‘I’ll be the fun auntie,’ tongs to create some supersize meals
WHEN I think of Michelle I like to remember her laughing, whether it was over a silly TV programme or something someone had told her.
Naturally cheerful, she had a wonderful sense of humour that stood her in good stead given the trials she had to endure.
Born a month premature, Michelle had chronic kidney failure and by the age of six we had no choice but to start her on peritoneal dialysis (a means to cleanse her blood, which took up to four hours a day), which was so new that Michelle was one of the first children in Bristol to use it.
Her first kidney transplant came a year later, but it failed immediately. Two years later, we tried again and this time it lasted eight months, after which Michelle made it clear she did not want to go through the ordeal again.
So, for the next 17 years dialysis was her daily home routine. It was never easy, but Michelle just got on with it.
She didn’t invite praise: when Michelle was seven she took part in a Blue Peter TV appeal for dialysis children and was horrified when the headmaster showed the footage to the whole school!
Life got harder still when, in her 20s, Michelle had to move onto haemodialysis to purify her blood, which involved going to hospital three times a week. She hated it, but rarely complained. I remember
her collapsing in a fit of giggles in A&E when one of the nurses told us about a hair dye disaster.
That was typical of her. She was never resentful of other people’s good fortune.
Complications from her surgeries and condition meant Michelle knew there was no way she could have children, so she threw herself into being a wonderful auntie to her two nephews.
‘I want to be a fun auntie, not a sick one,’ she told me. She also offered her services as a counsellor for others with similar problems. In her 30s, Michelle gained an Open University degree — a 2:1 in English and literature of which she was proud. She also took up cross-stitching — her designs cover our walls and give us some comfort.
Last year, Michelle was offered another transplant, which we knew was high risk. But her quality of life was deteriorating, so she gave it a go.
At first, the future looked hopeful until, eight weeks later, she succumbed to a massive infection. She passed away only six days later. Michelle was very grateful to the donor for giving her the last chance to live a normal life, and would have done everything in her power to look after it.
I am only sorry that we couldn’t have our wonderful, kind, generous and gutsy daughter with us for many years more than the 41 we were blessed with. It has been a privilege to have loved her.
Michelle elaine Peterson, born november 16, 1975, died June 10, 2017, aged 41.