Ghita et Visnja : together for life
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Profile: A Second Chance for Ghita
Ghita Jones was looking forward to blowing out the candles on her birthday cake and celebrating her twelfth birthday like any other girl her age. Unfortunately, that was the day her kidneys ceased functioning due to a disease known as glomerulonephrititis. Fever and pain were just some of the symptoms that revealed themselves that day.
At first, Ghita was believed to be suffering from an E.coli infection. However, six months later, doctors diagnosed her disease as glomerulonephritis. She had to undergo dialysis treatment to cleanse her blood because her kidneys were no longer functioning. Her twelfth year was off to a dramatic start. "I wanted a normal life, to be like everybody else."
For a year and a half, Ghita had to be hooked to a machine many hours a week just to survive. In December 1999, her mother gave her the most wonderful gift of all, one of her kidneys. "She gave life to me for a second time. Now I can live without a machine".
Glomerulonephritis is one of the three major causes of renal failure - the other two are diabetes and hypertension. "This particular kidney disease is characterized by an inflammation of the glomeruli, tiny filters in the kidneys that help purify the blood. When the glomeruli are destroyed, the kidneys lose the ability to clean the blood", says Dr. Lorraine Bell, Nephrologist and Director of the Dialysis and Renal Transplant Program of the Montreal Children's Hospital.
Ghita can now go about her activities in a much more normal way. She seldom has to miss school, and her grades are much better: she is one of the best students in her class. Thanks to the transplant, Ghita's quality of life has vastly improved. Living without a machine is so much better.
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