Everyone’s superman. Nina Nannar is ITV’s arts editor. After the most difficult year of her life, we are deeply touched that she has chosen to share her memories of her husband Steve with us, to show you the difference your gifts make.
I
’m a Kidney Research UK supporter, like you. You may remember that in 2020 I told my story in Update magazine about my husband Steve and his two kidney transplants. Sadly, I lost Steve last year. I’d like to share what happened, because sharing stories is what I do for a living, and I know what power stories have to change lives.
Steve was born with reflux – a problem with a valve in the ureter that allows urine to travel the wrong way from the bladder back into the kidney. In his teens, Steve collapsed. His kidney had completely packed in and the other was barely functioning. He had to begin dialysis treatment immediately. After three and a half years on dialysis, Steve got a phone call from his doctor who said, “How’d you fancy a kidney?” When I met Steve, that astonishing kidney was still going. It lasted for 30 years.
The truth is, dialysis is a slog. Even when it’s not a slog, it’s a slog.
Coming so close to death informed the rest of Steve’s life. He was so happy to have every single day. Steve meditated daily and loved the simple things in life. He was a very amazing, gentle person. Steve was back on dialysis in 2016 for nearly two years before he got his second
transplant. He had peritoneal dialysis, where they put a tube into your stomach. It meant he could dialyse in our home. Steve dialysed four times every day. The truth is, dialysis is a slog. Even when it’s not a slog, it’s a slog. It’s a phenomenal process, but it’s invasive and it’s quite unpleasant. After his second transplant, regaining his freedom meant we could go abroad for the first time in ages. We didn’t know it then, but it would be our last holiday together.
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