Several seriously ill patients awaiting pancreas transplants have called on the government to restore the transplant programme at Beaumont Hospital which went out of existence when consultant David Hickey retired in December. Although the HSE and Beaumont say the service will be transferred to St Vincent’s Hospital, no transplants have taken place since Mr Hickey retired, and patients – those waiting for transplants and those recovering from transplants - have complained that they have not been able to access the same level of care. There are currently eight people on the waiting lists for transplants. Ciara Kelly is 38 and lives in Whitehall, Dublin with her husband and two sons, Liam (9) and Gavin (7). She has had diabetes since she was a child and it was this which led to her first pancreas transplant in 2009. “After my second pregnancy, I started having massive swings in my blood sugar levels, I couldn’t manage the diabetes at all, and the doctors felt that the best way to go was a pancreas transplant”. That happened in 2009 and what followed was “three and a half years of bliss” before her body rejected the pancreas. She’s now back on the waiting list. David Hickey did her transplant and he and his team were available to her until his retirement to help with after care, her current medical needs and as a point of contact if she had any worries about what happened to her. "I was told at one stage that I could get treatment to try and lower my antibody levels in the hope that I could get a transplant quicker. But now I’m told that I will not receive it. In my eyes they’re leaving me to die”.
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"When I Pass Out, It's Just Me And The Kids"
Several seriously ill patients awaiting pancreas transplants have called on the government to restor...