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<\/p>\n[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” custom_padding=”20px|0px|25px|0px” module_class=”blogMod” transparent_background=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Blog Content” text_font_size=”13″ inline_fonts=”Lato Light” _builder_version=”3.3.1″ custom_css_main_element=”font-size: 16px !important;” text_orientation=”justified”]<\/p>\n
My life was great – before I had to be listed for a kidney transplant.\u00a0 I was working as a site agent for a company.\u00a0 I was living a healthy life, playing soccer and lifting weights and I shared my life with a beautiful wife and four children.\u00a0 I had tried really hard to be healthy, neither drinking nor smoking.<\/p>\n
In 2009 I had a strong headache which saw me starting treatment for high blood pressure. I had no understanding about blood pressure at the time but was forced to take the treatment.\u00a0 My children were very young and my wife, the children and I lived in one room.\u00a0 My wife wasn\u2019t working.\u00a0 Life was difficult and I couldn\u2019t even imagine that there was a possibility that I may die anytime soon or unexpectedly.<\/p>\n
Towards the end of 2009 the headache was worse. My employer decided to send me to his doctor.\u00a0\u00a0 I was diagnosed with chronic renal failure (both of my kidneys had failed).\u00a0 When I realised it was a life threatening illness, I lost hope. \u00a0No one could give me a reason why this had happened to me and I still do not know what happened.\u00a0\u00a0 I lost my job.\u00a0 I saw myself losing control of everything.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t working, had my four children at school and things appeared to be lost.\u00a0 I was also the breadwinner for my family who lived at my family home in Stanger.\u00a0 They all depended on me because none of us had mothers or fathers.<\/p>\n
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After I was diagnosed in 2011, I was referred to Ngwelezane hospital where I started my haemodialysis treatment.\u00a0 I went every Tuesday and Friday for 3 years.\u00a0 I know this kept me alive, but it was the worse feeling of my life.\u00a0 I often felt like giving up, but ended up knowing that God was always with me. It was hard working and having dialysis especially as I was still involved in the construction industry. \u00a0I did however keep going until I was referred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in 2014 where I started a Peritoneal Dialysis which kept me going until April in 2016.<\/p>\n
My sister (Nokwethemba Mthethwa), my Aunt (Makhosi Mthethwa) and my other sister (Zamile Mthethwa ) were always offering me their kidneys.\u00a0 After it was found that my one sister and my aunt were not matches, Nokwethemba begged me for 3 years to let her give me a kidney.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t agree as I really wasn\u2019t sure of how this would affect her. \u00a0By 2015 I finally agreed for her to be tested and she was a match.\u00a0 By now I had an infection in both of my feet and the surgeon\u2019s were not willing to do the transplant until this healed. This took a year to heal.<\/p>\n
In April 2016 I received a call from the doctors at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital.\u00a0 They called us to be admitted for preparations for transplant. \u00a0When all this happened my faith had grown a lot to the extent that I knew that God was in control of everything that was happening.\u00a0 I knew that a miracle was happening in my life.\u00a0 I did wonder if my sister would change her mind but she never did and she has been a pillar of strength even now.<\/p>\n
How do you say thank you to someone for giving you a part of them so you can live? I can believe in the future again because of this incredible gift, the skill of the surgeon\u2019s and ICU staff.\u00a0 It felt like I was a newborn baby post transplant, doing things I hadn\u2019t been able to for years.\u00a0 A person who has never had major kidney issues cannot understand the joy when you realise that you are able to urinate again, \u00a0you can drink lots of fluids and not end up in trouble, that you actually sweat and can eat things you\u2019ve never eaten in over 6 years. \u00a0It was overwhelming…\u00a0 It was all because of the love of my golden Sisi.<\/p>\n
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I am now 2 years post transplant. I am enjoying life again and I have new dreams and a new approach to life. This experience has caused me to become very involved in both my community and church. I know have the opportunity to not only preach the gospel in church but I also have the opportunity to raise awareness about organ donation in my community. This gives me the opportunity to teach people about what kidney failure is and the importance of donating organs and tissues and saving lives. I am able to share that I wouldn\u2019t be where I am if my sister did not take it upon herself to donate a kidney and save my life.<\/p>\n
Today I am able to touch people\u2019s lives because of an organ donated by my sister and believe I have a responsibility to not let it stop there.\u00a0 There are many people who are in need of a transplant. Becoming an organ or tissue donor means you may just save someone\u2019s life.\u00a0 The more people who opt to be organ and tissue donors the more people\u2019s lives can be saved.<\/p>\n
I love my family and friends and am extremely grateful for their support, encouragement and prayers over the years.\u00a0 To my sister, Nokwethemba, I can never repay you except to be the best person I can be. Thank you for this incredible gift.<\/p>\n
Please Talk about, Register and Share your decision to be a potential organ and tissue donor.\u00a0 Be a hero like my sister has been to me.<\/p>\n
Joe Mthethwa<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/www.odf.org.za\/matthews-journey.html” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Register as an organ & tissue donor here…” button_alignment=”center” custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”#e03c33″ button_font=”Lato||||” background_color=”#dd3939″ saved_tabs=”all” background_layout=”light” button_letter_spacing=”0″ button_use_icon=”default” button_icon_placement=”right” button_on_hover=”on” button_letter_spacing_hover=”0″ global_module=”803″ \/][et_pb_comments _builder_version=”3.0.106″ show_avatar=”on” show_reply=”on” show_count=”on” background_layout=”light” header_font_size_tablet=”51″ header_line_height_tablet=”2″ custom_button=”off” button_icon_placement=”right” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My life was great – before I had to be listed for a kidney transplant.\u00a0 I was working as a site agent for a company.\u00a0 I was living a healthy life, playing soccer and lifting weights and I shared my life with a beautiful wife and four children.\u00a0 I had tried really hard to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[12,13,15,6,33],"class_list":["post-1808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organ-donor-awareness","category-organ-donor-stories","tag-kidney","tag-kidney-disease","tag-kidney-transplant","tag-organdonor","tag-transplant"],"yoast_head":"\n