything, so I just leisurely walk," he said.
Mangat now requires a second kidney transplant, but one specifically for highly sensitive patients.
"It's been tough, especially the last 13 years since I've been on dialysis. Seeing your blood pressure drop low, you can't eat this, you can't eat that.
"It's not a very comfortable life."
Life of a highly sensitive patient in Canada
Mangat is one of many on Canada's Highly Sensitized Patient (HSP) program list, an organ-sharing initiative designed to help patients find rare matches with donors across the country.
The HSP program, which began in 2013, is a collaboration between Canadian Blood Services, BC Transplant and other provincial donation and transplant programs and organizations to help "highly sensitized" patients.
"Highly sensitized" patients have exceptionally high antibody levels due to various reasons including blood transfusions, previous transplants or pregnancies.
These high antibody levels can cause the body to reject kidneys from most donors, making it difficult to find a suitable donor, according to BC Transplant.
"I'm hoping to get one, but we'll see. You know, you've got to keep hope. It's what keeps you going."
When asked about the most difficult part of waiting for a suitable kidney donor, Mangat told the Richmond News he misses travelling.
"I haven't gone anywhere in the last 13 years. So it's a tough way to live. (Dialysis) is keeping you alive, but you're not really living, right?
"You can't do normal things that a normal person does, because you have to be (doing dialysis) three times a week."
He has had to turn down road trips and social functions with friends because of his dialysis schedule.
"You lose a lot. You lose financially, you lose socially, and it also takes a mental toll."
However, Mangat gives the biggest kudos to his wife and kids, who have been supportive of him the entire time.
"One thing I want to do in the future, if I have a kidney match, is to take my family and kids back to India and show them where I grew up," said Mangat.
"I want to show them where I went to school, where I used to play, where my house was and what my world was like growing up."
Mangat is hoping his story through the Knowledge Network series will raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.
"After a person passes away, healthy organs can be donated to save a person's life. It's like providing a second life to another person, and I want people to think about that."
Transplant Stories is premiering Nov. 19 in B.C. and can be streamed for free online on the Knowledge Network website.
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