Have you ever stopped to think how much fluid we consume every day? Water, soft-drinks, coffee, soup, beer, fruit... all these and more have to be taken in moderation if a person with renal failure is to stick to a daily allowance of just one litre.
"I'd be dying for a long glass of cold water or a couple of beers on a summer night but sometimes I just have to contend with an ice-cube to contain my thirst," Charlie Cutajar said.
The 34-year-old man had just turned 26 when he was diagnosed with renal failure - today getting hooked up to a kidney machine in hospital for haemodialysis, four hours, three times a week, has become a way of life.
"In the days before I was diagnosed I was feeling nauseous, sick and had lost my appetite. I had never been to see a doctor, but I finally had no choice - I was rushed to the hospital's emergency unit and stayed there for over a week," Mr Cutajar said.
His blood pressure had rocketed but despite the series of tests he had to undergo, Mr Cutajar assumed it would be just a two-day job and he would be back at work.
He spent weeks undergoing treatment and six months later was informed that he had to remove both his kidneys.
"I got quite a shock, especially since we had no history of kidney disease in our family, but I had no choice," he shrugs matter-of-factly.
Today Mr Cutajar has learnt to eat in moderation and avoid certain products which contain salt and make him thirsty; or potassium, found in fruit and vegetables, which could send his levels sky high and cause cardiac arrest.
Mr Cutajar is extremely grateful to the renal unit of St Luke's Hospital because without access to a kidney machine his life would be short-lived.
In turn, it is thanks to the Life Cycle fundraising charity event that the renal unit has helped save the lives of scores of people with kidney failure.
Renal unit administrator Tony Bugeja said it was only two years ago that the unit started accepting each and every one who succumbed to kidney failure.
Each year there are 40 - 50 people in Malta who succumb to kidney failure and at the moment there are about 200 patients at the renal unit whose kidneys cannot function.
Contrary to strongly held perceptions, this sickness does not just affect older people and there are patients from one year of age to 80 undergoing treatment. However, the majority are in their 60s.
The most common cause of kidney failure is severe diabetes and high blood pressure.
Mr Bugeja explained that the kidneys serve to regulate the composition and amount of body fluids and maintain the body's acid-base balance. They also work to detoxify and eliminate noxious substances in the body and assist in blood pressure control, red blood cell creation and the manufacture of insulin.
There are two types of treatment. Patients could either follow haemodialysis, which is administered through kidney machines at hospital for four hours, three times a week or else the peritoneal dialysis which the patient administers at home and requires a monthly check-up at the renal unit.
The majority, 65 per cent, of patients use the hospital's renal unit for haemodialysis. The life of these people depend on dialysis and many are waiting to receive a kidney transplant. However, there is a long waiting list and it could take between four and five years for some to receive such a transplant.
To exacerbate matters, Mr Bugeja said there were only about five to eight donors a year, since the kidneys could only be taken from a brain-dead person and not somebody who has just died.
Treatment is not cheap. While haemodialysis costs Lm14,000 per patient per year, peritoneal dialysis costs a average of Lm7,000.
The haemodialysis reverse osmosis unit, which provides purified water for the kidney machines - each machine uses 500ml of treated water every minute - costs about Lm60,000.
Apart from that the renal unit also works to improve the quality of life of the patients by introducing new treatments, which require heavy investment.
Mr Bugeja said the unit was also planning to refurbish another part of the unit to be able to provide more slots for dialysis every day.
"The cost of treatment is a bottomless pit but it is also because of dialysis that people with kidney failure can lead as normal a life as possible."
The Life Cycle
The Life Cycle Pyrenean Crusade, which raises funds for the renal unit, will see 33 cyclists ride a total of 1,700 kilometres for nine consecutive days, from Paris to Madrid.
Donations from this year's charity event, which runs between Tuesday and September 9, will also be extended to help the Organ Transplant Support Group.
This is a test of extreme physical endurance and a team of 16 other cyclists will be travelling with the team to serve as backup.
The idea for the Life Cycle was thought up by Alan Curry in 1999. He was so grateful for the treatment that his wife had received at the St Luke's Hospital renal unit, that he wanted to repay them in some way.
Mr Curry had persuaded four cyclists, including the unit's administrator Tony Bugeja, to cycle for 3,000 km to his hometown in Newcastle over 19 days. The distance was reduced to encourage more cyclists to come forward and dedicate their time to a good cause.
Since it was first set up, Life Cycle has donated, among others, eight machines for peritoneal dialysis which cost Lm4,000 each; 10 machines for haemodialysis, costing about Lm8,000 each; Lm8,000 towards air conditioners; Lm5,000 towards a new reverse osmosis plant for patients with kidney failure and a dialysis chair.
Donations to Life Cycle can be made directly through their web site www.lifecyclechallenge.com or to the renal unit at St Luke's Hospital.
You can also send a donation to the following accounts: HSBC 61141628050 or the Bank of Valletta 14814521017. Otherwise you can send an SMS on the following numbers: Go Mobile: 5622 for Lm2; 5633 for Lm3 and 5655 for Lm5 and Vodafone: 5061 7317 for Lm1; 5061 7900 for Lm2 and 5061 8816 for Lm3.