Stuart's Story
So, this is me, I'm your average hard working real estate agent, proud father of three and living in a small rural town in the middle of the Waikato. Along with my wife we were raising our young family and trying to give them the best life we could having left our busy London lives behind some ten years earlier to return to New Zealand.
In early May 2023, at the age of 51, I was told that I had developed acute renal failure along with the probability of a cancerous tumour on my right kidney for good measure. I had a kidney function of just 9% and dropping and they said if they didn't do something quickly I had 3-6 months to live. This diagnosis came out of the blue as I wasn't a diabetic and had no previous history of any renal issues. It hit my family and I like a freight train, this wasn't in the script and wasn't supposed to happen to otherwise healthy people like me, or so I thought. I became, however, one of the lucky ones and my story is not one of misfortune and sadness but ultimately one of success and immense gratitude.
Throughout 2023 I underwent both a kidney removal operation—thankfully the tumour was benign—as well as experiencing the full raft of dialysis treatments starting in the Haemo unit before moving to PD and then getting an APD machine for Christmas! Life changed dramatically, but with the help of our friends and family we adapted. I kept working throughout the whole process and we tried to make the best of the situation, with my wife being an integral part of it. In the early part of 2024 I was accepted onto the Transplant programme and began going through the process of looking for live donors as well as trying to keep myself as stable and healthy as I possibly could, but that wasn't happening. My function was dropping and my health deteriorated to the point where the renal team were battling to keep me at home.
In late 2024, just before midnight I received a call from the Auckland City Hospital Transplant team that changed everything. I had come up as a near perfect match for an organ and was told I needed to get up there within 4 hours; so I did! My surgery took 7 hours, and I came out the other side a little bruised and battered but relatively unscathed. Recovery was cautious but steady and despite a few road bumps over the 6 weeks I was up there, my health improved significantly. In early 2025 I was able to come back home to continue my recovery. I'm proud to say it’s been an upward trajectory ever since, when prior to surgery I had a kidney function of around 2% and now it’s closer to 90%, which is nothing short of amazing. I am now able to enjoy a life with my family that I didn't think I would ever be able to have again.
To all the nurses and doctors I met on my brief but action-packed journey, who helped and supported me, you are all incredible people, and I will be forever grateful to you all. The fact is now though, how will I ever be able to truly say thank you to the family of my donor? It's because of them that I have the opportunity of living a normal life once again. The overwhelming sense of gratitude I feel to them is something that words just don't do justice to.
So, I have had to find other ways of giving back starting with talking to and helping others who are going through what I have. It's not an easy journey by any means, I know that much, but I'm one of the lucky ones, and my story is one of success. That's something to be celebrated and hopefully others who find themselves in my situation will be just as lucky as I was.
