'Podcast' | Dad, how do you live with someone else's kidney?

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I have been writing in EL PAÍS for more than 15 years and I specialize in healthcare and health issues.

I have covered everything from the Covid pandemic to neglected diseases in Africa and, of course, I have also written about kidneys and transplants... Every year we say that Spain continues to be a leader.

Although I spend my days talking to doctors, I discovered most of what I know today about this field when my father was told he needed another kidney.

Throughout this journey, until today, we have learned the complexities behind a transplant, how well the system works in some aspects in Spain, which has been the world leader in life-saving donations for 32 years in a row.

But we have also experienced how hard it can be, that when a transplant is performed, the process does not end with the operation... The transplant is just another phase, as is the previous dialysis, the calls for surgery that then remain nothing, the uncertainty of rejection, the side effects or the many medications that will accompany you for the rest of your life.

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