Me and my journey through kidney disease . . . .

A year ago today, at about this time, I was sat in my sitting room with Trevor, Mum and two Police Officers whilst they were explaining to me how the out of hours doctors (Serco) had been unable to contact me by phone or by visiting my home.  The severity of my condition was such that the Doctors had decided to call in the Police to break into my house, if necessary, and get the message to me that I had to call Serco immediately.  Fortunately breaking into my home was not necessary as one of the police officers knew my mum and contacted her and she then helped to get in contact with me. Having spoken to the Doctor on the phone I was told that I had a problem with my kidneys and that I must go to the Medical Admissions Unit at Treliske straight away.  This visit to hospital was the first in my life and it would last a week, half of which was in the High Dependency Unit and the other half of which was in the renal unit. My blood pressure initially had been the problem with a readin

Wow!  How time flies!  It is six months today since I had my transplant and what a six months that has been!!  It's also been a meager ten months since I was diagnosed with kidney failure!!  In only four months I had gone from thinking I was getting old, to being in HDU for a week, to having to come to terms with the fact that I only have 6% kidney function, to going onto peritoneal dialysis before being fortunate enough to have a transplant on the 11th January 2011 courtesy of my wonderful mum. Mum and I were talking the other day about how we felt as we walked into the hospital on the morning of 11th January.  Mum was extremely apprehensive, I was worried stiff about mum but very excited too about feeling better! Well, six months on and I'm now feeling amazing!  It took longer than I anticipated and I was still tired and lethargic for about five months and I thought it was never going to improve, however, one day it all just changed!  All of a sudden I didn't feel lik

Hello everybody!  It has been absolutely ages since I have written a blog.  As I have been feeling better I have not felt the need or desire to write anymore!  I am taking this as a positive thing! So, what has happened in the last two months?! We held the curry night in aid of Kidney Research UK.  My sister in law, Tracy, organised a fabulous event and we raised a massive £1,000 in the end.  Take a look at this link for the article written by the West Briton on the event.  A huge thank you goes out to everyone who came along or who supported us by buying raffle tickets. Me and my two brothers treated Mum to a pamper day for mothers day.  I went along too (obviously!!)  The day was great and thoroughly relaxing.  Mum deserved that and more after donating one of her kidneys to me. Trev and I hired a little boat over the first of the long bank holiday weekends and enjoyed mooring up outside of pubs in Mylor for a spot of lunch and bobbing about all day! At the start of May I star

It has been a full month since I last blogged!  Time seems to be flying by!!  In my last blog I reported that I had an infection and cough.  Well that took an entire three weeks to shake and most of those three weeks were in bed!  Well I am pleased to report that it has now gone and I am once again starting to feel good!! Also during the time of being unwell, my kidney results deteriorated and every time I went to the hospital I had to wait for my results with the potential of having to stay in hospital and have another biopsy (that would be my third on the new kidney).  The week before last the hospital also requested that I go to Treliske in the week for an emergency blood test.  Whilst there I saw my consultant which was really nice.  If those results were poor, again I would have been checked back into Derriford. Well I managed to get away with not being checked back into hospital and now my results seem to be improving again as a result of reducing my immunosuppresant drugs! 

I haven't updated the blog for a few weeks as everything has been going to plan!  I had been feeling better and better everyday that passed.  My appointments at Derriford have been reduced to once a week and my date for transferring back to Treliske had been set. However, this week I have literally been knocked off my feet!  Sunday evening I had a somewhat restless nights sleep and I had a tickle at the back of my throat.  Here we go I thought, my first cold since my transplant.  I had already been told that a cold would floor me now due to the immunosuppresant drugs, but I was not prepared in the slightest for how I have been feeling!! Monday I carried on as normal but Monday night I had no sleep whatsoever as I was coughing all night.  Tuesday all I managed to do was lie in the dark all day with my eyes closed.  Wednesday, after another sleepless night I called the hospital and was told to go to Derriford straight away (with my overnight bag packed).  I now had a fever and pain

Very little of any interest has happened this week and for me this is a very good thing!  I like boring as that means everything is going well!! Monday I was in Derriford again for one of my check ups.  On this occasion I saw a surgeon rather than a renal consultant.  As with every appointment I have, I mention my wound which is still open and I am always concerned that if they don't check it, it may become infected in some way.  Well, the surgeon took one look at it and said it needed stitching up, otherwise the scar would be huge.  This will be done sometime next week. I am still not allowed to go to work in any "public" offices but I have been told I can do a little work at home so I have tried to do some this week.  I am concerned that I am getting far too used to not doing anything and maybe getting into bad habits!  Six months ago I wouldn't have been able to waste the day away and now I manage it with no problems whatsoever!!  Most days Mum and I try to go f

