Andy Loudon - altruistic kidney recipient
Andy is a 68-year-old retired carpenter from Luton, Bedfordshire. He is married to Hilary and has a son and daughter. Andy was on dialysis for two years before Barbara Ryder’s donation. The operation took place on September 18 2007.
Andy Loudon
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PA Photos |
“I was on dialysis for two years. I had known I had a kidney problem for 20 years. It’s a hereditary thing. “My brother was diagnosed at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in the 1980s and they contacted the family and we were all scanned individually. I saw a local doctor here in Bedfordshire and made an appointment at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. They told me I had a disease which my father had: polycystic kidneys. |
“I knew my father had it. He died at 48 and his father died at 38 from the same disease. I’ve been living on borrowed time. I hoped it wouldn’t happen to me but it did.
“I tended to go to hospital in Stevenage every six months for a check up, and that lasted 15 years. It wasn’t really affecting me at this time. Gradually, though, I got more tired and found I had not much energy, and as the years went by my energy levels went down and down.
“Dialysis started two years ago. Three times a week for two to four hours depending on how things went. The dialysis itself is okay. It keeps you alive. They put me on the transplant list, and you live in hope that one day it may happen. That got me by for a while.
“I worked as a carpenter, and retired when I was 63, I just couldn’t handle it any more. The fact that the organ came from a living donor has made a big difference. The kidney worked straight away.
“The operation was on 18 September. I spent eight days in hospital. I felt okay at this time. There were good days and bad days.
“Now that I’ve recovered, it’s made a huge difference to my life. It’s the freedom that it gives you. I’m beginning to feel better now, and it’s getting better every day.
“My wife Hilary wrote a letter to Barbara. To be honest I feel overwhelmed by the whole thing that someone would do this it’s a marvellous thing to do. I feel honoured and it restores my faith in human nature. It’s difficult to put into words.
“Before the operation, I couldn’t do anything or go anywhere. If I went away, I had to book a room for dialysis 18 months in advance. My daughter lives near Inverness. Since the operation, I’ve been to see her twice. And we’re planning an overseas holiday next November in Florida.
“Now the operation’s happened, I like to go for a long walk. Before, I had to make sure I could return home quickly if I got tired. Now I can walk around the lake in Milton Keynes: it’s around two miles, and it’s not a problem.
“I am really looking forward to meeting Barbara. I was told in the dialysis unit back in July that I was getting a living donation. I didn’t know that someone could do this. It’s been quite a shock.”
Andy's wife Hilary Loudon
“It’s made a huge difference: it’s amazing. You couldn’t do anything on the spur of the moment before – everything was regimented by the three days in dialysis. You couldn’t go away for the weekend. We had Sunday and Monday, but it took away the spontaneity of life. Andy often felt unwell after dialysis and until you have had a restriction like that you don’t realise what you can do with your time.
“There have always been restrictions with dialysis. The operation’s given us a lot of freedom because Saturday, Tuesday, and Thursday were dialysis. After the operation, it was amazing. We could have holidays. We’re planning to go to Florida next year.
“We wrote to Barbara almost straight away after the operation. How do you say thank you? It’s the perfect Christmas gift, and an amazing thing for someone to do. It takes a really special person. It’s given us the freedom to visit Andy’s daughter now. He’ll be having his first New Year in Scotland for a long, long time.
“Barbara wrote us such a lovely letter. She said ‘I’ve got one kidney to spare’. She told us she had tried to look after it for Andy. She’s an amazing person and we are eternally grateful for what she has done.”
Read Barbara Ryder's story (Andy's altruistic kidney donor)