BARBARA Merrifield hooked herself up to a kidney dialysis machine four times a day for forty minutes every day for ten years before she received a kidney transplant in 2014.<\/p>\n
She found it isolating when she came home after the transplant.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore my surgery I had so many people involved, social workers, phycologists and all the different health professionals involved in organ transplants,\u201d Ms Merrifield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I returned home to Clunes there was nothing, it was like \u2018you\u2019re fixed now off you go\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when her idea of setting up the Spare Parts Club took off.<\/p>\n
Having to travel to Melbourne for all pre-transplant treatment, Ms Merrifield said the last thing she wanted to do was to keep going to the city for support.<\/p>\n
The group started partially by accident, her granddaughter\u2019s friend\u2019s dad was also a kidney recipient and Ms Merrifield met a man who had a liver transplant while she was delivering meals on wheels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realised I am not the only one, there\u2019s are a few of us, so I thought it would be a good thing to get together for support,\u201d Ms Merrifield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the group are organ recipients although I am helping a woman who is on the waiting list for a double lung transplant who lives in Creswick.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been a bit of controversy over the name, but I look at is as a of bit humour away from the medical side of transplants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Spare Parts Club members help each other not just at their monthly meetings, firm and caring friendships have been forged by some of those in the group.<\/p>\n
Ms Merrifield said as a recipient it is also difficult to wrap your head around the fact that somebody died so you could live.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our spare parts group, we all relate to each other, it doesn\u2019t matter what organ you receive, the ride is very similar, one which I describe as a roller coaster ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
After 10 years of dialysis Ms Merrifield had become almost homebound, finding it hard to rebuild her life after getting a new kidney.<\/p>\n
It was a suggestion that she might like to consider volunteering which helped her recovery.<\/p>\n
Ms Merrifield delivers meals on wheels, works at the community visitor\u2019s scheme and she is 2IC for the Share the Dignity charity in the Grampians\/Pyrenees area.<\/p>\n
She also raises her granddaughter Tanika, who lives with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore transplant it is the role of the health professionals to make sure you are in the right frame of mind for the operation,\u201d she said. \u201cIn my opinion I don\u2019t think they realise the difficulties faced by organ recipients.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden you have freedom, more energy and choices which can be very bewildering.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Merrifield said she uses her spare time going on adventures with her granddaughter.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it might be just going for a drive or chilling in bed and watching a movie together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have great fun taking trips to local op-shops to feed my teapot collecting habit, at last count I had over two thousand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARBARA Merrifield hooked herself up to a kidney dialysis machine four times a day for forty minutes every day for ten years before she received a kidney transplant in 2014. She found it isolating when she came home after the transplant. \u201cBefore my surgery I had so many people involved, social workers, phycologists and all […]<\/p>\n