KIDNEY FAILURE.... MY STORY

Hi, I have End Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) due to Polycystic Kidney Disease. I was initially diagnosed at the age of 18 and many years later, at the age of 33, in September 2011, I started dialysis. I initially started on CAPD (Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis – 4 times a day) and then went on APD (Automated Peritoneal Dialysis – night machine) 16 months later.

I am lucky however, to have received a kidney transplant recently, having received the “miracle” call of the gift of life from Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

Since I started this diary on 28th October 2012, I have been documenting how I have got on being on dialysis and how I have coped with the many highs and lows along the way.

I decided to set up www.kidneyfailuremystory.com because I know when I was told I had to start dialysis, I had so many questions, I felt at times I had no one to ask. And while the PD Nurses were very good to me and while I was able to ask them any question, I always went home and had more questions. And believe me, I am still learning and I still have many questions. I should say at this stage, that I owe a huge degree of gratitude to the PD Nurses in Cork University Hospital, who thought me how to do dialysis and gave me the courage and confidence to do it myself. I would also like to thank my previous Dialysis Consultant and my new Transplant Consultant. They have been so supportive and just know the right things to say and keep me calm. I will be forever grateful to them and will never forget this kindness.

I'm hoping that my journey and experience with kidney disease and the things I learn and have learnt along the way, will be of help to someone else.  My Dad also has Kidney Disease and has battled with it for the last 30 years. He has had 2 transplants and is waiting on his 3rd. When I see his courage and sheer determination, that is, without a doubt, what keeps me going.

By all means don't hesitate to ask me any questions or leave any comments you may have.  If you would like to leave a comment but not on my home page please email me  - kidneyfailuremystory@gmail.com

Thanks for listening.......

Noreen O'Halloran-Hannon

GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE - FREETEXT DONOR TO 50050

Organ Donation is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.  By considering signing up to an Organ Donor Card, your act of kindest could safe someones life.  With so many patients on waiting lists, it has never been so important.  Organ failure can be devastating and particularly hard for patients and their families.  A new organ would mean a new lease of life.

Please consider carrying a Donor Card.

TEXT:        FREETEXT DONOR to 50050

PHONE:     Locall 1890 543639

EMAIL:      info@ika.ie

POST:         Freepost, Donor House, Irish Kidney Association, Park West, Dublin 12 

You can also sign the back of your driving licence. 

On the new "credit card style" Driver's Licence, you will need to Question 20 in Part 4 of the Application Form - therefore, code 115 will appear on the back of the licence. 

NB** Please however, discuss your wishes with your next-of-kin. 

LIFE IS A GIFT…. PASS IT ON

Sometimes you see something or you hear something, that for some unknown reason, you just can’t get out of your head. 

It makes your stop and think.  It makes you re-evaluated your life, your attitude and how you perceive your circumstances. 

In Stacy Kramer’s speech, while only 3 minutes long, she portrays how what she calls a “gift” changed her life and altered her views.  And even though it was an unwanted, unexpected gift, she wouldn’t have changed the experience and how as she says “it profoundly altered my life in ways I didn’t expect”

Click on the link below

Stacey Kramer's Speech

WILL BE RESTORED

 Each day I have a thought,

Of how my life had been

How things I took for granted

Are all part of way back when…..

When worries were not an option

And plans were always made

When health was just a word.....

A word never meant to fade

Like Father and like daughter it failed

Into the unknown

But together tall and powerful

We stand, never alone

We’ll wait to get the summons

And fight the cause head on

Awareness and knowledge

Being our battle song

For when that call will be received

And all will be restored

Our lives we’d lived and loved before

Will be ours again once more….

NOH