A Tribute to Roberto: The Importance of Organ Donation and Fighting for Life

National Organ Donation Day was commemorated on May 30. The date was proposed for the birth of the son of the first patient who gave birth after having received a liver transplant in a public hospital, which represents the possibility of living and giving life after a transplant.

Last year RQ gave an interview to a daily newspaper after having undergone a double transplant: a heart and a few years later, a kidney. In that talk, the patient asked to protect his identity for fear of reprisals in his work, since in order to keep it, he never told that he was transplanted.

A year later, Noelia Blanco contacted this medium to highlight the value and importance of donating organs, but from another perspective and in memory of her husband, as a tribute to his fight, Noelia spoke about the long road she must go through a person waiting for organs to live. Unfortunately, her husband, Roberto Quintana, passed away in May of this year after fighting a sudden cancer. “He fought until the end, he overcame two transplants, but cancer took him away,” he lamented.

But Noelia is strong and has a message to share: “I am the wife of a fighter for life who overcame a double transplant, a heart transplant 20 years ago, and a kidney transplant 1 and a half years ago, but due to another cursed disease no longer is among us”, began recounting. “My husband passed away on May 11 from a tumor in his stomach,” she recounted.

Roberto was 42 years old, he was born in Lanús, Buenos Aires province, and since 2009 he lived in Goya, Corrientes, with his family. His story touched and brought hope to many people who are waiting for an organ. In 2003 he received a heart transplant and in 2021 he received a kidney. “The transplant changed my life completely,” he had shared at the time in an interview last year.

“With the first transplant we didn’t know anything, it was something strange for us and there wasn’t as much information, less social networks or news web pages; we didn’t even have a cell phone,” Noelia recalled about that first test they had to face, in which Roberto received a heart. “With the second transplant, the kidney, we were already involved in the subject and the Justina Law had also come out. When he entered the list, it was really in a short time that it took them to call to notify him that there was a transplant operation. He was fourth and it was his decision to go to Buenos Aires with that position, until at the time of the trip he was ranked third, then second, until they gave us the news that the organ was for him”, he said about the miracle that occurred that time.

Roberto had shared in detail what it was like when he was told that he had to receive a heart transplant to live. He was 24 years old at the time: “I had a normal life from my birth, my childhood, I did primary school, high school, everything normal. At 16 I entered the Army, at 18 I was assigned to the southern part of the country , to Santa Cruz, and later I was a non-commissioned officer in the Army. From one day to the next I began to feel bad, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath. They obviously admitted me and the first studies revealed that I had a big heart. I was even surprised because we, Force personnel, every six months carried out a rigorous health control and in the last control everything had gone well for me, so that is why I was surprised and stunned because I did not understand anything,” he confessed.

“From there they referred me to Río Gallegos, I stayed for two or three days, an Army ambulance looked for me and they took me directly to Buenos Aires. All this was in September 2001,” he recalled. “They carried out all the studies on me and they automatically diagnosed me with dilated cardiomyopathy, which is when the heart becomes inflamed. The reasons were never known until today. My only option was a transplant,” he said about the news. “I spent two years suffering from the disease, going in and out of the hospital, one week good and another bad, until the time came. In 2003 I was admitted to the Italian Hospital, where I was practically on my last legs and I entered emergency one week. They operated on me on November 15, 2003 and from then on, my life changed completely,” he explained.

Noelia and Roberto have two children. Throughout the process of diagnosis, waiting, transplantation and recovery, there are crucial moments in which uncertainty reigns but also hope. “One of the most difficult moments was when he was on dialysis, it was something very hard for him because he came back tired until the time of the transplant arrived, which was something highly anticipated and desired by all. We were always at the foot of the canyon with him, always pending that there is never a lack of medicines, a healthy diet and drinking a lot of water, which luckily he drank up to four liters a day,” recalled Noelia. “For my part, I was more aware of him than of my children, but as a family we were united, together step by step,” Noelia highlighted.

Robert’s message

In the interview with epoch, Roberto was able to convey his experience as a transplant patient: “The message that I give to people who out there, out of ignorance, think that donating organs is wrong or that it is a business, I tell them that it is totally wrong. In principle, when this happens to me, obviously these issues were not on my mind. When it happened to me, it was then that I became aware of the person or the family that has to go through this difficult thing.”

“To the people who are on the waiting list, I tell them not to be afraid. It is understood and each one makes their decision, but donating life is the best thing that exists together with the Justina Law. Donating organs saves seven lives,” he explained. , raising awareness He also said: “I am totally grateful to the donors, I don’t know them, but I know they are angels who watch over us from heaven and they gave us a chance.”

Roberto had also pointed out that he managed to learn a few things about his donors: “My first heart donor was 18 years old, and my kidney donor was also 18 years old, and was from Formosa. Both died in traffic accidents.”

“My husband had two angels”

Noelia expressed: “I want them to know how important it is to donate organs. We saved seven lives and there is no need to be afraid, or think about what is said about organ trafficking and so many things that we hear. Thanks to the Justina Law, we are now all donors “I thank my husband’s donor angels. They were both only 18 years old and their families thought of us, who were on the other side, waiting for those organs.”

After what Roberto had to go through and the impossibility of revealing his identity at the time for fear of losing his job, Noelia highlighted: “I would like to say that the transplanted, as was the case with my husband and that at that time I was 24 years, they have the right to continue working as a normal person, because that is why doctors reach that stage, so that they have a better life and work. My husband worked after a long time but hiding everything, only the relatives knew,” she confessed. Noelia. “Last year, when he gave the interview at the time, he did not want to give his name to take care of the income we had to live. I believe that employers have to give everyone the opportunity, if they are in a position to work with dignity, without fear of that they fire him. They have the right to have a dignified life and to work in white like anyone else,” he added.

Likewise, he called for reflection as a society on the need to think about organ donation: “Until it touches us closely, one does not know what to do. In my family we are all donors and it is important to highlight the importance of donation pediatric, because there are many little ones waiting,” he said.

“I am proud of my province, Corrientes, which is first in organ donation. Thanks to the families of these donor angels, life goes on in other people,” she closed.

By
Monica Wall

vintage writing