Hi everyone! Wow what a busy few weeks... lots of things going on!

I'm enjoying being an Auntie and have been round to visit Mum, Dad and Baby lots. Its actually my Bro's birthday today so bought him a cake from Abigail saying "Happy Birthday Daddy, Lots of Love Abigail!"

The first bit of news is that Live Life Then Give Life won the Charity Times Award for "Campaigning Team of the year!" So big congrats to them, they do a great job of raising awareness of organ donation through talks and the media etc and supporting people who are waiting for a transplant (I know this first hand) The judges at the awards said they were"an outstanding campaign made up of many effective and innovative strands and approaches, achieving great success”! I say here here!

In other news the Battlefront campaign (on organ donation) is going great and I have been at number one from about 2 days after I uploaded it which is fantastic, so if you have voted, thank you I really appreciate it. Heres a bit more about the campaign...



"Did you know that 1000 people die every year because of the shortage of organ donors in the UK? In 2005 I went on the kidney transplant waiting list after a sudden illness caused kidney failure. I'm now kept alive by a dialysis machine which I’m attached to 3 times each week. For many others on the waiting list this isn't an option - for them an organ transplant is a matter of life and death. My campaign will raise awareness of organ donation and encourage more people to think, talk and do something about it. As a result, this campaign will save and transform lives, perhaps even my own. Waiting is tough! However I have seen the difference a transplant can make and this gives me hope for the future that I will be able to do the things I have dreamt of."

I have had loads of comments which are lovely to read too, the entries have closed now but you can keep voting until the 8th so keep going if your computer allows you to do it more than once! If you haven't already done so please vote here. An article appeared on a local website about my campaign, you can read that here. I get a phonecall on the 9th/10th to let me know if I have made it into the top 10 and if so then its over to the judges. So I'll keep you updated!

I also started back to uni this week, Its scary to think how the time has flown! I can't believe I'm in my 3rd year, doing my dissertation! Next year I'll be out in the scary wide world! So this is were the hardwork starts!

On Saturday me and my folks went to Blackpool for the day which was lovely, we went in the tower to see the circus which was fab but some of the acrobats left my heart in my throat!

Me and Mum on the Pier!

Me and Dad on the Pier!

On sunday me and my friend Hanne along with her Daughter Ellie went to the open day at the local firestation, we pretended that we were taking Ellie but in reality we were looking for hunky fireman! We were really disappointed as they were all old! Ellie enjoyed the afternoon though and even got a sit in the fire engine!

Me and Ellie in the Fire engine!

On Tuesday night I met with the lovely Emma and Brad from Live Life Then Give Life! We had a lovely evening of chat (some intellectual and some not so) and a meal! We talked about LLTGL and the battlefront campaign, thanks for all your help Em. I have invited them to come up for a weekend in the future (Em if your reading this, I hope you take us up on the offer.) It feels like we have known eachother for ages and yet have only met twice, It would be great to spend some more time together! Heres some pics....

Emma, Me and Brad

Me and Emma

On the health front I've not been to bad, a few weeks back the nurses at dialysis were a bit concerned about my high pulse. They told me to go to my GP which I did, she checked it and it wasn't too bad but ordered a TFT blood test (thyroid function test) which came back normal, so everything is fine. I started getting a bit worried when one of the dialysis nurses said "Have you ever seen a heart consultant!"

As for my Fistula its still a bit sore on needling and you can still feel the stent under the skin, I will be asking the surgeon about this when I go and get it scanned on the 13th. I'm also seeing my dialysis consultant that week on the 15th so I'll see how everything is ticking along then. This months clearance was 75% which is good for 3 hours and the highest its ever been for me.

Sorry this blog has been a bit bitty with news...

Ok, so first things first... No baby news!!!! She is going for a routine hospital appointment tomorrow (she will be a week overdue then) so hopefully we'll know more then, maybe they will keep her in and induce her, who knows.

Seem to have had a busy few weeks really, can't pin point on things I have actually done. Met up with some friends and did some crafting (in anticipation of baby pictures.)

I also caught up with a friend I used to dialyse with Steph (who received her transplant a year ago) and one I still dialyse with, we went for a burger at Frankie and Bennys it was lovely!


