Kidney Research UK
The Brief
I shared my experiences of living with kidney disease and how it has affected my mental health in these two articles written by Kidney Research.
Kidney Research UK is the leading kidney research charity in the UK on an urgent mission to end kidney disease, a disease that ruins and destroys lives. Kidney failure is rising, as are the factors contributing to it, such as diabetes and obesity. There are estimated to be 7.2 million people in the UK currently living with chronic kidney disease, treatments can be gruelling and currently there is no cure.
My Renal Counsellor gets me Through
Ali on Haemodialysis 2022
Like so many other people, Alison Lawrence, 49, from Essex, had no idea she had kidney disease. Her condition, reflux nephropathy, was picked up by chance in her 20s after a health check at the gym showed she had high blood pressure.
For just over two decades, from 1997 to 2018, Alison managed her 40% kidney function and lived a full life with her husband Phil, 50, not worrying too much about what was around the corner. But then her kidney function started to decline rapidly, leading to Alison being put on the transplant list and having to start dialysis. Mentally, this has been hard to deal with, but fortunately Alison has had the help of a specially trained renal counsellor to support her through the dark times.
Joined up thinking would have really helped my mental health during my transplant journey
Alison Lawrence on her Automated Peritoneal Dialysis machine before she received a transplant
Alison Lawrence is on the road to recovery following a successful kidney transplant after three years on dialysis. She was among the group of kidney patients who took part in focus groups which helped to inform our new report, Addressing the mental health challenges of life with kidney disease: The case for change.
In this extract from the report, Ali’s experience shows how people living with kidney disease are often left shouldering the burden of joining up the medical and emotional aspects of their care.