YOU wouldn’t know it by looking at little Mernda resident Xavier but the first six months of his life were plagued by kidney problems.
Xavier’s mum Sarah Lemin took part in the Big Red Kidney Walk on Sunday, raising money for Kidney Health Australia.
“You wouldn’t know of Xavier’s illness by looking at him,” she said.
“He takes prophylactic antibiotics and ural daily and lives on a restricted low potassium diet.
“[But] he is a very happy and loving one-year-old.”
At just nine days old, an ultrasound revealed Xavier had enlarged kidneys caused by pressure from a blocked urethra.
Three bouts of surgery fixed the root cause, but unfortunately permanent damage to his kidneys had already occurred.
“Needless to say, his first six months of life were especially tough,” Ms Lemin said.
The Big Red Kidney Walk last Sunday raised funds for Kidney Health Australia, which promotes good kidney health and supports those like Xavier who are living with chronic kidney disease.
Kidney Health Australia CEO Anne Wilson said 1.3 million Australians had undiagnosed kidney disease.
“Many people are unfortunately diagnosed late with kidney disease. It kills more Australians each year than breast cancer, prostate cancer or road deaths,” she said.
She said being active was important for maintaining kidney health.
Ms Lemin aimed to raise $1000 from her walk around the Royal Botanic Gardens.
“We don’t know what the future holds for our little X-Man,” she said.
“But we do know we want to do all we can to support Kidney Health Australia and our gorgeous little kidney kid.”
» For more information on the Big Red Kidney Walk, visit www.kidney.org.au