On the dialysis front, nothing new really, had a few off days last week, vomitting and sickness but I'm lucky really, my really bad days are getting less and less as I get more and more used to dialysis I suppose. I have been good recently at taking my new tablets (Alucaps) and had my blood tests last night so hopefully it will show in them. I'm also counting down to my procedure on my arm (which is hurting today, for some reason!), the stent will be insterted under Local Anesthetic next Thursday and hopefully I'll be out within a few hours!

Thats it really, hopefully I'll be officially an Auntie soon and I will be able to announce the baby's name, which as yet no-one knows apart from Andy and Fiona!

I've decided that I have started talking more about family and friends rather than dialysis, so I'm going to take some pictures of the unit and talk you through my dialysis routine in my next post.... watch this space....

Had a really busy week again this week but kind of feel like I haven't done anything productive!

Had a few lunches out, one with my friend of 12years Helen (gosh I feel old), It's great to catch up now that she has graduated from uni (congrats hun) she is moving up here again to study at Law School, so it will be great to have her close again. I have been on a few shopping trips this week too and bought a lovely dress today, I have no idea when I'm going to wear it, but it looks nice so I couldn't help myself.

Today my mum rang an old school friend and told her to come and check out my blog (hello Una if you're reading this) mum told her to google me, and so I was intrigued and decided to see what would happen if I googled myself (sad I know)! Turns out all the old newspaper and online articles are there including some that I had no idea about, although all publicity about organ donation can only be a good thing. If ya want a nosey the articles are here and here.

Thats all the news with me, not very exciting I know, dialysis has been fine, BP and weight seem to be stable and new tablets (Alucaps) seem to be fine! I haven't heard off the Royal about the procedure on my arm yet, I hope I do soon as the arrival of my neice isn't too far away and I don't want it to conincide with that! Only 25 days to go.....

It's been a busy week, can hardly remember what I've done!

On Monday I did a practice 2 mile walk to make sure I could actually do it, this is a big deal for me as I get tired really easily and I didn't want to ask people for sponsor money if I was unable to actually complete it! I did it in about an hour so thats not bad for me. So I'm all set now for tomorrow, I hope the weather stays nice! Thanks to everyone whose sponsored me (on and offline) I really appreciate it!

On Tuesday I had a fun day catching up with different friends, I went to a play barn with my friend Hanne and her daughter Ellie. This was great exercise running around after her and really tired me out, so I had a nap in the afternoon, ready for a night out with some other friends. Me and my friends Steph (whose had a kidney transplant) and Gary (who I dialyse with) went for a chinese and it was great to chat away from the hosp!

On Thursday I spent the whole afternoon at Warrington Hospital in the Opthalmology department! On a routine eye check about a month ago my optician said that my optic nerve was swollen and he was going to refer me. I was a bit concerned as this happened before about 2 years ago and I needed various tests and an MRI scan so I was worried that all this needed to be done again. We had to wait about 2 or more hours to be seen, I had to have special eye drops in that dilated my pupils (I looked like I was on drugs) and made my vision all blurry! I needn't have worried though, the consultant saw me and looked at the back of my eye and said it was scarring from the previous time it had swollen so it would probably always be like this! So all is good.

Finally yesterday there was a bit of a nightmare with dialysis, Warrington Hosp phoned and said that the unit had no water and so patients were going all different places to be dialysed, I was told I would have to go to Clatterbridge for 4.30. So we set off just before 4.00, but on the way there the unit manager rang and said a patient had got there before me and so he would get on first and I would have to wait until 6.30! To say I wasn't impressed was an understament, particulary because he was told to get there for 6.30!!! So we arrived at the unit after about 45 minutes and knew that we would be waiting well over an hour, which isn't the best feeling when you then have to have dialysis for 3 hours and then have to tavel all the way home again. So to kill a bit of time me, my mum and dad went for a walk to a nearby strawberry farm that we spotted on the way in! We managed to pick 2 massive ponnets of strawberries in 15minutes and I'm sure my mum ate as many as she picked! Everytime I turned round her cheeks were puffed out as she had stuffed another one in!

