For almost six years, Paul Vassallo’s life was measured in hours spent sitting in a dialysis chair.
Three afternoons a week, the now-retired cane farmer would leave the Brightly farm and make the trip to Mackay Base Hospital for dialysis, spending about 18 hours every week hooked up to the machine that was keeping him alive.
Today, life looks very different.
On 21 June this year, Paul, 68, received a kidney transplant in Townsville, becoming the 26th patient to undergo a kidney transplant since the service opened there in July 2025 and the fifth transplant patient from the Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS) region.
“I’m over the moon,” Paul said. “And I can’t thank the doctors, renal staff and my donor enough.”
For Paul, having the transplant service available in Townsville made a life-changing difference.
He received the call an organ had become available while sitting in the dialysis unit at 4pm at Mackay Base Hospital one Saturday afternoon. The direction was simple: finish dialysis, get in the car and head to Townsville for the transplant.
Paul had been on the transplant waiting list since 13 February and had been told to be ready because the call could come at any time.
“I had a suitcase in the car,” he said. “I was quite scared, to be honest with you, going under and all that. I was worried about what was going to happen and whether I’d come out of it.”
The transplant was a success, although Paul spent four days in intensive care because of blood pressure issues before moving to a ward. He spent seven days in hospital, followed by another five weeks in Townsville so he could attend regular appointments and blood tests.
His daughter had arranged six weeks off work to care for him; something Paul says would have been much more difficult had he needed to travel to Brisbane.
“Going to Townsville definitely made it an easier process than going to Brisbane, so we should be pretty thankful of that,” he said.
Once Paul returned to Mackay, his hospital visits were reduced to once a week.
His results have been encouraging, with Paul’s kidney function now sitting at about 56 per cent.
His weight, once one of the biggest barriers to getting onto the transplant list, has also dramatically improved.
Paul weighed 112kg when he started dialysis. With the help of treatment including Ozempic, he worked steadily towards the weight required for transplantation, eventually reaching 91kg. He is now about 88kg.
Paul was diagnosed with diabetes at age 38 and continued working on the cane farm throughout his years on dialysis, including driving a cane harvester. His son and nephew would help take over on the farm so he could leave for his afternoon dialysis shift.
After nearly six years, the transplant has given Paul something he values enormously – time.
“I’m really getting 18 hours a week back, because that is what I was spending on dialysis, six hours at a time, three times a week,” he said.
“The first four hours are quite good but the fifth one is hard to handle with all the sitting. You read or watch TV. There’s no choice. You’ve got to be there if you want to live.”
Now recovering from his kidney transplant, Paul has been forced to slow down a little and take it easy while his body recovers.
And with those extra 18 hours each week, he has found a few jobs to keep himself occupied – including ‘supervising’ the clean up of old farm shed.
After a lifetime on the farm, Paul is also adjusting to a new chapter living in town. He has a garden to maintain and admits he is still happiest with his hands in the soil.
“I’ve always got to have my hands green,” he said.
For Paul, the transplant is more than a medical procedure. It has given him a new lease on life and the possibility of more time with his family and grandchildren.
His daughter summed it up perfectly when she decided to take six weeks off to care for him.
“She said, ‘Dad, I’ll give up six weeks to have you for 16 years’.”
Paul is proud to share his story, hoping it might help ease some of the fear for others facing transplantation and is pleased the North Queensland service now provides greater opportunity to access life-changing surgery.
“All in all, the transplant has been a great journey and I can’t speak highly enough of the doctors and the care I received both here and in Townsville.”
And while he continues to recover, Paul is grateful for every extra hour.
“Organ donation has given me a new lease on life.”