Single mum continues to battle kidney failure after 20 years
KUALA LUMPUR: Living with kidney failure has not been easy for single parent, Noraziah Amdan, but she has fought hard to stay alive for nearly 21 years.
High blood pressure in her 30s caused her kidneys to fail and it got worse during her fourth pregnancy.
The 59-year-old said being disciplined with food and medicine, not skipping haemodialysis sessions, and having mental strength were crucial to manage the condition.
Haemodialysis is needed to remove waste and excess fluid from the blood; hence Noraziah, who stays in Klang, goes for the four-hour procedure every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“After treatment, I usually feel tired, weak and have a headache, which affects my emotions. But I try to control it by getting enough rest. God is testing me and I accept that. If there is treatment that will help me continue living, I will try it. InsyaAllah,” said the mother of four sons, the eldest of whom had passed away. She said although her kidney failure, which was diagnosed in November 2001, had made things difficult, it had not stopped her from carrying out her responsibilities as a mother and doing things like household chores.
She credited her children, mother and siblings for keeping her spirits up, as well as the doctors and specialists for helping to improve her well-being.
Nephrologist and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) lecturer Dr Nor Fadhlina Zakaria said dialysis patients could continue to live 10 to 15 years.
“With technological innovation in medicine and good patient selfmanagement, it’s not impossible for them to live more than 20 years,” she said, adding that it comes down to diet, taking medicine, going on dialysis and other factors.
The job of the kidneys is to remove toxic waste (e.g. urea), but people suffering from chronic kidney failure have to undergo dialysis.