Dr. Ting with Ingrid and Thomas Tung.

Elderly transplant patient thanks long-time physician

“It’s nice to know that when you’re having a bad day, you can take out and read a complimentary letter,” quips Dr. Robert Ting, Nephrologist with The Scarborough Hospital since 1993, and physician to 78-year old Ingrid Tung since 1996.

One particular letter, written by Ingrid’s husband of 53 years, Thomas, is a testament to the amazing work that is performed by staff and physicians each and every day at the Scarborough Regional Dialysis Program at TSH.

“You have a wonderful kidney dialysis centre, not only for facility and equipment, but also for your outstanding staff, including specialists, nurses and supporting personnel,” the letter states. “The wonderful team in your renal clinic kept my wife well enough to finally receive a kidney transplant…”

Ingrid was in pre-dialysis for seven years, followed by more than five years of dialysis.

“She was very sick, and when the family asked if she could be a transplant candidate at the age of 72 years, I thought ‘why not?’” explains Dr. Ting. “She was otherwise healthy, and even though the normal wait for a cadaver transplant was seven to ten years, I encouraged her to go on the list.”

Dr. Ting and the Tung family (who immigrated to Canada from Taiwan 35 years ago) believe faith played a role in the availability of a kidney at a crucial time in Ingrid’s life. She had the kidney transplant last December and, six months later, Ingrid is gaining strength and is feeling great. She’s even easing back into her Tai Chi routine.

“It’s really a miracle that a kidney was found, and that it was such a good match,” Dr. Ting adds. “If she had to wait much longer, it might not have been possible.”

With diabetes approaching epidemic proportions, and its consequent impact on kidney disease, Dr. Ting says “the focus has to be on prevention since there aren’t enough donor kidneys to go around.”

“Scarborough is like the epicentre of this because many of our ethnic populations are more susceptible to diabetes,” he adds. Interestingly, when he joined the hospital back in 1993, TSH didn’t even have a dialysis unit, “but even back then, I knew there was something special about this place.”

Launched in 1996, the SRDP now serves 8,000 patients a year for pre-dialysis services.

A father of two, Dr. Ting spends some of his spare time attending medical missions to Africa and China.

“I have been on eight medical missions since 2001,” he says. “It’s a very different world in those countries, and it makes you appreciate what we have here.”