All the patients from my usual shift in Warrington also went to Clatterbridge so it wasn't so bad, I finally got on the machine at 6.30, there were no tellies so the time dragged and the patients actually talked to each other for once, as in Warrington the beds are set out at an angle that patients cant see or talk to eachother! So this made a change and killed a bit of time, but I'll not take the tellies at Warrington for granted now!

So I got home about 11, and watched Big Bro in bed!!!

Will let you know how I get on with the walk tomorrow! x

I had an amazing day on Sunday!

We left the house at around 11.30 after a few detours we did finally make it only to find that neither Emily and Emma were there yet anyway! They both turned up about 15 minutes later along with Emma's husband Brad! It was great to meet them all, a little strange as we keep in contact via the internet and I felt I knew them already!

The tournament itself was organised to a T and went without a hitch, thanks to Paula (Ste's mum, who I mentioned in my previous post). The Tighe family made a courageous decision to donate Ste's organs after his death, he saved a total of 5 lives and his legacy lives on in those 5 people today! What an amazing gift to give!

We sold lots of ducks in aid of LLTGL for the Great British Duck Race , if you want more info click here.

We also managed to sign at least 30 people up to the Organ Donor Register, so if one more life has been saved due to Sunday thats fab! If you want to join them you can register here.

All in all it was an amazing day and I met loads of great and inspiring people that make you feel greatful for what you've got! (Thanks Em, Em and Brad, much love x)
Will leave you with some pictures....

Emily, Me and Emma!

Brad wanted some peace and quiet, we lasted a whole 10 seconds!


Emma, Brad and Emily

Emma, Me, Emily and Paula (Ste's Mum)

P.S Quote of the day.... "I don't mind becoming a donor, as long as they don't take my sausage!"

So had a really busy week this week, on Saturday I went to my friend's daughter's 2nd birthday party, the bouncy castle kept the kids occupied and the alcohol did the trick for the adults (obviously not me due to the fluid restriction.) Luckily the weather held off and fun was had by everyone, I left early though as I was really tired and everyone else went on to town for the night! Here's me and Sarah in the garden, with the bouncy castle in the background! (none of those bottles are mine, they are all Sarah's!!!)



It was back to work for me on Monday after half term, I had actually missed being in the classroom and missed talking with the kids! I don't really see it as work, which is a good thing. Yesterday I went in to work for the morning, and spent the afternoon with Peter and his mum and dad. He is growing up so quick and even managed to say Holly's car, when he greeted me at the door!
Last night I had a fab night out with the girlies for Carrie's 21st! We started off at Uni in her uni room then headed into town for some cocktails (coke for me) and a dance! Here's a picture of us all (before anyone was too tipsy to pose!



And of course there are always some dodgy photos, especially once the alcohol has taken hold, below is Nic trying to give me a drunken kiss (note the lovely expression on my face)!


And of course a girl can't go out without some lipgloss on!


So I've got my op tomorrow, I'm a little bit nervous but I've had the procedure done before so know what to expect! Will update you when I get home, hopefully I won't have to stay in overnight!

Thought I'd backdate some posts to fill you in on the mad busy week I have had. It all started on Saturday with preparations for my "do" on Sunday. We picked up my MASSIVE cake from Frodsham (Devonshire Bakery) it was fab!



There's a funny story behind it as well... bit spooky actually, some of you will know that I post on a forum called the Kidney Patient Guide. Well I received a private message off a fellow poster saying they had met me on Saturday. I was very confused until I read further and discovered the lady (Emma) actually worked in the bakery and had brought my cake out to the car, so I'm glad she contacted me, and hopefully we'll stay in touch! (Hello Emma, if you're reading this :o) thanks for getting in touch.)

So back to the preparations, lots of party food nibbles were bought and my hair was put in rollers and my mum and dad spent the afternoon decorating the house with banners and balloons. It looked fab! On the Sunday, I spent the day resting and conserving my energy for the late night, then spent a few hours getting ready, putting my "slap" on and taking my rollers out! My friends started arriving around 5, food was eaten and a few presents opened. My uni friends bought me a make-over photo shoot for two which is fab! Think I'm gonna take my mum, it takes 5 hours in total and I'm sure it'll be a fab day and they also got me a "build a bear" birthday bear, called tinkerbell, who appears in the photo below!



