Going Down Under

In my last post I forgot to mention the most exciting piece of news - in fact, the word exciting just doesn't cover it....super douper, insanely exciting may just about cover it.

I am off to Perth in Western Australia for 3 weeks... in 12 days! My best friend recently moved out there and ever since I knew she was going, I had been desperate to book flights to visit. Due to the small matter of a transplant I had to get many 'go-aheads' from various consultants, and luckily all of them said yes - resulting in an extremely happy me.

Not only am I absolutely thrilled to be going to see Hannah, I am also ecstatic to be going away without being on dialysis. The fact that I will have three long weeks to relax and do nothing but read on the beach and take photos sounds absolutely perfect...

Cottesloe Beach, nearby to where Hannah lives.

I was lucky enough to go on holiday a few times during my 5 years on dialysis. I tried not to let my kidney failure stop me from doing anything, and so in those 5 years I visited a few different countries, dialysising in each of them. Although going away is absolutely fab, it never feels quite like a proper holiday when you've got to visit the local hospital 3 times a week or plug yourself into a machine at night, and so to be going away without all this is a huge novelty! I literally can't wait.

Dialysising in Manila, Philippines. Face mask compulsory, sunglasses less so...

Strangely enough I found it a lot easier to travel once I had switched over to heamodialysis, due to the fact that I found booking into another unit in another country to be not too much of a problem. Don't get me wrong - I would always be nervous about going to another unit, I would worry constantly until I got there about all the language barriers and things that could go wrong, but luckily I never had a problem.

I found going away on PD slightly harder, but I am pretty sure this is due to bad luck as I know plenty of people who have never had a problem. Unfortunately my PD machine broke twice whilst on holiday, resulting in mad panics each time - and replacements being flown in. I also managed to forget various parts for the machine whilst travelling to Paris and remembered just as the Euro Star left the station. Oops. Luckily Baxter, the PD suppliers, have an office in central Paris...phew.

Fortunately this time all I have to remember is my array of medicines, my camera and a good book!

Ps. Quick update on Oli aka Philanthropic Pin Cushion Boy : Still doing really well and has just started going to the climbing centre in Leeds (looks far too much hard work for me), as well as being a member of a walking club and is still taking lots of lovely photos :) Click here to see them.