UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?

I RUN up the stairs cautiously because my two dogs and cat are in the habit of leaving a fluffy toy or a packet of food they’ve stolen there. I go on at least two, generally three, walks a day with the dogs. I also swim.

GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?

I LOVE fruit and veg and I always start the day having a breakfast of berries with a bowl of Greek yoghurt. Then for my main meal, perhaps a big stir fry with at least six vegetables.

EVER DIETED?

NOT AS such. But I do try to eat quite carefully. I like to be able to fit comfortably into nice jeans, so if ever the waistband is getting tight, I go easy for a little bit. But I don’t fuss too much about it. I’m about 5ft 3in and weigh about 54kg [about 8st 7lb] — but disconcertingly I am getting a little smaller: I might be a foot high by the time I’m done.

ANY VICES?

SPARKLING wine, which I help myself to rather a lot. At six o’clock when I’ve just finished typing something or maybe have another hour before I can stop for supper, a glass of wine comes in very handy. I’m aware that I shouldn’t drink as often as I do.

ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?

MY MUM was in a wheelchair for the last two or three years of her life — she did all the wrong things, ate all the wrong food and lasted until her 90s. My dad died at 57 of heart and kidney failure — kidney failure runs in his family.

I was very glad that when I developed heart failure [14 years ago] that led to kidney failure, medicine had improved.

I have a defibrillator in my chest and when my kidneys failed [a few years later], I was on dialysis for about 18 months, then had a transplant.

WORST ILLNESS/INJURY?

THE heart failure was quite quick and dramatic but I was lucky enough to receive treatment at the Royal Brompton Hospital [a specialist heart and lung centre]. Then at a routine check-up for my heart, the doctor asked if I was aware I was in stage 3 kidney failure. Dialysis isn’t a picnic but was bearable and I had wonderful nurses, nearly all from the Philippines. My lovely partner [Trish, a former bookseller] tried to be a donor for me but we weren’t a match. However, we joined a scheme where your donor might be matched to somebody else with a failing kidney whose donor would be a match for you.

We had to wait about a year — I’ve been fine ever since.

POP ANY PILLS?

MEDICATION for blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s two in the morning, five in the evening.

HAD ANYTHING REMOVED?

THEY leave the kidneys in so I have three kidneys, but two don’t work. Otherwise my tonsils, when I was a child. And I had one tiny lump taken out of my breast when I was 40, but it wasn’t cancerous.

COPE WELL WITH PAIN?

AT THE dialysis centre, they always said I have a very high pain threshold, as I get quite inhibited about being a nuisance to people. Even if it was hurting like hell, I would just grin and bear it.

HANGOVER CURE?

I TRY very hard not to have hangovers because I think they’re so ghastly. There can be times where you really do seriously feel that you are dying.

ANY PHOBIAS?

I’M A bit phobic about fish. When swimming in the sea, if I look down and see fish around me, my heart will start pumping and I’ll feel like I’m having a panic attack.

LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?

PROBABLY not. I think for ever is too long . . .

■ The Girl Who Wasn’t There (Penguin, £12.99) is published on March 7.