Frequently Asked Questions

It is very important to follow-up as advised after the surgery. You should do every single health check-up as prescribed without fail. You will become a participant in your own healthcare, and we will do everything possible to ensure you remain safe and healthy.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) occurs when your kidneys have been malfunctioning for more than 3 months. It’s an irreparable, life threatening condition and there might be no visible symptoms at all. Diabetes (types 1 and 2), high blood pressure, immune system diseases such as Lupus and chronic viral illnesses like AIDS, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C can also cause kidney failure. The other reasons for kidney failure include: Multiple episodes of urinary tract infection Post-strep infection Polycystic kidney disease Inherited kidney diseases Congenital or birth defects - In many cases, the defect is rectified while the baby is still in mother’s womb; whereas those with major complications can only be managed at a later stage. Drugs and toxins, including long-term use medications like NSAIDs (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs Long-term exposure to certain chemicals

It is very important to visit your consulting doctor regularly and undergo all prescribed follow-ups and test to make sure that your new kidney is functioning well. Remember, a transplant surgery is a second chance at life and you need to be responsible for your own well-being.

Bone Marrow Transplant and Haematopoietic Stem cell Transplant are non-surgical modes of treatment to cure advanced stages of malignancies as well as non-malignant haematological diseases and multiple other disorders. As the name suggests, bone marrow transplant and peripheral blood stem cell transplant mean replacing or restoring dysfunctional cells with healthy cells.The diseased cells in your body are first destroyed completely through conditioning therapy, which is inducing high doses of chemotherapy or irradiation.You’ll be then infused with healthy cells that will start multiplying on their own in about 2 to 3 weeks.

Bone marrow is the soft, sponge-like material found inside your bones and contains immature cells known as hematopoietic or blood-forming cells. The Hematopoietic cells keep dividing into more blood-forming cells; and mature into one of three types of blood cells: infection-fighting white blood cells, oxygen-carrying red blood cells and clot-forming platelets. Though most hematopoietic stem cells are found in the bone marrow, some cells called peripheral blood stem cells are found in your bloodstream. Blood in the umbilical cord also contains hematopoietic cells. Cells from any of these sources can also be used in transplant.

​The first step to BMT and PBSCT is destroying the diseased cells from your body through high doses of chemotherapy or radiation called conditioning. At Aster Medcity, we have the most advanced technology for these procedures, including Kerala’s first True Beam Linear Accelerator and dedicated radiotherapy rooms to ensure maximum patient safety. All radiotherapy treatments we provide are based on NCCN (USA) and ESMO (Europe) guidelines. As cancerous cells divide faster than healthier cells, we can, through conditioning destroy the existing bone marrow cells so that we can infuse healthy, transplanted cells into your body effectively.

With advance in technology, obtaining cells from a donor or harvesting has become relatively simple. Bone marrow is harvested using needle from the hip or at times breastbone area, after inducing general or local anaesthesia. The harvested bone marrow is processed to remove blood and bone fragments, combined with a preservative and frozen at sub-zero temperatures to keep the stem cells alive but dormant until required. This technique is known as cryopreservation. We have a cryopreservation unit where we can cryopreserve stem cells for many years. In order to harvest PBSCs, the donor is given medications to produce and release excess stem cells into the blood stream. Called apheresis, blood is drawn from the donor and subject to a process that removes only the stem cells. The blood is then returned to the donor and the collected cells, stored in the cryopreservation unit. This usually takes 4 to 6 hours. We also obtain stem cells from umbilical cord on consent, to treat children and adults. We can cryopreserve these cells or even the entire cord for years.

If you are the bone marrow donor, you might feel tired and lethargic after donating the cells. However you will return to normalcy in a few days or sometimes, in a few weeks. As it is a procedure done under anaesthesia, you might need to do all relevant health checks before donating. Aphersis, however is easier, except for occasional giddiness, headache and some discomfort caused mainly due to the medicines given for increasing stem cells.

Post-surgery care is extremely crucial and you have to take up the responsibility of your own health and wellbeing. Make sure you take your medications on time. And remember that these medications must be taken for life. Exercise - we encourage heart transplant recipients to increase physical activity to improve the functions of the heart and avoid weight gain. However, you’ll need to take the advice of your Cardiologist and Rehabilitation Therapist before you start on your regime. We’ll give you specific instructions on what you should eat and what you should not. A low-fat, low-sodium diet will decrease the risk of heart diseases, high blood pressure and fluid retention. Remember, how you recover, how well you recover and how quickly you recover depend on many factors including your age, general health and your response to the transplant. Patients, especially children will need to be monitored all their life to ensure nothing is wrong. Fortunately, according to worldwide statistics, almost 85% heart transplant recipients get back to their normal life within a reasonable time. The most important of all are regular check-ups. Missing even one means you are neglecting your health. So visit your doctor at regular intervals, get your investigations done on time and lead a healthy lifestyle. It’s a second chance at life, make sure you live it well.

A medical subspeciality of Radiology that plays a vital role in both emergency and elective care, Interventional Radiology (IR) is the minimally invasive, image-guided treatment of certain diseases/ conditions that may otherwise require an open surgery. IR procedures are performed with the help of advanced imaging modalities like MRI, CT and ultrasound scans, in cath labs/ sterile operation theatre environments. The interventional radiologist can see the inside of the body and treat complex conditions ranging from brain aneurysms to cancers, through very small incisions (2-3mm in 90% cases), with unmatched precision and speed.