Alexander Vets

When his only kidney failed, Oleksandr not only managed to receive a donor organ abroad at no cost, but also to halt the progression of liver cirrhosis—he had contracted hepatitis C during one of his hemodialysis sessions…

“I’ve always loved meat—I had to learn to love oatmeal,” smiles the 43-year-old Kyiv resident.

Before getting sick, the man had never had an ultrasound, since nothing was bothering him. That is, until one day he noticed that his legs and face were severely swollen, and his urine output had dropped sharply. That’s when he sounded the alarm.

“The doctor asked me, ‘Man, where did you put your kidney? Did you sell it?’ ‘That’s very funny,’ I replied, though in reality I wasn’t in the mood to laugh.”

The man took a creatinine test—it showed a level nearly 15 times higher than normal! Alexander had hoped to hear a preliminary diagnosis from the doctor performing the kidney ultrasound. Instead, he heard a question he didn’t know how to answer: “The doctor asked me, ‘Man, where did you put your kidney? Did you sell it?” “That’s very funny,” replied the bewildered patient, though in reality he was far from laughing. His single kidney had shrunk drastically in size and could no longer handle the workload. The doctors created a vascular access (a so-called fistula) for the man—connecting an artery and a vein—and a week later sent him for hemodialysis. Typically, a fistula is given a month to “mature.” But Oleksandr couldn’t wait that long—without the procedure to clean his blood outside his body, he would have died.

By profession, Oleksandr is an agronomist. He explains: for 15 years, he was exposed to pesticides practically every day. So if it weren’t for that, who knows—perhaps his kidney failure would have developed much later…

“On January 2, I got a call from Belarus telling me I had 10 hours to get on the operating table. If I didn’t make it in time, my cadaveric organ would be thrown in the trash.”

The man underwent dialysis sessions three times a week for four hours each, for four years straight. He admits: he was actually lucky. All his “fellow sufferers” who underwent hemodialysis with him have already passed away. Like Oleksandr, they developed an individual intolerance to the “artificial kidney.” “Every time they hooked me up to the machine, I was afraid that this day might be the last of my life,” the man tells Espreso.Zakhid.

Oleksandr received a new kidney two years ago… “under the Christmas tree.” “On January 2nd, I got a call from Belarus saying I had 10 hours to get on the operating table. If I didn’t make it in time, the deceased donor’s organ would be thrown in the trash. I called my friends—they were all drunk, celebrating. Flying wasn’t an option. The plane was going to Minsk, and from Minsk to Brest—where I was supposed to have the surgery—it’s the same distance as from Kyiv to Brest. I found a friend who agreed to drive me and my wife there. At 3:00 a.m., they performed HLA typing (an assessment of donor-recipient compatibility—Ed.)—the organ was a match in every respect. “At 6:00 a.m., I woke up with a transplanted kidney that immediately began producing urine, even though I hadn’t been able to urinate at all before that,” says the Kyiv resident.

“Without proper treatment for hepatitis, the doctors gave me six months to live. We had to act immediately”

Oleksandr underwent surgery in Belarus at public expense. He says he had to wait a year for the procedure. It seemed as though the worst was behind him. But the man’s hepatitis C, which he contracted during one of his hemodialysis sessions, began to progress.

Before the transplant, the disease was in a latent form. After the kidney transplant, the virus suddenly “woke up” and began to literally “eat away” at the liver. ALT and AST levels (markers of liver damage) were 5–6 times higher than normal! Elastography (“virtual palpation” of the liver) revealed the early stages of fibrosis—healthy organ tissue was beginning to be replaced by “scar tissue.” Without proper treatment, doctors gave him six months to live. Immediate action was required.

A treatment program for viral hepatitis C using new direct-acting antiviral drugs, which are effective in 90–95% of cases, has been in place in Ukraine since 2015. Prior to this, such patients had to use pegylated interferons—drugs with a number of serious side effects, an efficacy rate of less than 50%, and which are contraindicated for patients who have undergone transplants. “I can’t even take Nurofen—my kidney would fail immediately,” says Oleksandr.

Treatment with modern antiviral drugs lasted three months. Before that, the man had to undergo a series of tests, which cost him 5,000 hryvnias. After two months, the virus was no longer detectable in his blood. After three months, he took the test again: everything was fine—he had overcome the disease!

In this photo, Oleksandr is seen with his new kidney and after successfully overcoming hepatitis C. He has lost nearly 12 kg. “I try to walk a lot and watch what I eat,” he says.

Liver fibrosis remains, but it is no longer progressing. Oleksandr now has to stick to a diet for the rest of his life. He avoids fried foods entirely. He eats meat rarely and only lean cuts: turkey, chicken, and rabbit.

“During the time I was sick, many friends ‘fell by the wayside.’ I deleted three-quarters of the numbers from my phone.”

The Kyiv resident continues to work in his field, but no longer comes into contact with pesticides. He makes a living by providing consulting services. I ask who supported him all this time. “My mom and my beloved wife, Iryna. While I was sick, a lot of friends ‘fell by the wayside.’” I deleted three-quarters of the numbers from my phone… Ever since I got sick, my mom hasn’t stopped crying. I forbade her from coming to the hospital and asked the nurses not to let her in, but she’s my mom. My wife said, ‘You have to fight, because if you’re gone, I’ll follow you to the grave.’ She helped me out of bed. She literally ordered me: ‘Get up, we have a lot of work to do!’