Rebecca and Brett were as excited as any parents-to-be when they went for their 20-week scan of their baby boy Lachy. But instead they learned some news that changed everything.
“The doctor said it looked like there was some kind of blockage and our baby’s kidneys were deflated,” explains Rebecca.
But it wasn’t a blockage. When Lachy was born, he was found to have cysts in both kidneys. Two months later, his kidneys failed.
Rebecca and Brett were terrified. Like many families, they were plunged into a world they didn’t understand. They hadn’t even known a baby could have such severe kidney problems, and now they had to learn how to give Lachy peritoneal dialysis at home.
They needed information they could trust, and that’s how they found Kidney Health Australia.
As you may know, we’ve recently set up a Kidney Buddy Program, which enables someone like Rebecca, who is at the start of their journey with kidney disease, to speak to someone further down that road.
“I’m lucky,” she says. “I have a good support network, but even then it makes a huge difference to talk to someone who really understands because they’ve been there and they’ve experienced it for themselves.”
Speaking to a Kidney Buddy can make all the difference. It can make you feel like you’re not alone. That someone else has been there and they can share whatever they’ve learned.