A Scots rugby player discovered he had a serious auto-immune disease when discovering a rash after a game that wouldn't go away.
Chris, who was fairly healthy before his diagnosis, only had a visible symptom he had was the "butterfly rash". Chris suddenly found himself dealing with three different consultants looking after him and started medications, but he admits he didn't feel much different.He was put on a chemotherapy drug called rituximab. He said: “It was a wonder drug, I felt less tired, less sore. But while this was all going on I was still working full time as a quantity surveyor.
"I was still connected to the machine which had short cables, and I was trying to reach my parents' bedroom to chap on the door and wake them up.”After the major op, Chris woke up in the ICU. He ended up so ill that he couldn't keep food or water down. And was ordered by Drs to drink 10 litres a day to try and flush out and kickstart the new kidney.
His whole family, his partner and her family all came through to the hospital and squeezed into the little room.Chris recovered but over the last two years he has had rejection two more times. His kidney function is at 23 percent currently. It is looking likely he will have to go back on dialysis at the end of the year.
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