Blogs

I finally crossed the 1-year mark...

Crikey I can’t believe a year’s gone by since I’ve submitted a post, time flies on the transplant treadmill. I finally crossed the one year mark in May, which I have to admit was a bit of an anti-climax. I had visions of a large, family celebration and of being set free to travel around the world but instead my consultant told me “the road ahead is long and hard” and my donor Mum was in another continent on a two month holiday in the sun. Fantastic! I celebrated none-the-less with champagne and strawberries with Dad and a film with a good friend. The notion that the appointment schedule would lessen, was another one-year-mark myth that soon revealed itself. I’m at the Royal London for tests and tweaks so often I nearly have my own parking space! I came back from a series of short holidays with a high creatinine, hence I’ve been back and forth to appointments so much. I ticked off destinations including Thailand, Dubai, and Marrakech, Ghana and finished in Ibiza before heading home for wedding season at the end of July. I made it through some infectious hotspots without so much as a bug or a virus, only to pick up a nasty infection after a few days in London which saw me on intravenous antibiotics every day for about three and a half weeks in total. It wasn’t fun! That saw out the end of the summer for me. I can’t say I stayed out of the sun completely whilst I was away as advised by transplant nurses – I didn’t fly 14 hours to Koh Samui to sit indoors! I did however use a high SPF to protect against harmful UV rays, which tranplantees have no natural protection against. My creatinine has since come down and gone up and come down again since then, and my consultant is considering a biopsy to see if it can be brought down further. We’ll see!

Transplant travel tip: If you’re flying somewhere sunny and need a reliable sunscreen, try any of these:

Nivea Sun Invisible Protection Spray SPF50 - it’s 100% invisible so no white streaks, non-greasy and offers immediate protection.

Soltan Invisible Dry Touch Transparent Suncare Spray SPF50. The Soltan range at Boots Chemist is the only suncare range to offer 5-star UV technology which guarantees all round protection from UVA and UVB rays.

For darker skins with a little natural protection remaining, bearing in mind the suppressed immune system, try St Tropez Sun Protection For Body SPF30. It’s moisturising, luxurious and has a lovely smell – it was my best discovery this summer.

All available from boots or any good chemist.

Follow my Tweets @kidneybeanstalk for my musings , tips and transplant tales. 

A trip to see the Purple People

Crikey what a busy and interesting week.
 
I was invited by the ‘Purple People’ at Kidney Research UK to their two-day bi-annual conference to speak about my experiences as a kidney patient.  It was a great two days and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I packed an overnight bag and off I went from Kings Cross station to Peterborough last Monday - arriving at the hotel in time to listen to a presentation from the CEO.  That night we enjoyed an awards ceremony which celebrated members of the team for their outstanding work. We dined on lamb and a rather delicious lemon tart and danced to the live jazz band. In the morning a breakfast of bacon butties signalled the start of day of talks and fun workshops.  We heard from a scientist who had recently completed a study that was funded by the charity. Without the hard work of these scientists and the grants that are given to them by the charity to complete the research, kidney medicine and healthcare wouldn’t be as advanced as it is today.  This drives home the importance of giving and shows how vital the charity’s work is. I earned myself a Purple People tee shirt by giving a short talk about my dialysis and transplant experience. It was an amazing trip and I hope to be seeing them all again very soon!

To see how you can get involved in fun fundraising events - click on ‘Events’. There’s something there that you and your friends will enjoy.

16 Weeks

I've reached 16 weeks and things are going well. Check ups at clinic visits have been reduced to once a fortnight which allowed for a very short trip to the Balearics last week; good fun, quality time with my gorgeous friends and not to forget the beautiful weather.
 
Nothing much else to report; both Mum and I have each invested in a bottle of Bio Oil to take care of our war wounds. As a girl who loves beauty products I can't believe I haven't tried it before, it's giving me baby-soft smooth skin on my face. Warm a couple of drops by rubbing into your hands and massage into your face after cleansing but whilst still damp. It’s absorbed really easily and leaves behind a nice health glow. The dampness of the skin prevents it looking too shiny. It’s great for those with dry skin. However it’s probably not the best for those with an oily t-zone. For scars the recommendation is to massage into the scar daily with results seen after a couple of months. It’s available from Boots, Superdrug and most good chemists and is around £7 for 60mls which lasts a couple of months. Try it!