Turning Tragedy Into Hope

It was the most shocking news Rosa Shields had ever received.

While awaiting her second kidney transplant in 12 years, Shields was told by doctors that, as a result of a blood transfusion that had given her Hepatitis C, her liver was also failing.

“It was devastating,” she says. “I was diagnosed with nephritis in 1976, and had already been through one donor kidney. But to hear that I also needed a new liver…I had never felt so frightened in my life.”

Fortunately for Shields, she was placed in the expert hands of the Multi-Organ Transplant Team at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC): the only centre in Quebec where kidney, liver, heart and pancreas transplants can all be performed in the same place.

In fact, “first” and “only” are words that come up a lot with reference to the MUHC’s transplant programme. Just ask Dr. Peter Metrakos, the programme’s Division Chief.

“The Royal Victoria Hospital was the site of the first kidney transplant in the Commonwealth, just over 50 years ago,” he says. “Since then we’ve stayed at the head of the field, and are now the only centre in the province to be have our Transplant Surgery Fellowship accredited by the American Society of Transplant Surgery and our Transplant Nephrhology Fellowship accredited by the American Transplant Society. We also performed the first pancreas-alone transplant in Canada, and are the only programme in the country to use an ex-vivo perfusion system to select and improve the function of donor kidneys before transplant.”

Performing about 140-160 solid organ transplants every year, the MUHC is also one of Canada’s busiest transplant centres. This gives its experts a large enough patient base to conduct leading-edge clinical research into new transplant techniques, and to train fellows from around the world.

According to Metrakos, the key to keeping the MUHC at the forefront of the transplant field is teamwork, and having new, world-class facilities where the latest surgical techniques can be performed with ease. “The MUHC’s wide range of multidisciplinary expertise is what has made us such a success. Bringing all of our surgeons, nephrologists, hepatologists, nurses, researchers and support staff together in new facilities at the Glen Campus will let us do what we do even better.“ State-of-the-art operating suites, dedicated teaching spaces and one of the finest new research centres in the country are just some of the advantages the transplant team will enjoy at the Glen.

Helping Metrakos and his colleagues realize their vision for the future is something Peter Duffield, Chairman of the Royal Victoria Hospital Foundation, feels passionately about. “The Royal Victoria Hospital’s storied history as a transplant leader is a testament to our community’s support. By giving to the Best Care for Life campaign and helping build the new Royal Victoria at the Glen Campus, we can make sure that the future is just as impressive as the past.”

For Rosa Shields, the proof of the MUHC’s transplant excellence is literally written on her body. “It looks like a map of the world down there, but every scar reminds me of how blessed I am. “ With a smile, she says, “Every day is a good day now—I get up and say, ‘let’s go at it!’”