Kidney Transplantation for Daniel Westling (May 2009)

[Laurentienne]

Owww I didn't know he needed a kidney transplant! But that for sure explains why he look the way he does around the eye area. Not ment as critizism, it is quite common for people with kidney diseases.

I really hope the new kidney will work and will do so for years and years. And that the body doesn't reject it. Hope the lifelong medication will help him out.

I really feel with the couple, it must be hard from them both. I'm sure there must be some reasonable explanation to why CP Victoria went away, and it might be brought to media at a later point.

I really feel with her, it cannot be good to be away. Hopefully she will be back home soon with her Daniel. (I haven't checked out yet how long she'll stay in Grønland.)

Wishing both Daniel, his father and all family involved all the best.

[MARG]

With the way everyone is watching Victoria and Daniel I think any prior notice that Daniel was scheduled for a transplant would have turned the hospital into a media debacle.

Victoria cancelling a scheduled visit would have raised red flags everywhere. People would have been wanting to know if she herself was unwell and if not, why the cancellation. The media would have had pre warning and gone into investigative overdrive. No dumpster would have been safe. And with enough money someone was bound to give (witness the securtity debacle at Buckingham Palace for cold hard cash).

Picture her trying to just visit him in the hospital . . . . it would have been a stressful gauntlet to run, and stressful for him knowing she was having to do it. But in these days of technological wizardry we have the joys of Skype or whatever. They can share the joy of seeing and speaking with each other whenever they please.

[Duke of Marmalade]

at least for the public the solution of cp victoria being on duty is ODD - but on the other hand, the couple is kind of odd anyway.
The Associated Press: Future Swedish prince has kidney transplant
Kidney transplant for Princess's fiancé - The Local
Fiance of Swedish crown princess undergoes kidney transplant : Europe World
if it was a scheduled procedure why not do it when victoria is around. the greenland trip was planned for ages.

good luck and hope he will be better soon. kidney transplants are no big deal anymore, just look at nicki lauda the formula one racer who is doing as well as usual, even after many years.

[amedea]

Originally Posted by Thomasine

According to official information from the Swedish court Daniel Westling had the operation today.

Below the official bulletin from the palace in Stockholm:

Information om Daniel Westling


Daniel Westling has today been subjected to a kidney transplantation.
The reason is a congenital but not inherited disease causing impaired renal function. The need for a future kidney transplantation has been known since long. The operation was carried out today as planned without complications. The kidney was donated by the father of the patient. Both the donor and the recipient are doing well.


I wish Daniel all the best

It seems to me that "not inherited disease" means "Victoria's children will not have this kind of problem". That makes me unconfortable because it has an eugenetic sound to me.

[emmeleia]

Probably this is the reason for the fact that the wedding is set to be next year, summer....

I suspect that there are lots of problems we cannot imagine, however...

[starnightsky]

I wondered why we haven't seen him in public for awhile. Wasn't the last time on Victoria Day? Hope he and his father get well quickly!!

[Boris]

Making a big effort, one could maybe try to find some logic in CP Victoria’s decision to go on the trip to Greenland and stay away until June 1 – though the logic does escape me.
But there’s no logic whatsoever in even spending the eve of her husband-to-be’s surgery not with him, but in Denmark at an uttely unimportant private birthday party for Crown Prince Frederik.
PR chief Nina Eldh’s comment that both the trip and the surgery were scheduled like this in advance makes CP Victoria’s priorities here even more inexplicable to me.

I hope that no further complications will arise for Daniel Westling and that he will recover well, which usually takes about two months. Unfortunately, it’s completely wrong that a kidney transplant and the larger picture of kidney disease are "no big deal anymore".

I also hope that the Royal Court will find a smart way to deal with the issue.
Daniel Westling’s health will continue to be a matter of concern for the rest of their lives, and the Bernadotte PR department has shown very little expertise in dealing with matters and working professionally ever since Nina Eldh took over. Regarding an issue as sensitive as this one, they need to apply both transparency and a good image-supporting spin.

[HRHofNothing]

This hits close to home for me....My father is 11 months post heart transplant.

Daniel will be on life-long medication. While it is true that transplanted organs do not have the life span of the organs we were born with, they CAN last for many a decades-esp. Kidneys. Having said that, IF Daniel needs another kidney transplant in the future-it should come as a shock to no one.

The Royal court is in a catch-22 situation as far as I can tell. I am not this couple's biggest fan but Victoria did the right thing by being away. The prospect of no royal visitors to the hospital prevents the venue from being a media circus. We must remember that Daniel is not the only patient there-infact he probably is not the only one recovering from a kidney transplant right now at the same hospital. So all these patients need to allowed to recover in peace.

Since they have said that this is something he has suffered from a long time, the court needs to be open to the public about the entire history. Sweden and Swedes have a right to know if their future soverign (Victoria's child) might have the possibility of this health problem. Unfortunately for Mr. Westling, there can be no privacy in this matter. There needs to be full disclosure and the faster the better.

[Catharina]

I guess it would be safe to assume that Daniel as a prince might choose to be the patron of some organization dealing with kidney and liver diseases and transplant patients and helping to promote research and medical development in that area. That is, if there is suitable organization lacking a patron at that time. I would love to see him giving a public face to these types of diseases.

What I do wonder is why the operation was done now? Did Daniel have a serious kidney failure? I'm sure he would have had access to top notch medical care even before the engagement so that can't be the reason. I'd also love to know the King and Queen's reaction and opinion on this. Was this something that postponed the engagement?

