MY FIGHT WITH KIDNEY DISEASE

In 1976 my sister who was 21 at the time had a kidney transplant from a young accident victim. She is alive today with a 36 year old son and three grand kids. My mum took ill and was scheduled for a transplant. In 1978 I underwent some detailed test to ascertain if I could be a donor for her, only to find out that I had scares on my kidneys. Therefore I was disqualified to be a donor for my mum. My mother never had any intention of taking her son’s kidney but wanted to show to the Canadian government that her family was committed to the transplant. My mum received a transplant from a cadaver but this rejected shortly afterwards and she died in 1978 at the age of 47. I continued to live a normal life.

Around 2005 Dr. Grant discovered that there was protein in my urine and my pressure was high. I was placed on medication for both conditions. I progressed to stage 3 of kidney failure but continued living a normal life. The level of protein increased and I was referred to Dr. Mohammed, nephrologist around 2011.  In Dec 2015 I was diagnosed with chikungunya and by March of 2016 I was in hospital having lost over 40 pounds, blood count was 5.5 and totally dehydrated .I could hardly walk and require the use of a stick. I was weak, no appetite, anemic and constantly vomiting. I spent 10 days and return the next week to spend another 7 days. I was told that I had stage 5 of kidney failure and would require dialysis or a transplant. This was the news that I had dreaded for many years. I improve and between June and August 2019 I had three operations a hernia repair, removal of my thyroids and a fistula implanted. This fistula would provide access for hemodialysis. Dialysis started for me in October 2016. This experience was terrible. The nurses could not find the veins. They had to abandon the first treatment after 30 minutes. My hand was black and blue and swollen. My second dialysis had to wait until the first week in December 2016. The nurses continued to have major problems with my veins, sometimes having to stick me 5 times. I told the nurse let me go home and die after the forth stick but she ask for one more chance. I never responded positively to these sticks.

 Dialysis can be a very traumatic experience, sometimes your pressure can drop to 73/37. You will go into a coma unless the nurse responds quickly to give you some sodium. Sometimes you can experience very painful cramp especially if you have to take off a significant amount of weight. After dialysis I used to be very tired or would have a massive headache and would sleep for the next 12 hours. My sticks also took nearly an hour in some cases to stop bleeding. Things have improved over the last year but I still dread those sticks and the nurses find my reactions very amusing.  Except for the first treatment I have always driven myself to and from dialysis. Sometimes I think it is only the mercies of God that I arrive home safely. Prior to December 2018 I completed all of my two dialysis sessions per week at a private clinic. However this was proving to be very expensive and even though part was refunding by the insurance company, it was getting to the point where the insurance company would cut me off. I now complete two sessions at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and one privately per week. Dialysis consumes a large amount of time. It can take 4-6 hours for 3 days per week and can very expensive if done privately, $5,000 to $6,000 per month.

I can assure you that you can still live a productive life while on dialysis. I still work 9 to 11 hours for 5 days a week. I have joined the Barbados Kidney Association and I am committed to developing a web site for the kidney family across the Caribbean to educate them about this dreaded disease. I urge all to support Kidney Caribbean across the Caribbean. God bless all who read this article.