A Lincoln dialysis patient tells us how different Christmas is for her

A dialysis patient from Lincoln takes us through her meals throughout Christmas, as her renal diet has changed the things she is able to eat and drink.

From treating a single sprout as a treat and going without gravy or custard and even mince pies, nearly 30,000 people will have to restrict their diet this Christmas in order to avoid serious health consequences while on life-saving dialysis treatment, says Kidney Research UK.

With strict limits on the amount of fluid intake, vegetable portions and sweet treats, the Christmas period has to be one of regulation amongst temptation.

Deborah Bakewell from Lincoln was first diagnosed with kidney disease in her 40s, and a few years on from that, she was told she needed to start following a renal diet.

This wasn't all new to her though, as her mother had been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in her mid-20s.

She tells us what that was like for her family:

"Gravy was certainly off the menu for my mother at Christmas when I was growing up. She was really restricted to just three cups – not mugs – of liquid a day. She managed this by having a cup of tea in the morning and another four tiny cups of tea throughout the day. This meant that come dinner time, she had already reached her allowance of liquid. I don’t think many people think of things like gravy or custard as liquids, but these things become very clear when you start dialysis."

A renal diet includes limitations to the amount of Sodium, Potassium and Phosphorus.

Hoping to shine a light on the difficulties of dialysis, around the festive season, Deborah has spoken to us a little more about what her meals look like.

Dialysis is where a machine (or a natural lining in your body) is used to clean your blood and remove excess fluid. It can do about 10% of the work of healthy kidneys meaning that patients often need to take their treatment three times a week for four hours per session.

She tells us many treats that others may enjoy this time of year are off the cards:

"I was relatively lucky as, whilst my food was restricted, I did not have to worry about the amount of fluid I was taking in. That didn’t mean that keeping to the diet was simple especially around Christmas, as it seemed everything that you could possibly want was suddenly prohibited. Sprouts, chocolate, crisps, bananas and even meat all had to be restricted. Christmas dinner just is not the same when you are on dialysis as my dinner plate was miserable! Consisting of just two roast potatoes –par boiled before roasting – no mash as that would be part of the potato allowance, one sprout which I considered the annual treat and only one or two slices of turkey, it couldn’t be considered the highlight of the year."

She said with rigorous limits on food and fluid intake, Christmas became a time of restriction for someone on this diet, in what should be a period of indulgence.

But for Deborah, Christmas dinner wasn’t the only thing that impacted her festive joy. Dialysis is required regularly with most people needing three sessions a week, usually in a specialist clinic or sometimes at home, for up to four hours a day. While others were enjoying each other’s company, Deborah was having to slip away to have her treatment.

"Some people don’t realise that dialysis really does take over your life. Everything else is scheduled around your treatment and you can’t simply put it off until later. Christmas time was especially difficult as it is a period where family comes together, and everyone is very sociable. I remember vividly taking myself upstairs during Christmas to have my treatment while listening to peels of laughter and joking from the family downstairs. I never resented anyone having fun, but it did seem unfair not being able to be part of the hilarious activities going on."

Luckily for Deborah, her experience on dialysis is part of her Christmas past. After receiving a transplant in 2010, she was able to finally come off dialysis and live life to the full again.

• lincoln