Posted on 08/17/2005 5:17:22 PM PDT by dadokane
Cojocaru Again Looking for New Kidney
Aug 17, 3:19 PM (ET)
NEW YORK (AP) - Steven Cojocaru is looking for another kidney transplant after the first donated kidney had to be removed due to infection.
Cojocaru, a correspondent for syndicated TV shows "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider," received a kidney from a friend in January. That kidney was removed in June after it became infected with a virus that can afflict transplant recipients and lead to eventual loss of the organ.
The red carpet mainstay says the virus is now gone, leaving him in proper shape for a new transplant. He is seeking the right donor match.
"Now I feel 100 percent," Cojocaru tells Us Weekly in an interview. "I'm alive and kicking and concentrating on buying my fall wardrobe!"
The 40-something fashion commentator suffers from polycystic kidney disease, a hereditary disorder that causes the growth of cysts on the kidney.
After going though "drama detox," Cojocaru says he's now ready to return to work. He plans to be back on the red carpet for the MTV Video Music Awards in Miami on Aug. 28.
Cojocaru says he's "determined" to get another kidney and is trying to "help make donating kidneys the new, trendy, hot thing to do. Hotter than buying a house in Malibu."
"Kidneys are the new black!" he joked.
All the while the great unwashed take a second seat, some, not afflicted directly by the shortage of organs or children, celebrate the Rosies while others wait eight years in some cases for children -- while the monied fly off halfway around the world seeking to adopt a seemingly white baby.
There are sooo many non-white children available for adoption at a moment's notice, but, as i said, they aren't white.
The white children are in the landfill; their parents significantly more inclimed to believe the lie of a formless mass of cells than their african-american counterparts, despite all the spectacular 3-D photographic evidence to the contrary.
does he have one kidney that works or not?
He's likely still got both of the kidneys he was born with. I may be wrong, but I don't believe the original kidneys are generally removed when a transplanted kidney is placed in the body. However, his renal function is very poor. Polycystic kidney disease is ultimately fatal. Perhaps he's on dialysis while he waits for a new transplant.
But if he needs two kidneys wouldn't the donor have to be bi?
The original kidneys are not removed? Ya mean he had 3 kidneys until his body rejected the transplant?
You may want to reread the article.
Yes. Unless the recipient's kidneys are cancerous, or there is some other definite need to remove the individual's original kidneys, the transplanted kidney is usually simply connected to the renal vessels. Most patients with transplanted kidneys do indeed have three kidneys in their bodies. Unless necessary, the patient is not put through any more surgery than is necessary.
At the time that I wrote the post, I qualified the statement with "I may be incorrect..." only because I hadn't gone back to the notes from my renal lectures last year to review the exact circumstances under which the transplant recipient's kidneys are and are not removed. I really just wasn't sure what was the protocol in the case of polycystic kidney disease.
You may want to reread the article.
I did reread the article. It only states that the transplanted kidney was removed due to infection. You may not want to be so condescending, but thanks for being so anyway. In the future, you may want to do a bit of research before decide to be so patronizing.
Cojo has never looked a picture of health. He strikes me as someone whose been sickly since birth. Emaciated, puffy cheeks. His parents look healthy. I had a childhood friend who could hardly play outdoors due to allergies and asthma to everything but then again her mother was over protective of her, sheltered her too much. I bet Cojos mother did the same, smothered him with protection so he didn't even have a chance to see if he could grow out of his health ailments and develope into a healthy adult.
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