Taking on a 15 day walk across the width of England, from St. Bees Head to Robin Hood’s Bay would be daunting for just about anyone, let alone someone on Home Haemodialysis (HHD) – but that’s just what Philip set out to do. 

Philip suffered kidney failure over twenty years ago, he was quickly enrolled in a peritoneal dialysis program, but a series of infections soon led to in-centre haemodialysis. This is where he persevered with the treatment for two years, the schedule meaning that he gave up a lot of time for dialysis sessions, which caused considerable disruption. 

Philip remembers, “At that time I was the sole breadwinner for our family, I was leaving at 4am in the morning, driving to the clinic for a four-hour treatment before heading off for a full day at work. Because of my lifestyle, having to do dialysis in-centre made me tired and unable to think clearly. It was making work very difficult.”

In 2005, a treatment decision was made which was set to change everything. A nearby clinic offered him the chance to make the switch to HHD, and the change transformed Philip’s quality of life.

He commented, “I was so pleased by how different the experience was – it was quite literally a day and night type change to my life. Dialysis used to eat up huge chunks of my time, now it fits in around my work and personal life. I began treatment on HHD almost 20 years ago and have never looked back. I want to help people see that it’s possible to find the dialysis treatment suiting your needs and the beneficial results can be very immediate.”

While some believe that moving to dialysis means your world gets constrained, over the last 20 years, Philip has lived a very active life. From running his own business, fostering kids, travelling around the world to visit friends and family, to undertaking incredible hikes, including climbing Mount Whitney and Half Dome, his dialysis treatment did not prevent him from living to his fullest.

When Philip heard about Alfred Wainright’s 192 mile Coast to Coast walk he loved the idea of being able to hike through some of the most beautiful parts of England, from the Lake District, to the Yorkshire Dales, through the North York Moors, ending in Robin Hood’s Bay, staying in B&Bs and Inns each night. The walk would be a huge challenge without having to dialyse as well, but the modern dialysis systems have features that made it possible. When he told friends about it they were enthusiastic to join in and the planning began, booking places to stay as well as figuring out how the system and supplies would get from place to place. 

“Careful planning and checklists were critical, forgetting one of the treatment supplies could have ended the journey. Every dialysis patient has their support network that helps you live a normal life, Kelly in Fresenius Medical Care’s Customer Relations Team is always there as well as friends and work colleagues, and most of all my partner Mandy, who has been my advocate and rock through the kidney failure experience.”

Talking about his motivations, Philip said, “I know from my own experience that when you get the diagnosis you are very stressed and constantly fatigued, so something like home dialysis can feel incredibly overwhelming. Both in-centre and home-based dialysis each have unique advantages for your wellbeing but I would encourage others to take the first steps to figuring out which treatment is best for them. Kidney failure is a challenge but each day you build confidence in your abilities to do your treatment with the dialysis system and eventually you begin to think about traveling to see family and friends and find yourself taking on that challenge and then the next and the next. 

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