Hatice Akel: I was born in 1952 as the youngest daughter in a family of farmers. I grew up like an only child because my older siblings soon moved out and led their own lives. At just 14, I became a bride myself. Not long after, I gave birth to two girls, one of which I named Tülay. Later, I also had a son.
Even before getting married I experienced swelling in my feet but was never in pain. For Tülay things were different. When she was 10 or 12, she developed an itchy rash, something people around here call ‘bulgur shedding’. We took her to the doctor many times, but no one could identify the cause.
Tülay İğci: Shortly after finishing primary school, I also began feeling nauseous and had swelling and weight problems. When my doctor couldn’t make a diagnosis, my family took me to Istanbul University, Çapa Faculty of Medicine. There I learnt there were some problems with my kidneys.
Hatice Akel: Tülay’s doctor in Istanbul told us my daughter needed a kidney transplant and I jumped at the chance to give her one of mine. As part of the screening to donate, the doctor ran some tests on me. That’s how we discovered I, too, had kidney problems. I later learnt our kidney disease is genetic and I passed it to Tülay, but not my other children. That very day in 2003 on which I was diagnosed I also started dialysis, and have been on it ever since.
Tülay İğci: This time in our lives was challenging for all of us. We moved to Ankara so the doctor’s could closely monitor me. It was hard to be away from our home and my family also struggled financially. My mum was really relieved when my dad found a new job as a dishwasher at a restaurant and got health insurance for our whole family.