By writer to www.walesonline.co.uk
In lower than 12 months, Diana Isajeva went from working full-time for a Cardiff legislation agency to not with the ability to see her family members as she went into kidney failure.
The 27-year-old from Leckwith was recognized with an aggressive type of lupus at 19. Since then she’s undergone periodic chemotherapy for the previous eight years, inflicting everlasting harm to her organs.
Till final yr Diana was in a position to dwell a comparatively regular life. However final summer season she was given the devastating information that her kidneys had began to fail.
Now – as she desperately waits to see if she be a part of the NHS ready record for a brand new kidney – Diana has taken the hunt for a donor into her personal arms.
(Picture: Diana Isajeva)
“I really feel like I’ve no different alternative,” mentioned Diana, who suffers deliberating signs akin to breathlessness, nausea and fatigue each day.
“That is the state of affairs I’m dealing with – I’m dying. I want a donor however we’re in the course of a world pandemic.”
With the assistance of buddies and fiance Sandeep Singh Randhawa, Diana is working a social media marketing campaign to assist discover a match and is even promoting for a donor on her automobile window.
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“I’m making an attempt to postpone dialysis for so long as doable so I’m what they name pre-emptive,” Diana defined.
“I might opt-in to have dialysis, however that takes place three to 4 occasions per week and it’s like working a marathon each single time – that’s how a lot strain it places in your physique.
“My organs are already broken, eight years of chemotherapy has taken its toll on my coronary heart and I need to keep away from any danger of creating that worse.
“And if my coronary heart is weakened any extra, it’s unlikely I will endure any transplant surgical procedure.”
When Diana’s kidneys began to fail final summer season, she was informed a transplant could be her most suitable choice.
Nevertheless, she mentioned she hasn’t been in a position to be a part of the NHS ready record but as providers take care of a backlog of sufferers and fewer potential donors are being examined.
Initially of the pandemic, the College Hospital Wales suspended kidney transplants for about three months.
Determined, she turned to her family and friends – however her solely dwelling relative is her mom who not too long ago suffered a stroke and coronary heart assault so can’t be thought-about.
“Earlier than this, I managed to dwell a reasonably regular life by taking medicines however all of the sudden that wasn’t sufficient,” she mentioned.
“And it occurred on the worst doable time.
“I used to be already shielding as a result of I’m one of many extraordinarily weak folks informed to isolate, my fiance was having to work seven day weeks as a result of I used to be on furlough and there was no help accessible.
“I used to be extraordinarily depressed. My psychological well being declined significantly. And I truthfully thought that that is the top.
“All the help providers which often can be found for folks in my state of affairs weren’t due to the pandemic.”
To make issues much more tough, Diana has blood sort O.
O is common, that means donors may give to folks with blood varieties A, B and AB however can solely obtain a transplant from somebody who’s sort O.
Even earlier than the pandemic, folks needing kidneys confronted a wait of round three years as a result of demand outstripped provide.
“After I realised I had run out of choices, I didn’t know what to do,” Diana mentioned.
“I got here throughout a narrative on Fb a couple of girl in America who had launched a social media marketing campaign to discover a kidney and it labored.
“She was matched with a donor, had the surgical procedure and now she’s on the market working marathons.
“I believed effectively, it’s price a shot.”
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Diana admitted that in the first place, she was hesitant to launch a web-based marketing campaign to discover a kidney.
“I used to be afraid I’d be bullied,” she mentioned. “The web generally is a poisonous place and I used to be afraid to open up on-line, however the response has been unimaginable.
“It was in August time I began sharing my story on social media and actually making an attempt to get the marketing campaign to take off.
“As quickly as folks beginning taking an curiosity I used to be considering ‘okay, how can we take this to the subsequent step?’. I contacted native printing firms to see if they might make an indication and Popin Graphics of them provided to place a message on my automobile window.
“They did all of it without cost, they designed it and got here out and utilized the sticker to my automobile and a buddy’s. I used to be blown away by their generosity.”
(Picture: Diana Isajeva)
Since beginning her marketing campaign final yr, Diana has been contacted by folks world wide providing their help and a few within the UK have even provided to have a check to see in the event that they could possibly be a match.
“I used to be so stunned that individuals have been messaging me from America, from France from everywhere in the world, even from Indonesia,” she mentioned.
“Sadly, it does not work for folks to donate from abroad – however for the time being we now have had a few folks fill out the questionnaire.
“This doesn’t imply they may go forward with the check, and for the time being it’s actually tough to have somebody examined due to restrictions and providers not working as common.
“It’s doubtless I’ll should go on dialysis despite the fact that it’s the one factor I’ve prevented, however this has lastly given me some hope.”
A Welsh Authorities spokesman mentioned: “We’re unable to touch upon folks’s particular person circumstances however we’re sorry to listen to about this girl’s state of affairs and want one of the best for her ongoing therapy and care.
“We’d encourage her to speak to her kidney care workforce about any considerations and to entry help.
“Pressing transplants for imminently life-threatening circumstances have been persevering with throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
“Kidney transplants at UHW in Cardiff have been suspended for about three months final yr however they’ve put procedures in place and resumed exercise safely.
“Transplant groups must stability the affected person’s want for transplant towards the extra challenges of being immuno-suppressed at the moment.
“Renal providers have additionally labored arduous to make sure the energetic monitoring of individuals underneath their care has been maintained all through the pandemic.”
If you want to see in case you could possibly be a possible match for Diana, electronic mail kidney4diana@gmail.com or textual content 07377058032.
-- to www.walesonline.co.uk
