Ch. 8: Essential Moments
It was, however, after I returned from a very cold ministry trip to Hungary, where the temperature there was only -13 degrees, that things began to change for me.
Haemo-Dialysis:
It was the Spring of 1996, and little did anyone suspect that within months my kidney transplant would fail. Had I suspected such an event awaited me, I’m sure an apprehensive feeling would have held me captive, and the results of the mission would not have been the same.
But, in reality, that’s what my future held; and, once again, I was to face dialysis! This time it would be by machine-three times a week. This procedure is called haemo-dialysis.
To regress a bit, my kidney transplant of five years was failing, due to cyclosporin poisoning. It was a miracle that my pancreas transplant was not affected by the drug. This drug is used to prevent tissue rejection after transplant surgery. It seemed that the immuno-suppressant drug had slowly intoxicated the kidney, and so if I were ever to have another transplant, another drug would have to be considered.
Anyhow, in June 1996, I was devastated, yet resolved, to learn that I had to begin dialysis yet again. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I would be picked up from my home by an ambulance taxi and would travel to Cardiff for a four-hour stint on the dialysis machine. Adding to this travel time, including picking up other patients, the visits to Cardiff would take up the best part of a day.
Returning home many times in the evening, a day’s visit to the satellite dialysis unit would often leave me feeling totally washed out – completely lacking in energy and strength! Many times I arrived home with a headache, and the only thing I wanted to do was crawl to bed immediately.
Three days a week, coping with this was not an option; it was essential! It meant my life. Yes, it truly was a matter of life or death!
Linked to the haemo-dialysis via an intravenous connection, plugged by needles into a fistula, I would sit almost motionless as the cycle process of dialysis cleaned my blood and took away any excess fluid and waste products.
My only problem was that my veins were quite shallow, quite brittle. This caused the fistula to collapse and die, and it caused complications when searching for other places to access for dialysis. .
A fistula is created by fusing an artery with a vein. If the fistula collapsed, the haemo-dialysis connection had to be injected into my neck, chest, or even in my groin.
Ouch!
In the main, I would have a fistula created in different parts of my arms.
Second Kidney Transplant:
It was on 26 January 1998, while being prepared for surgery to have a new fistula created, that Miss Rosanna Lord charged onto the hospital ward in Cardiff. Apparently looking like a galleon in full sail, fully scrubbed in her surgical gown and boots, she exclaimed, “Hold your horses, there’s a kidney transplant on its way!” Had anyone ever brought better news for me? Hardly! I interject a praise here!
Yes, this was brilliant news! Instead of having a fistula, I was to receive a kidney donation.
The successful transplant was later to provide for me the best blood results for years. As time moved on, doctors even suggested that my blood results were better than theirs. For this I shall always give thanks.
Alpha Course:
This was a real gift of life, as once again God was answering my prayer.
Only days before the operation, members of my house group were compelled to begin a prayer diary after being challenged by a video from the “Alpha Course” series.
A diary began on the Thursday. By the following Monday I had undergone transplant surgery. It was worth being at the top of the diary prayer list!
No more dialysis, no more restrictions!
Returning to Poland:
A few months later, I accompanied my good friend Paul on a ministry trip to Poland. The climate on this trip was far better. I can clearly recall having a barbecue at the side of a lake, a total contrast to my last visit to eastern Europe.
At long last I was fulfilling my purpose.
A new day had dawned, with a new hope on the horizon.
What is more, I had a future, as well as a new understanding and knowledge that God knows what He is doing. He has it all planned out.
Bible Words:
This is His promise – He will bless me with a future filled with hope – a future of success, not of suffering. – Jeremiah 29: Contemporary English Version.