Long wait for a kidney transplant
"You learn a lot off other patients because they know what you're going through." Josh Hill
A Whanganui man has been holding out so long for a kidney that he has nearly died while he waited.
Josh Hill is 29 and has spent the past 10 years on dialysis in search of a new kidney.
For Hill the simple act of staying alive requires being hooked up to a machine three times a week, 41⁄2 hours each time.
‘‘It’s not something anyone wants to be on. It takes away your freedom.’’
He had only recently turned 19 when he was first admitted to hospital.
‘‘I was at work one day and just started feeling sick. I ended up getting home and collapsing.
‘‘I ended up in hospital with four or five doctors telling me I needed to go on dialysis.
‘‘I didn’t know what it was. I kind of freaked out a bit.‘‘
He has undergone multiple operations, suffered a collapsed lung and nearly died from peritonitis, an infection of the stomach cavity.
‘‘I was not supposed to survive. It was a really bad infection; I was quite lucky.’’
Hill has tried to find a donor but to no avail.
The kidney waiting list was not as simple as it sounded, he said; a donor kidney had to match both blood type and tissue type.
Dialysis was draining, but he did not have any other options. ‘‘It’s either do it or you die. ‘‘Sometimes it gets you down but I’ve had a lot of support.
‘‘You’ve just got to always think positively.’’
Hospital staff and other patients were a good source of support.
‘‘You learn a lot off other patients because they know what you’re going through.’’
Hill had just started a career as an engineer but he had to put those dreams aside.
He is now looking into a UCOL course in computer science.
‘‘A lot of people say ‘what would you do if you got a kidney?’
‘‘What I’ve heard is if you get a kidney you’ve got that chance of it stopping again and being back on this. So I’ve got to work around it.’’
On top of his time hooked up to a machine, he has to take a onehour trip from Whanganui to Palmerston North Hospital each time, a trip that can leave him nauseous.
Hill has set up a Givealittle page to help him buy a car to get to appointments.