TRANSPLANT JOY AS MUM FINDS MATCH

TRANSPLANT JOY AS MUM FINDS MATCH

This is Nottingham
Date : 12.07.07

A Kidney patient who became one of the first to get pregnant while on dialysis has finally had a transplant.

Nicola Fretwell hit the headlines in 1993 when she gave birth to son Daniel.

Now 16 years after her kidneys started failing, Nicola has been given a new organ in a life-changing operation at the City Hospital.

The 36-year-old says she already feels "a million times better" since the procedure last month.

And she is urging people in Nottingham to sign up to the organ donor register to help others like her.

"I was only in hospital for ten days, and now I have this whole new life," said Nicola, from Sandiacre.

"I felt like I had been walking around in a fog for years, and it was suddenly lifted. It is going to be brilliant to do things like going on holiday without worrying about my dialysis."

Nicola's problems started at 17, when she developed nephrotic syndrome, where the kidneys leak protein.

"I felt extremely ill - dizzy, faint, just very poorly," she said. "I was carrying around 30 litres of extra fluid, so I was in a poor way.

"For two years I was in and out of the City Hospital - I spent four months there at one point.

"At 20, I started dialysing and I was put on the waiting list for a transplant.

"For a year this was at the hospital, then my boyfriend - who is now my husband - was trained so he could look after me at home."

The pair were told it was highly unlikely they would have a baby while Nicola was on dialysis - but they soon discovered she was pregnant.

"It was a huge shock for everyone," said Nicola, a special needs teaching assistant.

"We did not know how the pregnancy was going to develop. In the end, I had him two months early and he was only three pounds."

The strain of having dialysis at home with a small baby meant Nicola soon returned to having her treatment in hospital.

"Until the transplant, I was going three times a week for six or seven hours a time," said Nicola. "The unit was like a second home, and now I really miss the staff. They are so professional and friendly, and even now I try and pop in to say hello."

Six weeks ago, Nicola and her husband Darren, 39, an electrical engineer, got the call they had been waiting for.

"The call came at 12.30am," said Nicola. "I went for blood tests and by 9.30am they knew there was a good chance it was a match. I went down for the operation at 12.30pm and was back at 7pm.

"I felt amazing."

Nicola has been enjoying indulging in food she was not allowed while on dialysis - bananas, mushrooms and coffee.

Nicola does not know anything about her donor - it is early days in her recovery, she says, and the donor's family is still grieving.

"But that person will have helped five or six others," she said.

"If people would consider joining the organ donor register, they could really help to change someone's life."

clare.boyd@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk

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