In my blog I have been writing about Mum's experience as much as possible, however, for the operation and recovery, I have been unable to write about what Mum has been through as I was not with her as we were in different wards.  I therefore asked Mum if she would be willing to write a blog of her experience: Angela’s personal account of Kidney Donation Monday 10 th January Up to muck out the horses at 7.30am for the last time, then off to Tracy's to work. Tracy and Trev picked me up at 2.30pm, giving us plenty of time to get to Heartswell Lodge by 5pm.   We all went for a meal that evening at the Jack Rabbit, but couldn’t eat a lot, as we were all thinking about the next day. Tuesday 11 th January Woke early after an awful nights sleep.   At 6.45am. Tracy, Trev and I made our way to Fal ward, where I was sent to the yellow section of the room, and put a hospital gown on. Tracy and Trev moved on to the Renal Department, where they had quite a long wait, Trev kept popping dow

On the 26th January, I had a call from BBC Spotlight to see if they could do a feature on Mum and I on the local news.  It was a surprise I can tell you!!  They had seen the article on the front page of the West Briton and thought it would make a great good news story. The reporter Eleanor Parkinson and the cameraman arrived at 12:30.  Mum and I had no idea what to expect!  Well they were with us for an impressive two hours!  The bit Mum and I found funny was walking around the garden and sitting on the sofa having to pretend to talk to each other!  All of a sudden we had nothing to say! If you click HERE  you will see the report online. Or please see it below: This was shown on the 18:30 and 22:30 news and was the first item or main news story of the day!! Hopefully our little bit of publicity will help to promote organ donation, especially on death, as people like me would have a very long wait in normal circumstances if I didn't have a very special Mum willing to make suc

Another week has now passed and it is now just over three weeks since I had my transplant!  How time flies!!  I am beginning to get much more mobile and my insurance company has confirmed that I am able drive again!  It feels great not to be reliant on others all of the time! On Monday I was booked into Derriford again for another operation.  This was to remove my dialysis catheter and to remove the stent which was inserted during my transplant operation.  Dad and Jen drove me to Derriford where I firstly had to visit the pharmacy to pick up some of my drugs, whilst waiting I was over the moon to bump into the "kidney cousins".  The "kidney cousins" are Val who is also from Helston and Jennifer from Bude who both had kidney transplants a few days before me but from a dead donor (we call them cousins as they had a kidney each from the same donor).  It was great to see them looking so well and I hope to see them again at my twice weekly outpatient appointments. I

On the 19th January Mum had a call from the West Briton to see if they could do an article about the amazing gift that Mum had given me.  We were extremely surprised when the article came out the following day on the front page of the Helston and Lizard edition and also included inside of all of the other editions! Please see the article below: If you are unable to read the article above, please click on the following link  for the article online.

A week has now passed since I was allowed home following my transplant.  The week started off very quiet and then it seemed to be all go!! For the next three months I have to go to Derriford twice a week for a check up.  My first appointment was on Monday.  Trev drove me to Plymouth where my check up consisted of being weighed, having my blood pressure taken, having a urine sample checked and finally having my blood taken.  I have to say that at this point it seemed like a very long way to go for these simple checks!  On this occasion I also had my wound redressed and had the remainder of my staples removed.  As half of my wound is not healing that well I had little steristrips put on to help the wound knit together. On Wednesday I had a surprise call from the BBC wanting to do a piece on Mum and I on Spotlight that evening!  It took two hours to record everything which they wanted in order to do a two minute slot on the evening news!! Thursday I was back in Derriford again for my

I kept the last blog to the facts of my medical condition but there is way more I want to say!!  Firstly I wanted to mention all of the staff on the Mayflower Ward at Derriford Hospital.  I have to say that my care was excellent.  From the Doctors to the cleaning staff, they all had their vitally important roles to play which they all performed cheerfully and compassionately.  They were all extremely hard workers and nothings was ever too much trouble even when I could tell they were run off their feet.  I have already thanked Trev in a previous blog but I want to do so again as he has been a rock and he is also now my career for the next week!  I wonder how long it will be before I am driving him insane!! Next I would like to thank Dad and Jen who spent three days in Derriford being there for me constantly.  As it was the first three days they had in effect the worst days as I was not at all well at that time.  Then there is my friend Sharon who works in Derriford Hospital.  Sh

