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to pursue a preemptive kidney transplant or wait?
Transplants | Last Active: 1 day ago | Replies (3)Comment receiving replies
@robertstl Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. You certainly have some interesting decisions in front of you.
1. Have your doctors told you about the "plumbing procedure" to be done, what it entails and what the recovery time is? If this needs to be done prior to kidney transplant, have you thought about what would happen if you go into sudden kidney failure? How would it all be handled? Can dialysis be done with the remaining kidney and without having the procedure?
My husband had a kidney transplant at age 61, receiving a deceased donor's gift. Until you get a transplant, it is hard to realize how much better your quality of life is. Yes, there is the period of adjustment to new [lifelong] medications and recovery. Yes, there is the possibility of some complications. The vast majority of folks do not have a lot of issues.
Living with one kidney, that one kidney is now functioning at 8%. I imagine your quality of life is definitely not what it used to be, and nowhere near what it could be after a successful transplant. You are the only one who can truthfully answer the question of improved quality of your life. Being on the wait-list now for four years, what will you do if they call next week and tell you there is a kidney available to you?
Ginger
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Ginger, Thank you for reply and insights. Recovery from the Ileal conduit procedure I'm told is 3-4 weeks. The Transplant team would much prefer me to have this done in advance of a transplant. Yes, I can undergo dialysis with my existing kidney if needed. Currently if my native kidney were to fail, I would have to go back to dialysis. (I was on dialysis for 18 months 3 years ago). Either my existing graft would be used (it needs to be unblocked from lack of usage) or in an emergency I would have to have a port added. If they were to call next week and offer a kidney, we would need to have both procedures done at the same time. The Transplant Team can do this but would prefer not to.
I hope your husband and you are enjoying an improved QoL after his transplant. I have read a number of post-transplant stories online that give me hope I can go through all of this and do the same. Thanks for your input. It is truly appreciated.