December 17, 2022 7.00 am This story is over 25 months old

When gravy and festive goodies are off the menu: A Lincoln dialysis patient’s reflections

She still has to be careful what she eats though

Christmas completely changed for a Lincoln woman who became the first person in the world to receive a donor kidney that had been through a pioneering transplant technique over a decade ago.

Deborah Bakwell, 67, was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in her mid-20s and had already seen her mother’s previous experience of Christmas on dialysis. Christmas for Deborah and her family was always a time for limitation during the most tempting of seasons.

Nearly 30,000 people will have to restrict their diet this Christmas in order to avoid serious health consequences while on life-saving dialysis treatment, meaning food such as stuffing, mashed potato, peas, parsnips, and even gravy, custard and mince pies need to be avoided.

Traditional Christmas dinner in comparison to the one of a typical dialysis patient. | Photo: Kidney Research UK

This Christmas Kidney Research UK is highlighting the realities of life on dialysis, as well as the need for greater research into the treatment by sharing the first-hand accounts of patients taking extra care this year.

For 20 years, Deborah was able to live with her kidney disease before she entered renal failure in her mid-40s. Like her mum, she was given a strict diet to adhere to, which limited many of her favourite foods.

Luckily for Deborah, she was able to come off dialysis and live life to the full again, but she still has to be careful what she eats.

Luckily for Deborah, her experience on dialysis is part of her Christmas past. After receiving a transplant in 2010, she was able to finally come off dialysis and live life to the full again, although she still has to be careful what she eats.

She spent three years on dialysis before becoming the first person in the world to be given a kidney received using a technique called normothermic perfusion.

Luckily for Deborah, her experience on dialysis is part of her Christmas past.

She said: “I was relatively lucky as, whilst my food was restricted, I did not have to worry about the amount of fluid I was taking in. That didn’t mean that keeping to the diet was simple especially around Christmas as it seemed everything that you could possibly want was suddenly prohibited.

“Sprouts, chocolate, crisps, bananas and even meat all had to be restricted. Christmas dinner just is not the same when you are on dialysis as my dinner plate was miserable!

“Consisting of just two roast potatoes –par boiled before roasting – no mash as that would be part of the potato allowance, one sprout which I considered the annual treat and only one or two slices of turkey, it couldn’t be considered the highlight of the year.”

Deborah with her son Miles.

For Deborah, Christmas dinner wasn’t the only thing that impacted her festive joy. Dialysis is required regularly with most people needing three sessions a week, usually in a specialist clinic or sometimes at home, for up to four hours a day.

She said: “Some people don’t realise that dialysis really does take over your life. Everything else is scheduled around your treatment and you can’t simply put it off until later.

“Christmas time was especially difficult as it is a period where family comes together, and everyone is very sociable.

“I remember vividly taking myself upstairs during Christmas to have my treatment while listening to peels of laughter and joking from the family downstairs. I never resented anyone having fun, but it did seem unfair not being able to be part of the hilarious activities going on.”

Deborah enjoying great memories with her husband Bryan.

She added: “Christmas time has been rewritten for me since my transplant, I have experienced the festive period as I used to with sprouts and chocolate aplenty – albeit not on the same plate!

“Clearly, I now have medication to regulate my transplanted kidney and I endeavour to watch the quantity of my food intake. I know that transplant is not a cure and that the dark days may come back again, but I do feel the joy of having to live in comparative normality.

“I am always grateful for the generosity of my donor and their family; words cannot describe the gift they have given me and the life I have been able to live since my transplant.”


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