SELF-ISOLATION is becoming depressing for many people shut off from family and friends but for kidney patient Melanie Wellbelove the situation is becoming desperate.

The 48-year-old, who is a manager at Route2Fitness gym, is desperate for a kidney transplant but all hope has been put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.

She has suffered a number of setbacks in the past year in her bid to get a new kidney as hopes of her sister Helen Hopgood becoming a donor for her were dashed when she was found not to be a good enough match.

But Helen then qualified to go into a pool of donors so that she could give a kidney to a different patient and Melanie would be able to receive one from someone else.

Melanie has remained upbeat since her diagnosis despite gruelling dialysis and has kept people up to date via a blog.

But now she is finding life under lockdown extremely difficult.

On Saturday she wrote: “I’m not coping too well with this lockdown, this isolation from work and friends and family.

“I have been on dialysis for 16 months and 11 days and its finally hit me with a bang.

“This isolation from my normal routine has left me feeling almost panicky, sad all the time, hungry all the time.

“I’m always thirsty so that doesn’t count.

“I think the realisation of my day to day routine has finally hit me... now it’s all I do... look at the clock to work out the next hook up time.

“Before I was a needed busy admin manager, I had lunches with my friends.

“I feel a grief for not being able to see my mum who is recovering from breast cancer and my daughter Emily who is having her first baby in September.”

She has received a letter putting her in the very high risk category so must stay home all the time. She said: “Even the thought of queuing for two hours for a pint of milk is looking very appealing to me.”