We named the kidney Jubbly
Yvette
Yvette Phillips
I was diagnosed with renal failure at the age of four, under Hillingdon hospital. I went onto CAPD, when I was 5, and haemodialysis when I was coming on 7. I was on that for nearly 4 years, until I had my first transplant, at the age of 10, at the Royal Free Hospital. But I had to have the transplant – I was getting worse and worse on dialysis, it did not agree with me. I had hypos, which they had to literally drug me for – blood pressure would go through the roof and then drop really low. If I cut myself I ended up in hospital because I was bleeding so badly. Dialysis just wasn’t for me – I was very, very poorly – at the age of 4 – I was 3 stone.
I was born with Ricketts, which was the first case that had been in this country for probably about 20 years, I think they said at the time. Which is how we noticed that there was something wrong with me. The transplant was done at the Royal Free Hospital by Mr Ossie Fernando, who is absolutely amazing – he literally treated me like one of his own. He saw me every day, a couple of times a day.
I was in isolation, it was the Queen’s Jubilee. So, we named the kidney Jubbly. Through the Queen’s Jubilee, and I watched the Olympics, in 1977, and the Queen’s Jubilee, all from my hospital bed.
My first transplant – I got married, I passed my driving test, I worked, and I was told at the age of 18 I would never have children. This was due to the CAPD – it made me infertile because I’d had it through my stomach, plus I also did have many, many gynae problems, as well. Lo and behold, the first transplant lasted 35 years, and 25 years post-transplant, 11 weeks pregnant, I had no idea! [laughs] And had a beautiful little girl.
My first transplant started to fail, shortly after having Cayleigh, but we managed to hold on for another 8 years, because I would not go back on dialysis. I was adamant, I would not go back on it. So, I was back on the transplant list, but nothing was coming forward, so my husband, Alan, said he would come forward and see if he was a match. Unfortunately, because I had been on steroids for so long, it had caused problems with my blood. And unfortunately Alan wasn’t a match. But, we were then told about the 3-way swap – where you get 3 recipients, 3 donors and, providing the match is OK, you all go ahead on the same day and have a transplant. It took a while, but we found one, and on January the 19th, 2011, Alan went down to theatre at 8 o’clock in the morning, to give a kidney to somebody in Belfast, that’s all I know. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, I went down, to receive a kidney from somebody in Belfast – all I know is he was a male 33-year-old. There was a problem with me yet again. I had a haematoma appear, because the kidney had three arteries, so it was quite a complicated operation. I was down there for 9 hours instead of 4. I wasn’t very good again afterwards. But 12 days later we managed to let me go home. So … that’s the story as it is for the transplant.
I was born with Ricketts, which was the first case that had been in this country for probably about 20 years, I think they said at the time. Which is how we noticed that there was something wrong with me. The transplant was done at the Royal Free Hospital by Mr Ossie Fernando, who is absolutely amazing – he literally treated me like one of his own. He saw me every day, a couple of times a day.
I was in isolation, it was the Queen’s Jubilee. So, we named the kidney Jubbly. Through the Queen’s Jubilee, and I watched the Olympics, in 1977, and the Queen’s Jubilee, all from my hospital bed.
My first transplant – I got married, I passed my driving test, I worked, and I was told at the age of 18 I would never have children. This was due to the CAPD – it made me infertile because I’d had it through my stomach, plus I also did have many, many gynae problems, as well. Lo and behold, the first transplant lasted 35 years, and 25 years post-transplant, 11 weeks pregnant, I had no idea! [laughs] And had a beautiful little girl.
My first transplant started to fail, shortly after having Cayleigh, but we managed to hold on for another 8 years, because I would not go back on dialysis. I was adamant, I would not go back on it. So, I was back on the transplant list, but nothing was coming forward, so my husband, Alan, said he would come forward and see if he was a match. Unfortunately, because I had been on steroids for so long, it had caused problems with my blood. And unfortunately Alan wasn’t a match. But, we were then told about the 3-way swap – where you get 3 recipients, 3 donors and, providing the match is OK, you all go ahead on the same day and have a transplant. It took a while, but we found one, and on January the 19th, 2011, Alan went down to theatre at 8 o’clock in the morning, to give a kidney to somebody in Belfast, that’s all I know. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, I went down, to receive a kidney from somebody in Belfast – all I know is he was a male 33-year-old. There was a problem with me yet again. I had a haematoma appear, because the kidney had three arteries, so it was quite a complicated operation. I was down there for 9 hours instead of 4. I wasn’t very good again afterwards. But 12 days later we managed to let me go home. So … that’s the story as it is for the transplant.