John Walledge - Recipient

John Walledge was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease at the age of 54 after going for a routine check-up with his GP. Having been referred to a Renal specialist, he was told fairly soon that he may need a kidney transplant ‘one day’. That day arrived quite soon and within 6 months of diagnosis, John started dialysis. That was in August 2000.

John chose to have haemo-dailysis, which means that he has a ‘fistula’ in his arm, created by joining a vein to an artery, so that he can be injected with the big needles that take his blood out of his arm, through the dialysis filter, returning the cleaned blood to his system. Even though dialysis technology has improved dramatically in recent years, it is nowhere near as effective as having a healthy kidney function. Dialysis is also very time-consuming – each session is 4hrs. long, and it sometimes takes longer as the puncture wounds have to be bound tightly and to have stopped bleeding before you are allowed to leave the hospital.

As John says, “Dialysis is a chore, but it keeps me going”. Living with Chronic Kidney Disease is exhausting, but the hope of a transplant is always there.

We are please to report that John received a kidney transplant in February 2007 at St George’s in Tooting.