Me and my journey through kidney disease . . . .

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 w...

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 Shar...

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 "n...

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 ...

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 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...

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 in...