Having read lots of other peoples blogs who have been through this operation, I was hoping for an epiphany after the operation.  Many people have said that they have literally opened their eyes and have felt like a different person.  Unfortunately that was not the case for me!  I had many complications but all seems to be getting better now! I spent the night of the operation being so thirsty.  The nurse advised me to just sip the water, which I did, but I must have sipped way too often as I spent most of the night vomiting, yummy!! The next day I had a chance to assess all of the bits and bobs which were attached to me, they were as follows: Oxygen mask Heart monitor Cannula in my hand and elbow crease Central line (a line placed in my neck which goes into the superior vena cava and has five ends which can be used for your IV drugs or taking bloods etc). Wound drain Catheter On the Wednesday it soon became clear to me that my recovery was different to the "norm"!!  T

I am writing this blog in retrospect and it already feels like a lifetime ago!!  The date of the operation was the 11th January 2011 (11-1-11) spooky!! Mum, Trev and I got up at 6am after a sleepless night and packed up the car ready to get to Derriford for 7am.  Trev and I went with mum to her ward which was the medical admissions unit and ensured that she was checked in safely before we went to the renal ward to check me in. I began to worry about mum being alone so Trev went back up to the medical admissions unit and stayed with her until she was called for her operation which was 9:30.  In the meantime I had been seen by a junior doctor and had a cannula put into my arm and the Anesthetist had come down to see me to talk through the process. The waiting game then commenced.  It was awful waiting for news of how mum was.  At about 9:30 the surgeon came to see me and go through the paperwork and re-emphasise the risks of the operation.  I had to laugh when I was given the option n

Well, the time has come for me and mum to pack our bags and make our way up to Derriford!  Tonight we are staying in the HeartSWell Lodge.  The hospital books us in there for the night as they don't want us in the hospital for an extra night, but also do not want us travelling up from Cornwall in the morning when we have to be there by 7am. I have a lot of luggage!  As I am on dialysis overnight, I have to bring my machine, which is the size of a large suitcase, and all my accessories and fluids which amounts to another large suitcase!!  I then have my actual suitcase and obviously my "entertainment bag" which includes my laptop, kindle and a borrowed DS!! Tomorrow morning Mum and I have to go to different wards at 7am.  Mum in the surgical ward (which we are told looks like an airport terminal due to the amount of people hanging around in there with suitcases) and I have to go to the renal ward.  Mum will go to the operating theatres at around 8:30 and my operation w

My plan for this weekend was to wrap myself up in cotton wool and do nothing!  I didn't dream for one moment that everyone would want to spend some time with me before I went into hospital for my operation. Yesterday lunchtime, as I reported yesterday, I had lunch with all of my friends, then last night Trev and I went out to dinner with Mum, Nana, Jon (my brother), Tracy (Jon's finance), Jasmine & Andrew (my niece & nephew).  It was really nice spending some quality time with everyone.  Again I didn't get to pay for my meal as my dear Nana treated us all! Here we all are at the Atlantic in Porthleven, Mum who is donating the kidney to me is to my right: Today my dad and his partner Jen cooked Trev and I roast lunch.  It was very nice indeed and I am feeling very spoilt!  We also had some handmade chocolates which were Divine! Below is a picture of me, Dad & Jen, please ignore my "frog eyes" when I'm tired they seem to puff up and look very un

Thursday night my friend Sandra sent me a message asking if I would like to go to lunch today.  The plan was just to have a meet up before my operation.  This quickly snowballed from a few girls having lunch to twelve of us!  It was really lovely to see everybody today as in the last few months I have seen very little of everyone as when most people are just going out, exhaustion has usually hit me and I am already in bed!! Anyway, here's a pic of the mutley crew this lunchtime: After lunch, just before we were about to pay, Anita stood up, "oh no I thought"!!  However, Anita had written a poem for me!  It bought a tear to my eye!  I absolutely love it!!  Here is the poem: FOR TRACY You gave me a call – quite late at night, Oh my gosh – you gave me a fright! To say at your door, the Police had been knocking – Your tests had come back… And the results- they were shocking! Pack up your bag, away you must whisk – You have to leave NOW… you’re off to Treliske! After ma

Time feels like it is in fast forward right now!  There are only five days until my transplant and today I was in Derriford with mum for all of our pre op tests. Firstly we had more blood taken.  This time twelve phials each!!  More or less every blood test we have ever had have to be redone to ensure that nothing major has changed and also to ensure my blood is still happy mixing with mum's!! Next we had to both have a chest x-ray and ECG.  Again to ensure that we are both still healthy enough to go through a major operation. Then mum and I both had to see a junior doctor, mine from the renal department and mum's from the surgical department.  Their job was to "clerk" which basically meant going through all of our notes with us, looking at the results from the tests above, listening to our chests, checking blood pressure etc and then making notes in our file. I then met with a senior renal consultant to discuss whether or not I would be prepared in enter into a d