For a person with any type of organ failure, this little list pretty much says it all. For a person without organ failure, but who know those in that situation, this little list loses all it’s intended humour, and takes on a grim reality. A reality that makes me want to bring about change.
With the help of the ubiquitous Google, and its supporting cast, YouTube, here is some background as to what Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is, how haemodialysis works, and why someone like Di ends up with a daily to do list like the one above:
Vascular access (text only; how the dialysis machine connects to the body)
Haemodialysis video (warning for the squeamish: graphic content involving needles and blood) – if you watch nothing else, just tune in at around 8:20 for a few seconds.
I read these articles and watch these videos to educate myself, but it breaks my heart to think of anyone having to go through this for 3 hours, 3 times a week, 52 weeks a year, year after year. If you are on haemodialysis, how do you maintain a career? Take a holiday? Go for a swim, wear a T-shirt, or a pretty dress at a wedding, and ignore the staring at the fistula? I want better for everyone on dialysis, for everyone with heart or liver or lung failure. I want better for Di.
Kidney donations from a living donor have been successfully performed for over 50 years, preceding heart transplants. There is no reason why Di or anyone else should have to live with this to do list year after year after year. YOU can make a difference: DONATE.
It doesn’t matter if you live in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, or even Outer Mongolia. If you are breathing, you can sign a donor card for donation after death; you can find a blood donation clinic and offer your arm; you can talk to your family, include them in your decisions and encourage them to follow suite. If you are breathing and relatively healthy and under 55 or 60 years of age, you can explore Living Donor programs. Here are some links to get you started:
USA and here or contact your nearest transplant hospital.
In closing, I leave you all with this thought: 3 or so weeks from now, when Di & I get the HLA tissue typing results back, what if I am NOT a match? Will one of you reading this step into the gap, and give a brave, gracious, loving human being a better life? Can you step up today, be it for Di or for anyone else? I think you can.
Trusting in humanity
Jill
Diary of a Living Donation 