They overcome kidney ailments to stay together

Nearly eight years ago when Sunil Bhosale first saw his future wife Anita Ghag, she was lying on a bed next to him getting her dialysis procedure done. At the time, both Sunil and Anita were patients of chronic kidney failure.

The families that used to interact regularly during the dialysis days became friends. Six months later, Bhosale underwent a successful kidney transplant but Anita had a long way to go.After three years of painful dialysis sessions, Anita too underwent a kidney transplant in 2008 and both the patients started leading a normal life.

Their families decided to find a match but found it difficult given their medical history. Here’s when both their mothers decided to solve each other’s woes - why not get the two friends married?
Finally two months ago, the ex-patients of Jehangir Hospital tied the knot and visited the hospital this week to share the good news with social workers at the hospital who played an important role in shaping their future life.

Hospital authorities said Sunil Bhosale was admitted in April 2004 at the age of 23 years in a critical stage with a diagnosis of chronic renal failure.

“He remained on dialysis for almost 19 months and despite his mother willing to donate kidney, family didn’t have funds for transplant as they only earn from a small canteen they run on highway. The dialysis was managed by hospital but for surgery, we helped them get donation from Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Dorabji Tata Trust and other trusts like Mukul Madhav Foundation etc. After transplant in December 2005, Sunil started gaining weight and even set up his own canteen,” said a hospital spokesperson.

In case of Anita, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on dialysis in May 2005. She had intracranial bleed while on dialysis and the bleed was surgically removed. Anita came out of the intensive care unit in seven days in April 2008, her mother donated her kidney and she started leading a normal life.
When both the families started looking for a match for their kids and faced difficulty, both the mothers met once again at a common event organised by the hospital and it was decided to fix the match.

Anita was hesitant to marry because of her physical condition. “I was worried and was scared to accept the proposal thinking that if I get some neurological problem as I use to get frequent headache after my brain surgery. Doctor evaluated me thoroughly; MRI was done and doctor ruled out any neurological complication. Thanks to the support and confidence of my mother-in-law, I agreed to get married. Whenever I think about my hospital days, it feels painful but those days taught me the real worth of dear life,” said the bride.

Dr SM Ambike, the nephrologist who treated both the patients, the cause of kidney disease in these two patients was not exactly known. “Some immune mediated disease and some congenital disorders can cause renal failure at a young age. But the condition of both the patients is now excellent and they can live a normal life,” he said.