Gambro products truly make a difference. Ask patients suffering from kidney failure and how treatment not only changed their lives, but also saved them. This is Daniel Baldor’s own story.
When kidney failure
changed the course of life
To understand the world of dialysis, and how Gambro’s products really make a difference, you need to understand that dialysis treatment saves lives. Just ask Daniel Baldor. Some 20 years ago, kidney failure changed his life.
In 1984 Swedish Daniel Baldor found himself in the United States with a university scholarship and the promise of a bright future. In addition to his academic life, he was also very accomplished in karate, and he and his wife, Kristina, were looking forward to a full and active life. But everything changed when his kidneys stopped working.
“My insurance was not yet valid, so I could not get treatment,” he recalls. “I had to go back to Sweden. On the plane home I had about 22 liters of extra fluid in my body. When I arrived I had to go directly to a dialysis clinic.”
In the years that followed he underwent Hemodialysis, HD, (both in clinics and at home), Peritoneal Dialysis, PD, and an unsuccessful kidney transplant. There were times when he struggled just to stay alive. But he kept on fighting, and eventually underwent a successful transplant in 1994. He says several factors helped him through the difficult years.
“My wife, Kristina has been a tremendous support,” he says. “This situation has influenced her life as well mine, and she has been part of my strength. Of course, dialysis has literally kept me alive. But my background in karate, with its focus on mindfulness, the fighting spirit and a fit body, helped me during the first years. And I have had dogs by my side over the years, and they have helped me just by being there, keeping me company and making sure that I get out for a walk each day.”
Strong mindset
No doubt, Daniel’s own mindset has helped him maintain a fairly normal lifestyle, despite kidney failure. He always looked for new solutions and refused to be treated as a sick patient – maintaining a positive, humble attitude towards life.
Over the course of his dialysis treatment, Daniel developed some strong opinions about what works best. “I felt very good undergoing dialysis at home,” he says. “But I think it’s very important that the patient takes full responsibility for his treatment. Relatives should not have to take on this responsibility. You have to be able to put in your own needles, and see to it that everything works and clean the machine by yourself.”
“If you have a positive mindset and the courage to believe there is a life to live even though your kidneys do not function, you get used to dialysis treatment,” he says. “After a while it is like brushing your teeth!”
Daniel also traveled while on dialysis, visiting clinics in Spain and in the U.S. He was glad to be able to travel and, at the same time, undergo dialysis in local clinics.
Fight for life
But there were times when he was close to giving up. During his PD treatment he had an inflammation that almost cost him his life. He has also been through cancer treatment following a tumor brought about by complications from the rejection medicine. And even his second kidney transplant in 1994, which eventually became successful, was touch and go at first as his body fought the new organ. However, after five plasmapheresis treatments, his new kidney started to function properly.
Today Daniel lives with one kidney and is on constant medications for blood pressure and rejection reactions. He works at Gambro’s production plant in Lund, Sweden, and is active and healthy – and has a deep respect for life.
“Don’t ever forget – what we do at Gambro saves people’s lives. And for me it has even greater meaning, since Gambro saved my own life,” he says.
After the kidney transplant Daniel found it difficult give up the dialysis machine that he had at home. “I couldn’t let go,” he recalls. “It had been my link to life for so long that I kept it for another 13 months. It was a symbol of security; the emotional attachment is hard to describe.”
“I am proud of who I am and consider myself a healthy person,” he says. “But even though I am a fighter, there have been times when I’ve asked why this had to happen to me. But I will never get the answer. People who have not been through this do not consider the everyday luxury of being healthy. To me it is a gift just to be alive.”