Since I broke the news to friends and family – via this blog mostly – that I needed to go back onto dialysis again, I have been inundated with offers of potential kidneys. I completely understand that 99.9% of these offers are not serious, but it still warms my heart that people are kind enough to offer, even if their tongues are firmly pressed into their cheek. The quick comment at the end of my explanation of what dialysis is, what it does or how it works of “I’ll give you one of mine” never fails to make me smile. If you were one of the people who have said this or something similar to me in recent weeks, then thank you, your sentiment is not lost on me. But I would be interested to see how the conversation would have progressed had I pushed the issue, by replying “Excellent, what’s your blood group? Here’s the Transplant Coordinator’s number, see you at the hospital on Monday.”, or something along those lines. I do know that two people who have offered their delicious, plump, ripe kidneys for possible donation are very serious about going through with it. My little wife Hollie is very keen to be tested, and so far we’ve discovered that we have are the same blood group, which is a good start. In all honestly I don’t think Hollie would be able to donate a kidney to me, not yet anyway.

Four lovely kidneys in there somewhere ..

Although donating an organ is a much less invasive operation than it used to be, the donor has to be laid up at home for around 6 weeks, hardly lifting a finger – literally. With two young boys at home and with both of us being off work for a few months while we recover from the operation, it’s just not feasible. Maybe when the boys are older, and if the need for another transplant arises in the future we’ll look at it again. For now, she’s just an incubator. Rickie and Freddie had better take care of their kidneys too; I’ve got my eye on those!

The other potential donor to have come forward with serious intentions is my older brother, Justin. In fact, he said I could have both of his, but I suspect he may have been joking. He has had a blood test to determine his blood type, and is waiting for the results. As he is my half-brother it makes the chances of us being a good match less likely than if we were full blood brothers, but we’ll see. If it turns out that we are a good match, more discussions are needed before we take any more steps, but the fact he’s gone this far into seeing if he can give me a kidney means the absolute world. Top work, bruv.

In the meantime, the haemodialysis continues apace. Three mornings a week, every week for just under four hours. I’m waiting to see whether it might be possible to have a machine installed at home, as this would mean that the treatment has even less of an impact on my life. No making the 30 mile round trip to the hospital, no mornings lost to a ward side-room and no impact whatsoever on my working life. If it is possible for me to dialyse at home instead then it would mean that rather than having 12 hours of dialysis per week over three days, I could dialyse myself at home for just two hours per night, but over six days a week. As I would be dialysing almost every day, the toxins in my blood would have less time to build up and I would generally feel better in myself – not that I feel particularly bad at present. Also, the dietary and fluid restrictions are a lot more relaxed as I would be having treatment more often. There’s a lot to think about and the initial disruption to the house could be quite dramatic but in the long-term its something that I definitely want to consider.

That’s the goal at the moment; to explore the possibility of home haemodialysis. The ultimate goal, of course, as always .. is no dialysis at all.

**For more information about organ donation and to sign up to the donor register, click here.**