Martin’s Story

My story isn’t that different from a lot of people that are new to CKD.

November 2022 I started to feel quite tired and out of breath. At that point I was very unfit and over weight so pretty much just ignored it and carried on as normal. My wife had asked me to go the GP but I wasn’t keen.

Beginning of December I eventually did and that’s where my CKD journey started.

After taking blood first thing in the morning I got a call from the GP at 4.30pm to say I had to go straight to hospital as the bloods had shown something – my immediate thought was this is going to take a while on a Friday night!

I wasn’t wrong. After the best part of 12 hours I was told there looks like there was something up with my kidneys, my blood pressure was extremely high and I needed to come back Monday. An anxious weekend followed and Monday came around – another long wait and then a referral to see a Nephrology Consultant that Wednesday.

I went in alone, my wife waited in the car as I didn’t expect to be long, and the bombshell was delivered. My kidney function was 15% and dropping so I would need to have an emergency line fitted and start dialysis immediately.

Understandably upset that was the point when things perked up for the first time as the wonderful pre-dialysis nurse Hannah came into mine and my wife’s lives. She spent the time to explain everything to us and said something that sticks with me to this day ‘It’s going to be ok’, I went home and literally clung onto that.

Over the next couple of weeks there were more appointments and calls with Hannah and my kidney function seemed to be holding.

Before we knew it January was here and I was called in for a fistula operation – genuinely at this point I still didn’t know what a fistula was for or what the operation was, I’d spent the last 6 weeks ignoring everything.

For the next 18 months my kidney function held, Hannah was an absolute rock for my wife and I and I sorted my life out. I lost a lot of weight, began regular exercise and this had a huge impact on my mental health and positivity. During this time I went on holiday a fair bit as well as didn’t know what the deal would be when I started dialysis.

June 2024 the time came that my function had dropped to the point where dialysis was needed. It was a strange one as one day everything was fine and the next I was short of breath again and tired like I had never felt before – it really felt like someone had just pulled the plug out.

When my function dropped the result was fluid on my heart so I was in to hospital for the fantastic NHS to sort that and begin my dialysis journey as well.

First time walking into the dialysis centre was like the first day at school – very daunting but I can honestly say the staff are lovely, plus you get tea and sandwiches as well so it’s not all bad!

December 2024 I had the appointment and news I had been waiting for, after losing half of my body weight I was finally on the transplant list and still am now, hopefully that call will come soon!

So dialysis for me is a strange one as I still work full time and as I have a desk job I work whilst I am receiving treatment – I don’t underestimate how lucky I am to have the employer and manager that I have. They have been a huge support.

Dialysis does affect your life, it’s unavoidable, but I point blank refuse to be beaten by it. I still go to the gym, I love running now and one of the most important things for me – I still go on holiday.

Whilst on dialysis I’ve been to Cornwall, Spain twice, Mallorca and Greece. It takes planning but it can be done and you can go pretty much anywhere.

Any advice I would give to someone starting this journey is keep as active as you can, don’t ignore your mental health and have a goal.

Since I have got involved with Kidney Wales it has been great to hear other people’s stories, tell my own when I can and see the great work raising awareness and understanding that they do. I feel privileged to be a part of it.