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WE ARE TEAM "CARPE DIEM"
So far the team is made up of over 14 friends and family all raising money for the same thing. Carpe Diem is growing with each event and if you would like to be part of it to raise for Leicester Hospitals Charity please get in touch, everyone is welcome. Here is my story......
My son Bobby who was 19 had just finished his first term at Edinburgh Uni and had come home for Christmas with his family. Bobby had always been healthy and active but complained of being sick daily for over a month. Once home from Uni we went to the doctors who ran blood tests and on 17th December 2013 I received the dreaded call from the hospital asking me to get Bobby to Peterborough Hospital ASAP as his blood test showed Bobby had a kidney function of 3, people who suffer kidney failure start their dialysis when their kidney function falls below 15 and dialysis become a way of life until a match is found for a transplant. Once Bobby was stable enough they transferred him in the early hours of 18th December to Leicester General Hospital Ward 15 where the tests began. Bobby's blood results were so bad that even the consultants asked how he had survived with the amount of poison in his blood stream as his kidneys couldn't do their job. We then discovered Bobby was born with only 1 kidney!
Leicester Hospital were amazing, they allowed me to sleep in a little side room for 5 days until Bobby was stable enough to bring home for Christmas. On 23rd December Bobby was discharged after being fitted with a permcath for his hemodialysis which he started in hospital and his first dialysis after Christmas was on Boxing Day in Corby. He would need 3 sessions a week for 4 hours a session. It was during his 5 day stay in Leicester I vowed to raise funds for a new dialysis machine one day.
Bobby never ever complained, he was grateful to be alive. He smiled daily and accepted that going back to Uni was not an option at this moment in time even though it devastated him. Bobby was lucky, I was a match and so our journey began.
Dialysis Monday-Wednesday-Friday, Leicester Hospital for check ups weekly and me attending Leicester Hospital for my bloods to be grouped, then cross-matched, then lectures for the donor/recipient, my medical assessment GFR kidney function (glomerular filtration rate) bloods, urine, blood pressure, chest x-ray, ECG then my assessment by the transplant doctor, a spiral CT scan of my bladder and kidneys, final meeting with Consultant Nephrologist then finally mine and Bobby's meeting with an Independent Assessor for HTA......
20th March 2014 Professor Nicholson successfully performed a miracle in my eyes and took my kidney and transplanted it into my son, I will always be grateful to Prof, Ward 15 (John Wallis Renal Unit), Ward 17 (Transplant ward) and not forgetting Rose the transplant co-ordinator who kept our family going. How long my kidney will last is not a matter of Bobby staying healthy or being afraid to live his life to the max for fear of damaging himself, to me its luck, pure luck if your body will accept it or reject it.
Bobby will need more transplants in the future and is on medication for life but he is happy, as healthy as can be and returning to Uni in September 2015.
Over the next 10 years myself and any friends who would like to are aiming to raise £25,000 going under the name "Carpe Diem" for each fundraising/sponsored event we will be taking part in. Originally for a new dialysis machine but since Leicester Charity have been in touch they have explained they need new chairs for patients when they dialyse. Each chair is £2,500 so that is what we are starting off with...5 chairs for patients to receive dialysis in comfort, also i'm waiting for a wish list from Leicester with any other equipment they need that we could also raise money for.
Kidney Care Appeal will also receive some of the raised money as they are directly linked to Leicester Hospital Charity.
Kidney failure is a silent disease and if not caught in time can be fatal. Please help in raising funds for this cause. Dialysis is what keeps people alive while waiting for a matching donor.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and thank you my beautiful family and friends that have helped me and Bobby cope with our journey.
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