The pink limo arrived at 6 and lots of photos were taken!





We then hit the road to Blackpool and headed for Funnygirls, for those of you who don't know its a drag queen/transvestite cabaret show! However I didn't check the tickets properly and it turned out you needed to have ID to get in, everyone had ID bar one, and they wouldn't let her in. They weren't budging and in the end her dad had to drive all the way to Blackpool to drop her driving licence off! The show itself was hilarious as all the waiters were drag queens as well! You had to be broadminded as some of the comments were a bit risque but hey it was a great laugh and my dad even managed to pull one of the drag queens ;o)!


A different limo picked us up, this time a pink hummer, it was gorgeous and meant we got the best of both worlds having 2 different limos! We headed back to Warrington town centre to finish the night with a drink and a dance in a club called Level. All in all a good night was had by everyone!!!

That squirrel died with a nut in its hand...

Sorry for the lack of blogging, I've had a mad busy few weeks....

First I started my work placement at a local Primary School and I'm loving every minute of it, even if the kids do ask me questions I don't know how to answer in a suitable way!? I'm with year 2's so they have a wealth of information but are still so innocent at the same time, which is just right for their age. I'm doing this for the next 10 weeks and I'm working Monday all day, Wednesday all day and half a day Friday which is great as I feel ok when I wake up in the morning as I have not had dialysis the night before. So all is going well with work, its tiring but great fun and I am impressed with myself that after the 4th day I knew all the kids names in the class (29 of them)!!!

So the topics for this week have been story writing (about a magic leaf) and woodland animals, one of the activities for the kids was them looking at stuffed animals and writing down the features of them! There was a red squirrel, a badger, a fox, a mole, a cuckoo and an owl, I had to pretend these were great, whereas in reality they were pretty freaky! The teacher had to sensitively explain the concept of stuffing an animal, and that they are real animals that were once alive, some children found it hard to grasp this and proceeded to ask me questions like why are they so still? and how did this one die? but the best comment of the day was a kid who said "wow, that squirrel died with a nut in its hand, cool!" It brought a smile to my face but then I had to explain that it probably didn't die with a nut in its hand that the person that stuffed it put it there and glued it in place! Next I was told I looked like the badger because I was wearing a black and white stripy top, So I survived looking at the stuffed animals, and I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow morning and seeing what my next challenge will be!

In other news... to my surprise I appeared in my local paper today (The Warrington Guardian) I had completely forgotten that Emily (from LLTGL) had sent a press release out about me becoming the regional advocate for her charity. The paper hadn't been in touch and so I really wasn't expecting it and obviously it came as a nice surprise and will raise awareness for a great charity, the article isn't online so I will type it up for you to have a look at...



Holly Helps Organ Charity

A life spent hooked up to a dialysis machine is what faces 21-year-old Holly Shaw, but instead of dwelling on it she has thrown her efforts into working for an organ donation charity. Now her hard work has been rewarded and she has been made Live Life Then Give Life's key advocate for the North West.
"I am really proud to be an advocate for Live Life Then Give Life," said Holly, from Westbrook. "The gift of life is so important and a transplant could give me back my life; dialysis is a life saver but also a life sentence. With a new kidney I wouldn't have to do the treatment but most of all I would just feel normal and well again," She said.
Holly has been waiting for a kidney for three years. Her dialysis treatment leaves her feeling tired and nauseous and she can only drink 500ml of fluid a day. More than 8,000 people in the UK need an organ transplant. To sign on to the NHS organ Donor Register go to http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ or call 0845 60 60 400. Go to http://www.livelifethengivelife.co.uk/ to find out more about Holly's campaign.



So thats all the news really... dialysis has been ok, diet is going well and I'm feeling quite well at the moment, I'm looking forward to a night out on Sunday with my friends and family for my 21st Birthday (which is on Tuesday) should be lots of fun, and I'll post about all the antics sometime next week!

Uni article...

