Wardell transplant survivor makes rare 40 year milestone

“Only a handful of people have ever reached a 40-year milestone with a kidney transplant.” Read Karen’s remarkable story.

66-year-old Karen Diamond, of Wardell, celebrating life 40 years on after a successful kidney transplant.

Karen Diamond from Wardell in the Northern Rivers region is one lucky lady - she readily admits it.

For a young woman growing up in Warwick Farm in Sydney, she never once thought her life would come so close to finishing early.

For her sweet-sixteenth Ms Diamond wasn’t having cakes and parties – she was throwing up. Regularly.

She started feeling sick all the time.

“I was vomiting, I had headaches like you wouldn’t believe and I just had no energy,” she said.

She recalls her father taking her to their GP only to have him dismiss her ill health as “wanting attention”.

Ms Diamond trundled on, her condition worsening.

Seeing his daughter’s struggle Mr Diamond returned her to the GP and demanded action.

“My Dad took me to a specialist and I had urgent blood tests and within a few hours I was admitted into intensive care.”

Ms Diamond was 20-years-old.

“Straight away they put me on peritoneal dialysis,” Ms Diamond said.

She had never even heard of a dialysis machine let alone seen one.

“When they said I had to go on a dialysis machine I didn’t know what they were talking about.

“The first time I walked into a dialysis unit and saw them putting needles in someone I said ‘Oh no, no, no, I’m not going to do that!’.”

The young woman didn’t have much choice – it was literally do or die.

Karen was diagnosed with medullary cystic kidney disease, an inherited condition that causes the growth of cysts in the kidneys.

The kidneys gradually lose their ability to work properly, and the disease causes other health problems before eventually leading to kidney failure. There is no cure.

“They kept me on dialysis for a few years and in 1980 I had a transplant at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney,” Ms Diamond said.

“But it never took.

“I was really, really sick with it and it had to be removed.”

Doctors later told Ms Diamond that the donor kidney had gone gangrene.

Second time lucky

Hesitant to try again Ms Diamond took a “break” while relying on her father to help care for her.

“We had a dialysis machine at home, my dad looked after me,” Ms Diamond said.

“Then one day I said to my specialist I’d like to try again.”

On November 16, 1981, the Diamond household received news Karen had a match.

“I named my kidney Jamie,” Ms Diamond said.

“Because my kidney specialist doctor’s name was James, and my dad’s name was James.

“And now (40 years later and in Lismore) I have got Doctor William James looking after me!”

Ms Diamond said she must have a guardian angel watching over her.

Ms Diamond had a second transplant at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and that kidney has lasted for 40 years and counting.

Only a handful of people have ever reached a 40-year milestone with a kidney transplant.

Karen Diamond, from Wardell, with flowers given to her by her medical team at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Lismore when she celebrated the 40th anniversary of her kidney transplant.

A new life

After the procedure Ms Diamond was completely blown away to learn she did not have to go on dialysis.

When she was offered a choice of anything she wanted to eat she simply asked for a vegemite sandwich and a peach.

Ms Diamond still couldn’t believe what her doctors had told her so she donned her dressing gown and returned to the dialysis unit.

When staff reiterated she did not require “the machine” tears openly flowed.

“It was very emotional,” Ms Diamond said.

“There were hugs and tears all around.

“It was the best day of my life.”

Changes

Ms Diamond’s medical team kept a close watch on her recovery and shortly after Ms Diamond’s life started to change for the better.

The day they said she no longer needed her fistula and they were going to tie it off was a big emotional moment.

“It’s like a security blanket because it has been your lifeline.

“It was a massive change,” Ms Diamond said.

“Like diet, eating an orange just meant so much because you couldn’t eat a lot of fruit due to the potassium.”

A new door opens

Still requiring regular check-ups, Ms Diamond was approached by the ward clerk one day while she was waiting in the clinic.

“I thought we were going to see the doctor,” Ms Diamond said.

“But she sent me up to the renal clerical team and told me I was going to become a casual ward clerk.”

Ms Diamond soon progressed to a permanent role on the ninth floor. Not only did the hospital team save her life, they gave her a job too.

“It was serendipity,” Ms Diamond said.

Ms Diamond later bought a house in the Blue Mountains and worked in the children’s ward of Liverpool Hospital and then at Nepean Hospital in Penrith.

66-year-old Karen Diamond, of Wardell, celebrating life 40 years on after a successful kidney transplant.

Seeking a change Ms Diamond plotted her journey northward while requiring regular medical tests.

She left the Central Coast for the Northern Rivers after her Gosford specialist recommended her current physician, Dr William James, in Lismore.

Ms Diamond recently celebrated the anniversary of this lifesaving procedure with her “amazing” medical team at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Lismore, who have been looking after her since she moved to the Northern Rivers a number of years ago.

They surprised her on the special day with a huge bunch of flowers.

“The care I’ve received at St Vincent’s means everything to me,” she said.

“My specialist Dr James and my GP Dr Janet Coleman are wonderful. I love them both dearly.”

Ms Diamond said she still needs to do regular blood tests, urine tests, and even skin checks.

Ms Diamond said going in for a transplant can be frightening.

“It will change your life, it’s just the best thing ever.”

Ms Diamond said she doesn’t believe in regrets because you “can’t change anything”.

During her dialysis in Sydney one of the nurses said to her that dialysis is character forming.

“You’re in there three times a week for around six hours, it is character forming.

“But I wouldn’t change a thing, the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Ms Diamond said that donating organs is something to think about.

“I’m not telling people what to do, just think that it is the most precious gift you could give – it’s life.”

Ms Diamond said she has decided she’s not going to die.

“I’m here for life. I’m here forever!”