Transplant mum sheds six stone to save son

Sep 9 2009 by Sharon Liptrott, Dumfries Standard Wednesday

A LOVING mum has dropped six stone to give her son a life-saving new kidney.

Doctors told Andrea MacDonald she needed to lose the weight to be considered as a live donor for 28-year-old son Chris.

But now, thanks to months of hard work, she’s set to go under the knife at the Churchhill Hospital in Oxford this November.

The 45-year-old council worker got the go-ahead for the operation just days before watching Chris get married to bride Gemma at the weekend.

She said: “The doctors said I needed to lose at least six stone before they’d consider a transplant.

“It was an unusual wedding present!”

Chris, a quantity surveyor in Penn, Buckinghamshire, has been on kidney dialysis for the past three years.

When doctors said he needed a transplant, his parents, Alastair and Andrea, from Ae Bridge, discovered they were matched donors.

Alastair, 48, was believed to be the better match and began taking tests over the course of a year.

But 12 months down the line, the family was told that he had to be ruled out because of medical reasons.

And doctors then broke the news to Andrea that her hefty weight of 21 stone meant the risks to herself from the surgery were too high.

She said: “I was absolutely devastated.

“I will do anything for my son and to be told that I could not give him this chance because of my size was a huge blow.

“I had never been really bothered by my weight before. I felt comfortable and did not feel big, so it really hit hard.”

Andrea managed to lose one stone by Christmas before she heard about a clinically-monitored very low calorie diet called LighterLife, which also includes weight loss counselling.

It has meant a 100-mile round-trip every Monday since January to Newton Stewart for the weekly session with weight management counsellor Nan-Marie Henry.

And it has been worth it as Andrea has lost another five stone in just over seven months.

She said: “It was such a relief to tell Chris and Gemma that I’d got the go-ahead.

“It has been such a rollercoaster ride so far.

“In April it looked as if I did not need to be the donor after all because the doctors found someone who was found to be a perfect match for Chris. He went into hospital for the transplant but then the donor pulled out at the last minute.

“Now I am over the moon to be able to do this for him. The operation is set for November 26 and that is Thanksgiving Day, so it must be a lucky omen.”

She added: “Chris has been marvellous through all of this. He’s very supportive and tells me I don’t have to do it but there is not a chance I’ll back out.”

Andrea says she intends to carry on with her diet until she reaches her idea weight of around 10 stone – half the woman she used to be.

And she is also planning to continue her quest to raise money for charity which started during her dieting.

She took part in the recent Relay For Life to raise funds for Cancer Research and, together with a colleague, Angela Kirk, hopes to raise £1,000 for the renal unit at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, where Chris has dialysis on visits to his parents.

They have, so far, had a two-day sponsored walk around Arran with transport and diesel donated by Dalbeattie firm John Whiteside Haulage, and held a clairvoyant evening.

Their next project is a Christmas calendar.