A LOCAL mother has offered a lifeline to her son as his extraordinary 29-year health battle continues.
Monica Kelly, from Killough, is giving one of her kidneys to her brave son Michael, who is suffering renal failure.
Monica (50) says she has no fears about the surgery to help her eldest son who “has been through the wars” since he was born with a rare massive tumour in 1989.
Michael was not expected to survive birth and underwent 20 pioneering operations throughout his childhood to remove the benign growth from his torso.
Unable to properly balance because of the weight of the tumour, doctors injected the little boy with drugs to shrink the growth before operating.
Clothes were specially made for Michael, who suffered multiple haemorrhages and infections due to the severity of his condition.
After undergoing one final operation as a teenager, his family hoped the worst of his troubles were behind him.
But two years ago, Michael was diagnosed with unrelated kidney disease. Following a serious deterioration in his condition in recent weeks, he urgently needs a transplant.
Determined to “just get on with it”, Monica immediately offered a kidney and has been confirmed as a good donor match. She will now spend the next six weeks getting ready for the potentially life-changing operation.
In the meantime, she has been trained to give Michael dialysis, hooking him up to machines in his bedroom every night for the seven-hour treatment to cleanse his blood, which she says is “totally heartbreaking”.
“It took me three weeks to learn how to do it at home for him and thankfully the dialysis is working, but we have been told a transplant will get rid of more toxins from his blood stream,” she said.
“We met the surgeon on Friday and are getting ready to go ahead.
“If they find a better match they will use it instead, but I will still donate my kidney for somebody else to have.
“We would hope my kidney might last him 20 years, or at least 10. Although Michael is used to surgery, this will be my first operation. I am a bit nervous, but I think anyone would do this for their child.”
The gift of an organ is just the latest sacrifice Monica has happily made for her son, who she admits she might “mollycoddle just a bit” because of the the obstacles he has faced.
Wrongly diagnosed with a severe form of spina bifida before birth, Monica and her husband, Gerard, were told to expect the worst for their baby.
Within days, doctors realised Michael had an extremely rare form of cystic-hygroma, which was caused by a malformation in his lymphatic system.
“It had never been seen like that before, with the tumour growing out of his side,” she said. “He was supposed to go to Great Ormond Street for his first operation to begin to remove the growth, which would take years, but the surgeon in Belfast said he was prepared to have a go. He did a fantastic job.
“There have been difficulties. At one stage they were going to amputate his left arm. He has arthritis and nerve damage to his eye.
“One operation took 18 hours and required more than 100 staples. Michael lost so much blood when he came back to the ward that we barely recognised him, but he quickly bounced back.”
Monica said she took Michael to Lourdes three times during his childhood and prayed for relief.
“He had been through the wars, but by the time he left school the operations were over and most of the tumour was gone.,” she said.
She said they never imagined Michael would face a new illness.
“He told me he had been having headaches for weeks and we ended up in accident and emergency in Downpatrick,” she said.
“I believe they saved his life because his blood pressure was so high that he was on the verge of a stroke or a brain haemorrhage.
“The doctor immediately said he suspected his kidneys were not working properly. This is not even connected to his original condition.”
With Michael now struggling with just 10% kidney function, Monica said she just wanted to get the transplant done so she could see him rally once again.
“He tires easily, can be in severe pain and be bed ridden for weeks on end, but he bounces back and just gets on with it. That is what I am hoping to see,” she said.
“He takes it in his stride, he is easy going whereas in a way this is all new to me. I will have to look after myself and lose a bit of weight before we go ahead.
“We will go into hospital together and I will stay two days while he will stay for five. This gives us light at the end of the tunnel, any mother would do this for their son.”
Despite the close bond between them, Michael jokes that he does not want to be in the same ward as his mum when they undergo the surgery.
He adds that he too has no qualms about what lies ahead: “I want the operation over and done. I just want to get back to playing golf.”