When I was first asked to write this piece I was wondering how an earth I would fit 3 years of my life into one page but I’ll give it a try.

It all started just after Christmas in 2004. I was taken ill suddenly and was rushed into hospital. Various blood tests and injections took place and eventually a scan of my kidneys which showed they had shrunk and were no longer doing the job they were supposed to. I was told I had End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF) and needed to go on dialysis immediately and I would remain on this for the foreseeable future (3x a week) until a suitable donor kidney was found for a transplant. This came as a huge shock for both me and my family and we were all facing an uncertain future.

So 3 years on we are still facing that uncertain future - I am still on dialysis 3 x a week for 3 hours at a time and I’m still waiting for that phone call saying the transplant is going to take place. My mum went through the tests to see if she could become a donor for me but she wasn’t suitable. My family have been so supportive throughout this and I can’t thank them enough.

Having dialysis means I have to stick to a strict fluid restriction of 500mls per day and a special diet (low in phosphate, sodium and potassium) and also have to take various tablets each day. The dialysis itself is restrictive, time-consuming and has unpleasant side-effects. I have low energy levels, tire easily and suffer almost constant nausea. The actual haemodialysis itself takes its toll, it involves two needles inserted into my fistula which is a surgically enlarged vein (located in my upper arm).This provides access to the bloodstream for haemodialysis. The fistula buzzes all the time which is a good thing as this means the blood is flowing through it freely.

Haemodialysis removes waste products from the blood by passing it out of the body, through a filtering system called a dialyser and returning it, cleaned, to the body as well as removing fluid from my body (another job the kidneys should do) It leaves me feeling wiped out and very often light headed however it’s the only thing that can keep me alive unless I get a transplant.

It’s not all doom and gloom. I have met so many great people because of my situation, my fellow dialysis patients and of course the nurses who do an amazing job of looking after me and essentially keeping me alive. I try not to let all this get in the way of everyday life. I am enjoying my Early Childhood studies degree although I sometimes struggle fitting the work load in with my hospital visits however the lecturers have been sympathetic regarding my attendance. My social life is not that of a normal student but I can’t complain, I have understanding friends who are very supportive.

I am also proud to be an ambassador for the Live Life Then Give Life charity who do amazing work by promoting organ donation by putting on various events and selling cool T-shirts with catchy slogans on such as “I’d give you one”. (http://www.livelifethengivelife.co.uk/)

I would love to have my health and freedom back. I’ve got so much I want to do with my life but without a kidney transplant I just don’t know what the future will hold. I just have to keep hoping that one day I’ll receive the greatest gift of all – the Gift of Life. That call could come next week, next month or even in 5 years time! Over 8000 people in the UK like me need an organ transplant to save or radically improve their lives. However due to the chronic shortage of donors 450 people die each year waiting. The ever growing demand for transplants means that waiting lists are rising each year. When asked 90% of people say they agree with organ donation but only just over 20% have signed the register!

So it’s a waiting game for me now, for that phone call that will transform my life.

To read more about my everyday life as a dialysis patient and life on the waiting list you can read my blog at http://lifeondialysis--waitingforthecall.blogspot.com/

And to sign the organ donor register you can visit
http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ or ring 0845 60 60 400

Not much news really... Dialysis is the same old same old, but I'm feeling good so I suppose I can't complain.

I had a great night out on Saturday, It was my Best Friends 21st Birthday! I went with her, her family and her fella to an Indian restaurant in Manchester called East Z East!
Indian food isn't really my cup of tea so I just had some Egg Pilau rice, a poppadom and some naan bread!



The bloke that owns the restaurant actually appeared on the last series of Ramseys Kitchen Nightmares (you might remember the odd looking naan bread stands that Gordon told him to get rid of). So Ramsey obviously helped him as he now has 3 restaurants altogether and seems to be doing well and still has the naan bread stands!!!

Other news... I've passed another uni assignment, so chuffed about that!

So I went to see the consultant...

