Cornea Steytler, aged 53 from Kloof, KZN, experienced rejection after 22 years with a kidney transplant and is now back on the waiting list for another transplant. 

1. Which organ did you receive, and in what year?
A kidney transplant in 1999 from a deceased donor.

2. When did you go into rejection and do you know what type of rejection? 
In 2021 I started showing signs of rejection, which was picked up by routine blood tests.

3. Are you receiving any treatment and what type of treatment?
I’m on hemodialysis.

4. How did you discover that you are in rejection??
The rejection happened over a period of time, started seeing swelling of my feet and then the routine tests showed that there was a problem.

5. What emotions did you experience when you received the diagnosis of chronic rejection?
It was not a shock more than disappointment – you want your transplanted kidney to last a lifetime, but not all patients are that lucky. I knew that I would eventually have to go back on dialysis but the 22 years that I had a dialysis free life was wonderful. Both dialysis and a transplant are only treatments not a cure.

6. What is the prognosis, is a transplant part of the treatment?
I am back on the transplant list from December 2023, and pray for another miracle.

7. What advice would you give other patients going through rejection? 
Don’t get despondent. You’ve been through so much already. Every day is a gift. Some days are just better than others. Just keep going, you will get the courage and strength to get through it. Stay focused and believe. It’s just a steppingstone not a stumble block. You’ve got this!