'Glass half full': She had three choices, death was one but life was better

When the Glow Walk rambles along Nobbys breakwall on Saturday to raise money for transplant research, Alison Brown will no doubt be thinking her "glass is half full". Login or signup to continue reading That's one of the mantras she lives by, along with humour, to help her get through the tough times. Mrs Brown, the event director, is also a transplant recipient .

"I had a kidney transplant 23 years ago at John Hunter Hospital," Mrs Brown said. "I had a choice of death, dialysis or transplant. I said 'one of the last two please, I have two kids to raise'.



" The annual Glow Walk supports the Hunter Transplant Research Foundation - the research arm of the Newcastle Transplant Unit at John Hunter Hospital. Hundreds are expected to do the walk, wearing fluorescent clothing as part of the glow theme. Mrs Brown said her transplanted kidney was "going very nicely".

"We have first-class medical research at HMRI and a great transplant program at the John Hunter," she said. "I speak to a lot of transplant recipients across the world. And I can tell you we really have a great team in the Hunter.

"Research is so important in this arena." Katie Baines, of Hunter Medical Research Institute, is developing better diagnostic tools to "tailor immunosuppressive treatments for transplant patients". Associate Professor Baines, also with University of Newcastle, focuses on predicting individual risk of infection.

She sought to improve the balance between "preventing organ rejection and avoiding life-threatening infections". "The lifelong immunosuppressants needed to prevent organ rejection have serious side effects, including infections and cancer," A/Prof Baines said. "We're working on biomarkers to better predict infection risk and improve diagnostic tools.

A particular focus is BK virus, which can cause severe damage to the transplanted kidney if not properly managed." Mrs Brown said immunosuppression meant transplant recipients faced "big health challenges". Despite this, she said "life is for living".

"I don't walk around on eggshells. I live my life. We didn't go through all we've gone through to sit at home and wrap ourselves in cotton wool," she said.

"I honestly feel that attitude is 50 per cent of getting through the tough times. It's really important to make sure you balance your mind," she said. Dr Munish Heer, a transplant surgeon at John Hunter Hospital, has done more than 600 kidney transplants.

"We're constantly learning new techniques to operate on more complex patients and improve outcomes," Dr Heer said. "The Glow Walk is vital in helping to fund this ongoing research." He said Australia was "great at a lot of things, but we're lagging in organ donation".

"The donor rate here is about 17 donations per million people. In Spain, it's 47 donations per million people. Heaven doesn't need the organs.

We need them here." The Glow Walk runs from 1pm to 3.30pm on Saturday.

To register, visit hmri.org.au/events/htrf-glow-walk-2024 .

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