All in all it went well. I still sometimes have trouble with my blood pressure at the end of dialysis so he increased my dry weight again, which (as usual) I wasn't impressed with, but he is so lovely I couldn't argue with him! The only thing that was dodgy about my blood results was my phosphate level (unsurprisingly) as I have an aversion to taking my phosphate binders a.) because I hate taking tablets, I'm such a big kid. b.) they are Huuuuuge. and c.) I have to use lots of my fluid restriction up taking them. So I told the Doctor all this and he has put me on two different phosphate binders one called Calcichew which I take with breakfast and tea. I have taken this before and as the name suggests you chew it rather than swallowing it (which is good for me, requires less fluid) he also put me on another binder which I can't think of the name at the mo, but it is chewable too and I take that at lunch time.

Finally as I wasn't impressed with him putting my dry weight up he suggested I should go walking for an hour a day!!!!! Think I'll start with half an hour and build up and might get my bike out when the weather starts getting nicer! The consultant also prescribed me with a tablet to control or suppress my appetite so I can hopefully loose a bit of weight... fingers crossed these work and I won't be running to the loo all the time (they contain lots of fibre which expands in the stomach, making you feel full)

So that was yesterday, and today I've been out to Stockton Heath to a jewelers to see about getting a ring for my 21st birthday which my mum and dad have very kindly offered to get me! I found one I liked it's white gold and has 3 diamonds, but the gentleman behind the counter suggested I come back when he has another particular ring in stock to see if I liked that better. All in all a successful trip, so I'm going back next week to see which of the rings I like best.

So thats it really... I am still off uni for the Easter break and so have not seen much of my mates (I miss you guys)...Only one more Uni assignment left to go... and the countdown is on till my 21st... 25days to go...

So I was meant to be in uni today but I got up at 7 and threw up so I gave it a miss! I' ve just got back from dialysis, it went well apart from when I got off I went to weigh myself and my fistula started bleeding! To say I panicked would be an understatement, I felt sick and went dizzy, after a little sit down I was fine!


So other news, a friend of mine called keiran recently created a short video clip for a competition being run by clipstar.com, he is interested in becoming a model/tv presenter!



I said I would give him a quick plug on here, so click here if you want to watch it, and even better vote for him, he is currently in first place and stands to win $10,000 in this round and could potentially win $1million if people keep voting! Thanks guys!

Have a great weekend, I'll probably just be spending it doing boring uni work!

Easter...

Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of updates hope you had a Happy Easter!

My Auntie came over from Northern Ireland for a week (she goes home tomorrow) so this has been nice, by the next time she comes over there will be a new addition to the family (my little niece or nephew), talking of which my sis-in-law is showing!!! This is really exciting, only 6 more days till we find out the sex of the baby!!!

So back to Easter, I had a lovely Easter Sunday, I spent the afternoon with my uni friends which was lovely, I’d not seen them in a couple of weeks because we’ve not been in uni. So we all went round to our friend Hanne’s she had started hiding the eggs for the Easter hunt, which was meant to be for her daughter Ellie but we were all just as excited! There were little arrows pointing to where the eggs were and we even had a little egg and spoon race then spent the rest of the afternoon chatting! Then I came home and had a lovely Sunday roast with the family Turkey and all the trimmings finished off with half an Easter Egg!!!

No other news really my arm is still sore and the bruise seems to be getting bigger and darker each day also the uni article is coming along well, not quite finished yet though! Got three more assignments due in on the next 3 Wednesdays so I better get my bum in gear and get some work done!

Right speaking of uni work I’d best get some done…

The Trafford Centre...

Last night I went to the Trafford centre with 2 friends of mine, a lad I dialyse with called Gary and Steph who I used to dialyse with but she received a transplant before Christmas, I miss her lots at the unit but so glad she is doing well and is free of dialysis and can get back to some sort of normality. Us three are the youngest at the unit me being the baby (21) then Gary (he will be impressed I’ve called him a lad he is 28) and then Steph (30).

So Steph picked me up from my house around 5.30 and we set off in rush hour traffic for the T centre (which was a bad idea) a journey that would usually take 30mins took over an hour! We were texting Gary every so often to check his progress and of course (being a man) he was running late or maybe it was the fact that he didn’t set off till 6.30 which was the time we were meant to meet him at! We arrived and decided that Gary was going to be ages so we should go to Selfridges and look at all the stuff we couldn’t afford!

