After the surgery, the assistant sub-inspector with the Jharkhand police needs extreme precautions, but he can do routine exercises effortlessly, and on a good day walk for 15km.
“My wife and I are well aware that it is because a family consented to donate that I can breathe. We are grateful and have registered as organ donors,” he s aid. Now, regular medicines are part of his day and he has to stay in touch with the doctors because there is always a chance of infection or rejection.
“I cannot take up vigorous physic al activity and have to keep my sugar and BP levels under control. I cannot eat raw vegetables or fruit but that does not stop me from enjoying life,” he said.
Rajni Kant was in Ranchi on field duty in 2020 when Covid-19 struck. The infection did not spare him. Kant said that on July 30, he had all the symptoms but the first test and the second one 14 days later were both negative.
“Back on duty, I went to donate plasma. The tests here indicated that I had Covid-19 infection.
This was in late August and after treatment, I was back on the job by mid-September. But I was constantly breathless and weak. I went to AIIMS Patna and was told that the recurrent Covid-19 infections had damaged my lungs and I had pneumonia and lung fibrosis. Despite medi cation, my condition deteriorated and I was referred to AIIMS in Delhi in Feb ruary 2021,” Kant said.
Doctors told him that he was suffering from interstitial lung disease and hyper tension. After much consultation, he was told that a transplant was the only option as 80% of his lungs were damaged.
“I was shocked and my family could not accept it. But it was obvious that a transplant was necessary. We took second and third opinions from doctors in Hyderabad,” he said.
He registered for a transplant with a private hospital in Hyderabad after consultating the pulmonologists and surgeons, an d waited for a donor.
When he went back to AIIMS for a check-up during the second wave, his condition had worsened. He continued with online consultation but he had to be a dmitted to a hospital in Jamshedpur.
Finally, Rajni Kant was operated on October 13, 2021 and discharged after 16 days with a donor’s lungs. He had spent Rs 40 lakh for the transplant. He now has a desk job, and avoids crowded places and field trips.
