Kidneys are an amazing and critical component of your body. You simply cannot function without healthy kidney function and will ultimately shut down. Every day your kidneys filter about 200 litres of blood, removing waste products and unneeded water, they assist with blood pressure regulation, production of red blood cells and Active vitamin D - critical to healthy strong bones.
In a nutshell, your kidneys are one of the few critical organs that you cannot live without. Many people reading this go about their lives blissfully unaware of the miracles that their kidneys perform for them every hour of every day. I hope to change that.
I was born in July 1968 and enjoyed my first 38 years with good health and lifestyle. During 2006 and into 2007 I began to notice a sense of fatigue and exhaustion, but ignored them, putting them down to a busy lifestyle, lack of exercise and an upcoming 40th birthday - the aging process. Other simple little changes also went largely unnoticed as they crept up over a number of years and included: regular headaches, constant scratching, mild skin rashes, excessive thirst, a tiredness and "mind fog" not unlike jet-lag, as well as changes in other health patterns.
Finally, in April 2008 my wonderful wife, Hege sent me to the doctor - I think my new habit of falling asleep on the couch after dinner by 8pm most nights was starting to seem a little unnatural and (I am sure) rather annoying. Six days later I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease and advised that I would require a kidney transplant before the end of the year.
Following a rather surreal lunch with my mother (for all of us I am sure) she agreed to undergo the rigorous and life saving process of being a Living Organ Donor by donating one of her kidneys to me. The following four months were spent preparing for the transplant surgery and maintaining a stable lifestyle.
Finally, on the 15th September 2008 we underwent Kidney Transplant surgery. Mum recovered amazingly quickly and was back at gym five weeks later, and today I am fit and healthy and enjoying the renewed energy, enthusiasm and good health that I had forgotten existed. Where I used to sit on the sidelines and observe, I now jump in and participate. Being an organ transplant recipient has opened up a whole new life for me, and without the wonderful doctors, (special thanks to Drs Ana, Bob, Rowan, Paul and Peter) the nurses (all wonderful) and support staff at Melbourne Private Hospital, not to mention the understated unselfish act of organ donation by my mother my life would now be governed by dialysis schedules, deteriorating health and a far less rich and rewarding life. Thank-you Mum. Thank-you to everyone reading this who has registered as an Organ Donor.
I encourage everyone reading my story to register as an organ donor, discuss your decision with your family, review your lifestyle, have a health check and always remember to value the health you have. And please, if you are able, make a donation to Kidney Health Australia.
