I just want to thank you for my kidney mummy, it makes me faster

I just want to thank you for my kidney mummy, it makes me faster

16 November 2016

LYNSEY Rhodes never faltered when she learned her daughter Faith needed a kidney transplant.

Confirmed as a match for her sick baby girl, the 32 year-old Downpatrick mum nursed her daughter for the next five years when she became so ill the risky surgery was considered a necessity.

The mum and daughter, who is now six, were finally hospitalised in the Royal Victoria Hospital together last month for the transplant with Lynsey hoping the operation might give Faith a reprieve from the relentless kidney disease that has already led to 13 operations.

Four weeks after the surgery, Lynsey said she is daring to believe her wish has been answered with Faith telling doctors her body “feels faster” thanks to her mum’s kidney.

Brimming with new-found energy, she said Faith has discovered an appetite for the first time and is recovering so well they are planning their first family trip to London in February to celebrate her birthday.

Lynsey hopes her story will give hope to the many other parents affected by kidney disease in children.

Life has been a roller coaster for Lynsey, who has two older sons, since Faith was diagnosed with congenital nephrotic syndrome when she was just two weeks old.

Although she suffered a brain haemorrhage after birth, Lynsey said she never dreamed Faith would have any long-term problems until her condition seriously deteriorated.

Born weighing just 5lbs 10oz, it was more than five months before Faith was well enough to go home, fed through a specialised tube and enduring repeated hospital returns.

Broken hearted to see her child suffer, Lynsey knew that her own kidney might one day offer Faith a healthier future remained a firm hope.

“We always knew she would get my kidney as parents make the best match,” she said.

“It was just not knowing when it would be needed. It was tough in the final months before the operation was decided upon as she was so sick.”

When Faith’s own kidneys deteriorated so much they had to be removed during the summer, the count-down to the transplant finally began.

“My part in the procedure did not frighten me at all, it was just for Faith,” explained Lynsey.

“This is the only possible cure, but it is not permanent. There are rare cases when a donated organ might last a lifetime but it is more likely to be up to 10 or 15 years and my hope is that she will get a long break.

“It was daunting leading up to the transplant because it is a serious 

operation but my mum, who was with Faith while I was having my kidney removed, said she was so excited at the idea of seeing my organ arrive in her ward in a box of ice. She was not nervous at all, just really excited by it all.”

Within days of the operation, Faith began to show signs of a remarkable recovery.

“She has been absolutely brilliant. Her energy levels are through the roof, she is so full of life she finds it hard to sleep at night,” said Lynsey.

“She is eating so much that she has not had to be tube fed once since the transplant.

“She still faces tests every couple of days but we could not have hoped for things to go as well as they have so far.”

Looking back over the past few weeks, Lynsey said the hardest part for her was being unable to see Faith while she recovered from complications following her own surgery.

“I felt so guilty that I wasn’t there for her when she was coming around from the surgery as I ended up back in hospital myself for quite a while,” she said.

“But since I have got home Faith has told me several times how good it feels to have a new kidney.

“She has said to me, ‘I just want to thank you for my kidney mummy, it makes me faster’.

“When I hear that it makes everything so worthwhile. I am still very tired but when I see how much it has changed her life I am very, very happy.”