EXCLUSIVE: In 2010, Katie Banks was told that she had autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). She tells OK! what it's like living with the life-threatening condition
13 years ago Katie Banks was diagnosed with a a life-threatening condition called autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease . Affecting up to one in every 1,000 to 2,500 people in the UK, it's believed that between 30,000 and 70,000 people in the UK are living with the condition, according to the NHS.
I have a cyst in my kidneys that will continue to grow until there’s no kidney left. It causes my stomach to protrude. And my kidney, which is meant to clean my blood and rid my body of toxins, will soon be completely unable to function. My mum died from ADPKD complications aged 66, in 2020. She was an incredible woman and I watched the condition steal who she was as a person. She went from being super-active to not being able to get out of bed from exhaustion.
I’ve finally accepted my appearance should be the least of my worries and I’m just focused on staying alive so I can have a kidney transplant. Dialysis involves being hooked up to a machine to remove waste products and excess fluid from my blood, for a minimum of four hours every other day. once I start, I’ll have to keep having it done.
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