[Lena]

The Royal court is in a catch-22 situation as far as I can tell. I am not this couple's biggest fan but Victoria did the right thing by being away. The prospect of no royal visitors to the hospital prevents the venue from being a media circus. We must remember that Daniel is not the only patient there-infact he probably is not the only one recovering from a kidney transplant right now at the same hospital. So all these patients need to allowed to recover in peace.

As it seems the room of Daniel and father Olle is a bit "off"...so that they (and patients in the regular ward) can have privacy and he came in via the backdoor. Don´t see, why fiancée couldn´t have done the same.
That the Swedish press found out, isn´t very surprising...as some patients or staff would always "twitter"...but they aren´t of the kind, which would dress up as doc or nurse to catch a glimpse of the patient.

What I do wonder is why the operation was done now?

Maybe the (his) idea was indeed to wait with the engagement until a decision would be made.
If you compare the pix from Frederik´s birthday in early June and the ones of the engagement, the diference is evident. His condition had worsened.
Medication and nutrition can keep things in balance for a while, but somewhen a point of no return would come and then you have to go for dialysis or transplantation.
Unfortunately there is no medication, which is really working against renal failure...

[MARG]

Originally Posted by Lena

That the Swedish press found out, isn´t very surprising...as some patients or staff would always "twitter"...but they aren´t of the kind, which would dress up as doc or nurse to catch a glimpse of the patient....

Perhaps not the Swedish press, if you think they hold to a higher standard of integrity. But I wouldn't give you tuppence for the rest the the paparazzi.

This is BIG new, not a broken bone, but something that impacts on his life forever, and by extention, Victorias. What price a photo of Daniel in his hospital bed wired up to machines?, even more with Victoria holding his hand,

You have to hand it the the RF to be able to fly this right under the radar. It must have been hard for Victoria to not be there but, whenever one of the younger royals tries to act "normal" they tend to get really bad press because they are not normal everyday folk! Damned if the do, damned if they don't.

[Lena]

But I wouldn't give you tuppence for the rest the the paparazzi.

AFAIK 99.99% of all paparazzi pix of the Swedish Royals in Sweden got done by Swedish paparazzis.
Germany is an other big market for news on the Swedish Royals, but they wouldn´t do such things either.
And they really awful paprazzis, namely the british and us american ones don´t care for the Swedish Royals.
Believe me...such low-taste maneuvers wouldn´t happen in Sweden...

I am doubting anyone would have "damned" Victoria for being on her fiancé´s side. If Madeleine and CP get criticised for "normal" behaviour, because "normal" means hanging out with brats in their case.

And as I´ve said before...I´ve published the news on the Greenland trip here directly from kronprinsparret.dk and that was 2 weeks ago. Until then not many knew about the trip.
They could have changed this trip to one of Haakon and Frederik or Frederik and Mary...and we would have never ever known, she was scheduled as well.
Then someone could have spread rumours on a trip of Victoria&Daniel abroad and in the meanwhile the surgery would have started.

Maybe I would have more understanding, if this trip to Greenland would be really important, but IMO it´s a just a repeat from last year, just telling the things, we all know (climate change)...not changing the climate positively (but actually adding to pollution)

[HRHofNothing]

You have to give Kudos to everyone for keeping this under wraps. A man who has dated the CROWN PRINCESS for over 7 years has such a serious condition and no one is the wiser. Compare this to the United Kingdom, where the only thing we don't know about Kate Middelton is how many bowel movements she has in a day. And she isn't even a fiancee...

[gardenia8]

In the end we will never know what was decided privately between CP Victoria and Daniel. We don't have all the inside conversations. It is not as if she went on holiday. Only Daniel & Victoria know why she was not there.

[msleiman]

I really do not think that it was wise for Victoria to leave. I would not care if my husband told me to leave - I would NOT leave. I would never let my love one go though this without me by their side. NOT NICE at all to leave him!!!! JMO

[LadyFinn]

Expressen - Westlings operation lockar donatorer
Daniel Westling´s kidney transplantation attracts new donors, several hundred new donors registered on Thursday.

[kbear]

Originally Posted by LadyFinn

Expressen - Westlings operation lockar donatorer
Daniel Westling´s kidney transplantation attracts new donors, several hundred new donors registered on Thursday.

Now that is a positive thing My best to Daniel and his dad but this is really serious for him. The implications on the rest of his life will be significant perhaps the RF continued with Victorias trip in an effort to underplay the seriousness.

[carlota]

the karolinska hospital is one of the best (if not the best) in the world. i'm sure victoria knew that everything would be fine.

it is however strange that it all happened now. it's pretty serious stuff that the future prince consort has a transplant. i guess that's why they decided that victoria should be away, it's much easier to handle such a situation without the paparazzi around. however, they announced the illness is not hereditary in the royal court announcement.

how sweet that daniel's father offered his kidney... i guess there's nothing that can get on the way of the love of a parent!

[principessa]

Daniels father is an angel. I hope that father and son will recover soon and never have problems with their kidneys anymore.

For the discussion of the role of Victoria in this case: I think that the trip to Greenland has been planned a long time ago. Frederik and Haakon are also busy and sometimes it is hard to have time at the same time. IMO Victorias feelings were with Daniel at the time the surgery happened and Daniel has not felt alone.

[royals-royce]

Daniel looks so healthy and fit I would have never thought he has a serious health problem.