I RECEIVED a kidney transplant in November 2008 and thanks to the overwhelming kindness of my donor’s family my dream of becoming a mum came true six months ago.
We had a little girl called Laoise. Her name means ‘radiant girl’ and she is certainly the sunshine of our lives.
My whole life changed forever in April 2007. I was 31 and life was good. I had met the man I would eventually marry, I had just bought my own place, I was working full time and I was doing a Masters degree part time.
I had been getting headaches, vomiting in the mornings and getting breathless after climbing the stairs but I was too busy to worry about my health. It would never have occurred to me that I would be unwell. So much so that that when my vision became so blurred that I couldn’t see properly I naively assumed that I had eye strain from working so hard writing up my thesis and I went to an optician.
The optician sent me straight to the Eye and Ear Hospital on Adelaide Road and from there I was brought by ambulance to St Vincent’s University Hospital.
I went from believing that I was in good health to being seriously ill. I received, and continue to benefit from, exceptional care from the renal team at St Vincent’s. I was brought through the limitations that would be imposed on my life with calm assurance and compassion, which I will be eternally grateful for.
Kidney failure feels like having the worse hangover of your life every day. You have no energy, you are constantly cold and you often feel nauseous. However, the worst thing about it is the fear of what could be around the corner and the feelings of grief you feel for the loss of your health.
My kidney function continued to decline and after about ten months when it was at 12 per cent I was relieved to have been put on dialysis so I could start to feel a bit better. I was on dialysis at home where I was attached to a machine for eight hours every night. It was a very limiting and frightening experience.
Our little apartment in Dublin was filled to the brim with medical supplies. My wonderful husband Caomhán, who has been a constant support and helped me through everything with his characteristic good humour, dubbed the machine ‘that fecking child’ because the alarm would go off in the night if it needed a bag changed.
When I finally received the call to tell me a donor had been found I was struck by both a profound sadness for the tragic loss of someone whom I would never know but who in a special way would always be with me, and a sense of awe that a family would be kind enough to think of someone they didn’t even know at the most traumatic moment of their lives.
The IKA do fantastic work in supporting patients and in raising awareness but even if you carry an organ donor card your family have the final say. It is important that you discuss organ donation with the people closest to you so that, if the time ever comes, their decision will be easier to make, as they know that they are honouring your wishes.
Since the day of the transplant I have been in excellent health. I continue to take medication to prevent rejection but I have not had any negative side effects. And after nine months of careful monitoring our precious little Laoise came into our lives.
I have made a commitment to my donor’s family to always think of their loved one at the happiest moments of my life. I am so grateful for our beautiful Laoise, who would not exist but for the altruism of my donor’s family. I feel that the beauty and vibrancy of our little Laoise as well as the potential of her new life embodies the wonderful gift of organ donation.