Psychiatric Trauma of Waiting for Transplant

MyFox Houston | Greg Gordon

HOUSTON - For much of the last three years, Sean Gustaf Immonen has been imprisoned in a “biological” limbo, suspended between the healthy life he once knew and the death that comes eventually to those whose diseased organs fail.

"It honestly feels like torture," says Sean.

A machine that does what his useless kidneys can't has bought time. For nearly 14 hours each week, it sucks every drop of blood out of Sean's exhausted body and puts it back free of impurities.

The cost of dialysis and drugs? More than $50,000 per month.

The process is far from perfect. Sean Immonen has suffered partial loss of sight and hearing. Blood pressure spikes have pushed him perilously close to stroke and heart attack.

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