Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is definitely something I need to complete this 5k run. However, the true motivation to take part has derived from an intrinsic source which is very close to my heart, and that is my family. My dad was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) quite some time ago. Your probably wondering what PKD is, well its a common inherited life-threatening condition, in which cysts develop in the kidneys and result in progressive renal failure.

So what does this mean? Well, PKD has a dominant inheritance pattern, with a 1 in 2 chance that an affected parent will pass PKD on to each child born. Therefore, this disease could already be within the genes of my dad's grandchildren (my niece's and nephews, or one of my own children if I choose to have them). The future for all those affected is dull, as PKD at present is incurable and no treatment will cease the development or growth of cysts.

As the number and size of cysts on the kidneys increase, they eventually begin to affect the kidneys function, which results in kidney failure. Whereby, there is a need for dialysis. Dialysis takes over the kidneys job of removing harmful waste products from the blood. Persons can be on dialysis for the rest of their lives or until a kidney transplant is available. 

How dialysis works? Hopefully, you are not thinking that dialysis is an easy process. A person on dialysis spends three days a week for a period of 4 hours attached to a machine which filters the waste products from their blood. This is 16 hours per week, the same amount of hours as a part time job. Yes dialysis is all good and well but the side effects of it are not, a person will often suffer with fatigue, hypotension, sepsis (blood poisoning), muscle cramps, insomnia, and much more. Furthermore, being on dialysis and having kidneys that don't work can place significant strain on the persons body, and can further lead to death if they don't receive a kidney transplant. 

On average the waiting time for a donor kidney transplant is about 3 years (NHS 2014).

Kidney transplant, all is well and good?  Once a transplant has been received it can go both ways, the person could benefit from the kidney or the body rejects the kidney and they would be back to dialysis. A person who's body has accepted the transplant will not go back to being perfectly well again. They will certainly live a different life, with the need to take immunosuppressant medications for the rest of their life's and changes in their diet and lifestyle. There and many further risks and complications such as: infections, blood clots, acute rejection, diabetes and in some cases cancer. The large risk of a kidney transplant is survival times, they are not a lifeline forever, we can not state how long they may last. The NHS (2014) have outlined the average kidney survival times as: 

• 1 year – 85-95%
• 5 years – 70-80%
• 15 years – 50-60%

My dad received a kidney transplant on the 06/12/2014. If it wasn't for the support of charities such as DaBKA, as a family we wouldn't have known how to take this process and be of any help throughout. DaBKA helps kidney patients, and their families live with renal disease, from pre-dialysis through to transplant. They provide patients with help, information, blood pressure monitors, fistula bands and anything needed to benefit the patients, astonishingly they do this entirely on a voluntary basis.

This outstanding support and work they do should not go unnoticed, therefore, this is the whole reason I am motivated to take part in the 5k run to raise money towards DaBKA. The money raised will ensure that patients within the Doncaster and Bassetlaw area will continue to receive the support they require, and will also provide towards DaBKA's 2015 appeal to raise funds for a infrared therapy unit. Which you can read more about here: 

http://www.dabka.org.uk/2015-appeal/


Thank you for taking the time to read my JustGiving page, and I thank all of those who are kind enough to donate towards my run and this truly amazing charity.




Further information in regards to PKD and DaBKA can be found below:

http://www.dabka.org.uk/

http://pkdcharity.org.uk/