But the tulips are blooing in the Highlands for you.

And Harley is ready this year for the fun,

As he walks past the gardens enjoying the sun,

And sees all the tulips their colours so bright,

Bursting forth in the warmth of the golden sunlight.

Orange is the theme colour this year,

To support Redkite who help young ones so dear,

With their treatment for cancer they need each day,

As they’re loved and cared for in every way.

Spring in the Highlands is the place to be,

As the tulips are flowering for all to see,

Their blooms a masaic of colours so rare,

Created by God for us all to share.

It’s a magical world of great delight, 

For all to enjoy this magnificent sight.

I am lucky. I have a brilliant support network to look after me and take me where I need to go - on dialysis or with a transplant.  

They have all helped in the past, continue to run me up and down to Sydney and I am sure would do the dialysis run again in a heartbeat.

If I didn't have these people in my life, I would have to rely on the system and the system is broken. It was broken 20 years ago and it is still broken.

I choose to work and although eligible for a full disability pension do not receive a cent from the government or even a health care card.

This means often I fall outside the system even though through Medicare everyone is supposed to be created equal.

It is likely I would not get the transport to and from dialysis or would my family allow it. A unit here would mean my choice to work is not a disadvantage.

Having dialysis services here would bring benefits to all types of people with chronic kidney disease whether on dialysis, with a transplant, with a disease that could lead to kidney failure and also the community as a whole.

The unit would give people on dialysis back what is left if their lives. They can become contributors to the community again rather than slaves to their disease.

I have a transplant now. It is a treatment option, and a very good one, but not a cure. I could end up on dialysis again and I don't even know if a fourth transplant is an option. (I am running out of family members anyway)

I still go to Sydney every couple of weeks for check-ups of my new kidney and all of the other things that are needed. I am only 40 and been dealing with this for 21 years.

I have lost mobility, some eyesight, have bones that break by looking at them and psychological issues that come with coping with life-long disease. My average month consists of specialist check-ups, GP visits, blood tests, podiatry, psychology, pain management, with exercise physiology and physio therapy weekly.

With the support of my parents and my wonderful husband, I have fought hard to maintain my right to live a normal life and have an education and career. This fight could and should have become easier in the last 20 years. It has not. We need a local renal service.