Kidney Matters - Issue 16 Spring 2022
Kidney Matters is our free quarterly magazine for everyone affected by kidney disease. This issue includes features on delayed graft function, the impact of CKD on families, friends and care-partners, improving organ donation, a husband's perspective on the challenges faced from caring for someone with CKD, and an article all about a family's journey from dialysis to transplant and all the things in between. As well as this, the Kidney Kitchen features a warming pear and blackberry crumble, perfect for Valentine's Day! We know that being a kidney patient can be tough at times and that accessing the right help at the right time isn’t always easy. We’ve spent a great deal of time talking and listening to kidney patients about what we can do to address this at every stage of kidney disease. The response was overwhelmingly ‘improved communication’ on what is going on in the kidney world, how other patients manage their life with kidney disease and what is available to them in terms of support and how to access it. Kidney Matters has been developed to tackle this as well as the many other issues kidney patients face in day-to-day life. Along with shared patient experiences, Kidney Matters provides information on how to access emotional and practical support, financial assistance through our grant schemes, advice from leading kidney specialists and tips on how to keep as well as possible by eating a healthy diet whilst on dialysis.
Kidney Matters is our free quarterly magazine for everyone affected by kidney disease.
This issue includes features on delayed graft function, the impact of CKD on families, friends and care-partners, improving organ donation, a husband's perspective on the challenges faced from caring for someone with CKD, and an article all about a family's journey from dialysis to transplant and all the things in between.
As well as this, the Kidney Kitchen features a warming pear and blackberry crumble, perfect for Valentine's Day!
We know that being a kidney patient can be tough at times and that accessing the right help at the right time isn’t always easy. We’ve spent a great deal of time talking and listening to kidney patients about what we can do to address this at every stage of kidney disease. The response was overwhelmingly ‘improved communication’ on what is going on in the kidney world, how other patients manage their life with kidney disease and what is available to them in terms of support and how to access it.
Kidney Matters has been developed to tackle this as well as the many other issues kidney patients face in day-to-day life. Along with shared patient experiences, Kidney Matters provides information on how to access emotional and practical support, financial assistance through our grant schemes, advice from leading kidney specialists and tips on how to keep as well as possible by eating a healthy diet whilst on dialysis.
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18
FEATURE ARTICLE
Getting away from it all:
holidaying and dialysis in the
Lake District By Lynne and David Alderson
Lynne and David Alderson moved their
family to Cumbria to take over a new
venture running the popular Lakeland
Dialysis unit, just before the pandemic
hit in 2020. Some quick thinking and
good luck see them ready to welcome
dialysis patients back this summer.
Lynne has worked as a dialysis nurse within the NHS
for over 30 years and was Sister in charge of the day
to day running of the Loughborough Dialysis Satellite
Unit. She has always had a real passion for ensuring
kidney patients have good access to holiday dialysis,
or ‘dialysis away from base’ (DAFB) having seen over
the years, the real difference it can have on patients’
(and their family’s) health, wellbeing and happiness.
Our story begins when Lynne’s unit received an
email from Lakeland Dialysis in the summer of 2019,
saying that the Cockermouth unit, which had been
very successfully providing DAFB to dialysis patients
visiting the Lake District since 2004, would be closing
due to the retirement of the current owners, unless
new owners could be found.
What happened next was something of a ‘call to
action’ – Lynne sent a swift email to her husband
David asking him ‘could and should we do this?’ At
the time, David was a Baptist Church Minister working
in Newthorpe, Nottinghamshire. Intense discussion
followed and a decision was made.
Our move to Cumbria as Covid-19 strikes
On 6 March 2020, along with William, one of our two
children, and our two dogs Grace and Luna, we made
the move from the East Midlands to Cumbria. Who
could have predicted what would follow over the next
18 months as the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the
world, affecting everyone’s lives?
The first consequence of the pandemic was
potentially something that could have stopped our
plans in their tracks. New guidelines were issued
stopping all DAFB. What had seemed a new exciting,
albeit challenging, endeavor was suddenly turning into
a potential nightmare.
Of course, along with our own worrying situation,
kidney patients had their own fears and uncertainties
around the pandemic. Lockdown loomed and nobody
knew when things would return to normal.
David and Lynne Alderson
“Dialysis away from base allows you to plan a
normal family holiday, where you feel welcome
and safe in a relaxing environment.“
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