I'm only in my thirties, and when you're this age you have your whole life to live. Most people at the HD unit were older than me and I think they thought of me like a grandchild!
Diagnosis and dialysis
"I was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2017. It started after a routine blood test: my doctor said my eGFR results were low. I was transferred to a local hospital, and they told me that my kidneys were only at 20% function. Apparently, my function been declining for 11 years and never been picked up. It was scary, and by 2021, my function had dropped to 5% and I started on peritoneal dialysis (PD).
"I did PD for about 18 months, three times a day, every day. It was tough, but I had a routine. I would get up at half six, do a PD bag, get home and do the other two bags in the evening. It was good, I could distract myself with phone or telly while I was dialysing. It didn't have much of a social life, but that was just part of it, and I felt lucky that I could still work while I was dialysing.
"Then, in early 2023, I got a tummy fungal infection, and I was hospitalised. I went onto haemodialysis (HD) that April. HD was really tough. I spent less time spent dialysing, compared to PD, but the HD was more aggressive on my body. It often made me feel really tired and rough. When I was on PD, I felt bloated all the time, but the treatment wasn't really that painful though it felt emotionally draining.
"I still managed to work full time while doing HD too. I would be in the office three days a week, and then on Tuesday and Thursday I would take my laptop to hospital so I could work while dialysing. I found working took my mind off kidney disease and dialysis and made the time go faster at the hospital. But I did often find myself thinking, 'What am I doing here, why is this happening to me?' I'm only in my thirties, and when you're this age you have your whole life to live. Most people at the HD unit were older than me and I think they thought of me like a grandchild!"
I just felt like life was on hold; every three months I was waiting and hoping that I would be able to get a kidney.
Kidney transplantation: living and deceased
"In 2021 when I started dialysis, I was added to the national transplant list and my mum and dad put themselves forward for living donation too. Dad’s BMI was initially too high so mum started the work up, but she had a few health issues, so that didn’t happen.
"Dad lost weight and he was a tissue type and antibody match, but there was potential issue with being different blood groups. We decided to join the paired/pooled donation scheme, which was explained to us as a kind of ‘kidney swap’ with other people.
"By January 2024, I was on my fourth attempt at being paired in the scheme. The results get released around the 26th of the month, and I was always edge waiting for a call from the transplant coordinator. I just felt like life was on hold; every three months I was waiting and hoping that I would be able to get a kidney. Then, for personal reasons, my dad was no longer able to donate his kidney.
"I was still on the national transplant list, however. The hardest bit was not knowing if or when I might get the call. It made me constantly anxious. I gave up a few times, thinking that maybe a kidney transplant just wasn’t meant to be, but in the six months leading up to my transplant I kept seeing ‘angel numbers’ everywhere. It sounds spiritual, but I felt like the angels were with me, on my side. I finally got the transplant call on St Patrick’s Day in March 2026. It felt like the luck of the Irish!"
I catch myself acting like I am on still dialysis, thinking that I can't have any fluids and then remembering that I need to do the opposite and keep drinking!
Getting the call
"I was on dialysis when I got the call. I had just been put on and I remember thinking, 'Great, another four hours of dialysis', and then the phone rang. I was told that the donor's creatinine was below 100, that they were 15-20 years older than me and on a life support machine. They were waiting to turn off the support. It was a sad situation.
"The nurses rushed over and took me off dialysis and I got a taxi to the hospital at about 9am where I met my mum who had brought my suitcase, already packed. It got to midnight, then 8am the next day and I hadn't slept. My anxiety was through the roof. It was 9am, a full day after I arrived at the hospital, when I was taken to theatre.
"I said goodbye to mum and woke up high as a kite, chatting away on morphine for four hours! On the second day, the anaesthetic wore off and I was in agony. I couldn't dress myself, feed myself, go to the toilet. I hadn't really realised how big the transplant surgery was.
"Lots of people have to have dialysis after surgery because their new kidney is waking up, but mine worked from the beginning though I have had infections and had to be back on antibiotics and in hospital because of the risk of sepsis. To be honest, first two months after transplant have been up and down. People think that when you've had a transplant, everything is fine and back to normal, but it is still a treatment for kidney disease, not a cure. You still have to look after yourself. You need to eat healthy, drink loads of fluid, exercise, watch your salt. There are all sorts of complications that can happen.
"It feels as though my body has just been through a trauma. But, overall, anything is better than dialysis. I always felt drained on dialysis, not like myself. It was like a mental prison sentence; I was in my thirties, and I couldn't imagine doing dialysis for the rest of my life. Now, even just a few months after my transplant, I feel better. I feel like one of the lucky ones.
"I catch myself acting like I am on still dialysis, thinking that I can't have any fluids and then remembering that I need to do the opposite and keep drinking! In the office when I was on dialysis, I would have a regimented drinking plan. Now I have a large cup of coffee and don't even have to think about it. It still feels like a luxury!"
My brother has run the London Marathon for Kidney Care UK and raised £3.5k, and my workplace have donated £10,000 across two donations.
Support from Kidney Care UK
"I heard about Kidney Care UK when I didn't have a job and couldn't afford the train fare to get to some of my appointments. I was at the hospital and a lady in the lift told me about Kidney Care UK. I rang up and applied for a patient grant, which I was awarded. It really helped me and made such a difference.
"Since then, my brother has run the London Marathon for Kidney Care UK and raised £3.5k, and my workplace has donated £10,000 across two donations. I would like to run the Lodnon Marathon one day for Kidney Care UK to help raise money too. I want to give back to the charity as much as possible.