After that we wandered round and looked for a place to have tea, we settled on a place called HA HA bar and grill. Gary eventually turned up an hour late! So we ate around 9.00 it was lovely I had good old steak and chips and we stayed at the restaurant chatting for ages, mainly about kidney related stuff as it’s the one main thing we all have in common! Anyway a fab night was had by all and a cheap night too as Gary was as ever a gentleman and paid for everything! So we’ve decided we’re going to make it a regular thing and take it in turns to pay, my treat next time so I’m taking the oldies Ice-skating and then for a Chinese!

Everyday Life

Not much news really just been busy with boring old uni work, which seems to be paying off as I found out on Thursday that I passed another assignment with a mark of 73 which is a 1:1! So I’m chuffed about that!

So on the 21^st April I’m starting a Work-Based Learning placement which I’m really excited about as well as a little nervous as I don’t know how my energy levels will cope. Uni has been very helpful and have sorted it out for me to do my placement over 10 weeks part time instead of 5 weeks full time. So I’m going to be working with 6 and 7 year olds in a primary school 2.5 days a week. I have my first meeting with the teacher tomorrow, so I’ll see what I’m letting myself in for.

So dialysis hasn’t been too bad, had a dodgy time a couple of days last week with my BP so my dry weight has been put up yet again, which (as usual) I’m not happy about. I also got my blood results back and they caught me as I’ve not been as good as I should be, I’m rubbish at remembering to take my renagels (phosphate binders) I hate taking tablets (I have a fear I might choke, which is practically impossible) These ones are quite big and I have to take them anytime I eat anything!!! Apart from that everything’s ok.

I am shattered tonight as today me and my folks looked after our friend’s little boy who is 20months, so I have spent the day playing trains, singing wind the bobbin up and twinkle twinkle little star and even managed a trip to the park to feed the ducks and play on the swing! Had a fun packed day running around after him, and now an early night for me I think…

Great news... and a night on the town!

So the cats out of the bag now… and I can tell you I’m going to be an AUNTIE!! YAY!!! I’m so over excited, my sister-in-law is due on the 21^st August and both her and my bro will make great parents! Me and my mum couldn’t resist and have been buying baby outfits already! So that’s the news out of the way now back to everyday life…

Sorry for the lack of blogging been busy again with uni work, 3 more assignments handed in, only 4 more to go!!!

I’ve had a cold this week so had to miss uni a few days! I’m on the mend now and even managed a night out with the uni girls last night for one of their 21^st birthdays. You would think we had grown out of fancy dress by now but oh no…. school girls, cats, cowboys, fairies and even Marilyn Monroe were all out last night!

I had a great night, although as usual I did have to leave early as I was shattered and due to the fluid restriction couldn’t drink much (it’s not much fun being the only sober person). My patience doesn’t last long when the drunks get into the swing of things… literally, I got hit on the head twice last night by my mate Nic (see pic)!!!

So dialysis has been going ok, same old thing really… blood tests next week, to check the levels of potassium, phosphate, calcium and about a hundred more things, basically seeing whether I’m sticking to the renal diet or not and whether I’m taking my tablets!!!

So plans for next week are…. Going to uni, doing uni assignments and not forgetting dialysis, I lead an exciting life!

Introductions...

Well this is my first ever post so I better start with some introductions....

My name's Holly Shaw and I'm 20 years old... I am currently in my 2nd year at Chester University (Warrington campus) doing an Early Childhood Studies degree! I have made loads of ace friends who are very understanding and I love them to bits! I have Kidney failure and so have to have Dialysis 3 times a week. I am on the transplant list and so I'm waiting for the call that will mean I am able to lead a normal life.

Hopefully this blog will raise awareness of kidney failure and organ donation but be warned I will end up waffling on about friends, family and shopping.

I live with my Mum and Dad and I have a brother Andy who is happily married to Fiona and they live nearby. My family are a great support and I am truly grateful, I love them lots, without them I wouldn't have got through the last 3 years.

I hope this gives you an insight into dialysis and life on the transplant waiting list!

Enjoy.....