If I could turn back time...

Referencing the ever youthful Cher, a woman graced with such talent she continues to perform and entertain whilst still collecting her pension, slurping from the fountain of eternal Rhytidectomy. Age defying, like the barely living embodiment of L'Oreals annual output, her treated husk continually evolves in a Benjamin Button parallel. However her 1989 hit single provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past year in Andrews World.....

The year began with tragedy, as my mum fought her own struggle following a tragic road accident in October 2010, a battle she eventually lost on January 23rd. Being so far away from the UK, and stuck in NZ on dialysis, unable to do anything to help was very upsetting, but impractical from a haemodialysis point of view.

Here in NZ life continued apace with the constant dialysis and daily diabetes regimen. After a year of peritoneal dialysis I was moved onto haemo dialysis, which involved a short stay in hospital to allow a tunnel line tobe inserted into my chest to access an artery to allow blood to be filtered by a machine three times a week.

An earthquake hit sedate Christchurch late February causing death and destruction in the garden city. Dialysis services were interrupted due to water contamination, and patients were relocated to other cities, with Auckland putting on extra shifts to accomodate the influx, with no disruption to resident patients.

March brought news of the planned transfer of dialysis services to Aucklands North Shore. The lack of clarity over the planned shift changes and the impact on we workers was sufficient to get my creative juices flowing in an attempt to highlight our concerns, and thus Andrews World of NZ Dialysis blog was born.

The year continued apace with more of the same, but in June a surprise visitor at work arrived. Prime Minister John Key visited our school and I was lucky enough to meet and have a small chat. We discussed........of course I can't disclose official state secrets....but he talked about his time in London and how he enjoyed the UK.

July forced its way onto the stage with a flourish as the call came through from the hospital that a donor set of organs was available. After a hurried car dash through the suburbs I was admitted into the ward and started the prep for the op.

At 8am I was drugged unconscious and the operation began. After 8 hours I had received both a new kidney and a new pancreas, but was very sore and in pain for quite a few days afterwards.

Room 39, Ward 71, at Auckland General Hospital became my home for the next few days as I recovered after 2 days in the Intensive Care Unit. There I entertained nurses, dieticians, renal transplant support workers, the surgeon who performed the deed, family and friends, even the hospital chaplain who popped in to see if he could be of assistance. Not yet I replied.

After a rather rapid eight days, I was discharged to continue my recovery at home. There I was raptuously received by Bagpuss, who was glad to see his companion and feeding human once more.

Over the next two months the recovery continued, as I travelled into the renal clinic each day for blood tests and assessment. The amount of different drugs was staggering, as was the cost of the medications to the taxpayer, with some costing up to $1900 per month supplied by the Ministry of Health.

Ordinary tasks became manageable during August and in mid September I was driving again, albeit carefully and more steadily than usual! Exercise is important for recovering patients so I increased the pace and number of walks on our local beach, Arkles Bay.

In October the Rugby World Cup came to New Zealand, with a spectacular opening night in Auckland. Feeling sufficiently well I ventured out with the family onto a yacht in the harbour to watch the proceedings.......

culminating in a grand firework pyrotechnic extravaganza off the Skytower......

Visits to the hospital for post transplant blood tests reduced to once weekly as the consultants altered and adjusted the multitude of medicines required for immuno suppression and surgical healing, and changing the wound dressing. A minor blimp during October ocurred when the new kidney took a violent dislike to a prescribed antibiotic, causing a worrying rash to develop on the kidney. In substitution, an alternative inhalation was hastly planned, and I entered the strange world of the nebuliser....

More sadness came in October with the death of Bagpuss, my pet and companion creature for 19 years. Much loved he was laid to rest in a sylvan setting in a local pet garden of remembrance.

November saw the finals of the Rugby World Cup, with NZ just winning the contest by 'un point' against the French team, and we settled into a stable regime of medication, allowing me to begin the gradual return to work.

And so December arrived, and summer started to flex its muscles, and as the temperature soared so did my internal body heater. Yet more mischief caused by the combination of drugs. With the wound now completely healed, I was left with the most enormous scar, but satisfied that I had avoided the visible scarring left by a fistula on the arm, a measure demanded by continued haemodialysis.

Christmas arrived early with our adoption of a rescue kitten we have called Gorby. His appellation arose from the distinctive smudge on his forehead, just like the former leader of the USSR. What would Reagan have said at the Berlin Wall..."Mr Gorbachev, stop playing with that Iron Curtain.."

So that has been a brief resume of my 2011, from great sadness to the elation of the transplant. Of course we can never really travel back in time, unless you are a time traveller, but then in that case you will already know how this blog is to end.
The most significant events this year were threefold, the death of Bagpuss, the transplant and the passing of Mum. It was a year of complex decisions and and major changes, both to my life and those around me and my family. I felt guilty and angry at my health for not allowing me to travel freely, a luxury most people take for granted, as indeed did I until the onset of renal failure. However I would like to thank Dad for his wise advice that to travel over in June for the delayed funeral (delayed thanks to the intrigues of the UK legal system), would be injurious to my health. To travel out of NZ for the funeral would have meant coming off the active transplant list for a month, and of course the call came just 2 weeks after Mother's service. It just goes to show that even at 45 you should still listen to your father!
Thanks too, to everyone who reads these updates, it gave me such strength whilst I was recovering just to know that people were reading this blog and being part of my life. thanks to my partner, Glenn, for all the love and support that has been lavished on me over the year, I have been the grumpiest, most cantankerous obnoxious Englishman since King Ethelred the Unpopular, and gives a whole new spin to the film The English Patient. I can see Ralph Fiennes in my role even now, getting grumpier and grumpier as the film progressed. It hasnt been easy for you, and I have been very demanding in my emotional and practical needs. Big hugs!

So thanks everyone for being part of this blog and giving me the inspirational muse to carry it on week after week......

Andrew will return as James Bond in Octogrumpy......