1. < Transplants

Kidney transplant - The Journey from the Donor's Side

Posted by mauraacro @mauraacro, Jan 2, 2018

I'm headed to Rochester on the 10th for surgery on the 12th. I'm excited and nervous! I didn't know the recipient but have gotten to "meet" her and some of her daughters through phone calls and emails.
I've had labs done at my doctor's office and went to Mayo a few weeks ago for a million more tests. My case was presented to the donor board a few days before Christmas and I was approved and notified the same day. It seems like everything took so long and now is going so fast.
I'm interested in hearing from donors but haven't had a lot of luck. It seems like the recipients are the ones who post the most, which gives me some info and reassurance but it would be nice to hear from the other side too.

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Mentor
Rosemary, Volunteer Mentor | @rosemarya | May 30, 2018
In reply to @beckyjohnson "Rose Colred Lense I am blessed with 3 working kidneys each with their own working euretha's..." + (show)
@beckyjohnson

Rose Colred Lense
I am blessed with 3 working kidneys each with their own working euretha's so the least I can do is give one of them to some grateful person whose quality of life will be greatly improved for them & their loved ones. Hopefully this in turn will "Pay it Forward" to a long chain of successful transplants.

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@beckyjohnson, Have you seen this Living Donor tool kit? You will find it, plus lots of good information on this link to the Transplant Pages.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/page/transplant/

REPLY
beckyjohnson | @beckyjohnson | May 30, 2018
In reply to @beckyjohnson "Rose Colred Lense I am blessed with 3 working kidneys each with their own working euretha's..." + (show)
@beckyjohnson

Rose Colred Lense
I am blessed with 3 working kidneys each with their own working euretha's so the least I can do is give one of them to some grateful person whose quality of life will be greatly improved for them & their loved ones. Hopefully this in turn will "Pay it Forward" to a long chain of successful transplants.

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@rosemary Yes it was informative, thank you

REPLY
beckyjohnson | @beckyjohnson | May 30, 2018
In reply to @mauraacro "@beckyjohnson I had labs sent to my home in November and went to Mayo for evaluation/testing..." + (show)
@mauraacro

@beckyjohnson I had labs sent to my home in November and went to Mayo for evaluation/testing in December. Surgery was Jan 12 and I was back to work on the 29th, so it is possible. It could have been shorter but because of holidays & my schedule the evaluation was delayed a few weeks. I got some routine things out of the way before I went for the that trip. Routine was yearly exam, mammogram, colonoscopy & flu shot.

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@mauraacro That is really assuring. Thank you for sharing that information.

REPLY
beckyjohnson | @beckyjohnson | May 30, 2018
In reply to @mauraacro "On Friday, it will be 3 weeks since I've donated. Because of emotions, travel and adjusting..." + (show)
@mauraacro

On Friday, it will be 3 weeks since I've donated. Because of emotions, travel and adjusting back home, it seems like the surgery was months ago.
I went back to work yesterday on a limited schedule and it went well. The advocate told me that my body will say when I have done too much, that worried me because I thought I may miss my body's cue or that I would all of a sudden be in a lot of pain. For me, when I've overdone it a bit, I get tired and my abdomen gets a little tight, not enough to hurt, enough to remind me that it's there and I need to slow down and rest. The hardest part for me is the 10# lifting restriction, everything in my life seems to weigh more that 10#.
After typing that, I realize that the lifting restriction isn't really the hardest part, asking for help is. I don't look any different than I did a few weeks ago so asking for help bringing a bag of groceries to my car is embarrassing and enlightening. How many people have I dismissed as lazy or entitled because they won't carry their own 15# bag of produce and milk to their car? That is so embarrassing to admit, I'm glad I have the opportunity to change my thinking.
The recipient is doing great except for getting the flu! Somewhere between going in for pre surgery appointments and back for tests she contracted the flu. Luckily, Mayo caught it quickly and she received great care. She went home Friday and is adjusting to life without dialysis. She's disappointed that the flu slowed down her progress but her kidney numbers are good and she is feeling stronger every day.

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Your experience is enlightening for me as a stubborn, hard head, self determined want to be donor. I am also very appreciative & humble so it is a great testimony to read how giving on such a personal level has adjusted your way of feeling. Hopefully I too will experience such a profound positive outcome. Thank you for sharing your journey as a donor.

REPLY
beckyjohnson | @beckyjohnson | May 30, 2018
In reply to @onecentwalsh "Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health..." + (show)
@onecentwalsh

Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

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@onecentwalsh Ooow this is exactly what I needed to read as a hopeful future donor. I too must work around the school year calendar & am concerned with the 3 month summer break schedule when I'm available to achieve the "Pay it Forward" chain of life giving kidney transplants. At 54 I'm running out of time to donate since the age limit is 60 when considering it will be an entire year before I'm in a position to try again. That is far too long knowing that every day on average 22 people die from lack of a donor kidney. This is reassuring, thanks for sharing.

REPLY
beckyjohnson | @beckyjohnson | May 30, 2018

I've just read all the posts from "transplants - changes after transplant" & replied to some of them. One thought usually leads to another so I decided to post emotions because it isn't as concrete - say as the literal kidneys being transplanted.
Emotion 1: just getting accepted as a donor creates the feeling of uncertainty
Emotion 2: try as I might to remain steadfast I find myself concerned with finances even though I know the burden of surgical cost does not rest on my shoulders
Emotion 3: LOL knowing part of my body going in to someone else's body brings new meaning to "You're rubbing off on me"
Emotion 4: there is a tad bit of fear that my body may miss its organ & retaliate
Emotion 5: now I'm questioning my logic due to emotion 4
Emotion 6: calm emotion 5 because I fully believe in following my heart
Emotion 7: questions questions questions (what, why, how, who, where, when)
Emotion 8: hybrid fusion of logic & emotion
Emotion 9: LMBO even though I should have thought of all this before making my mind up I couldn't because I had to make this decision to ellicit these emotions

REPLY
9 replies
jodeej | @jodeej | May 31, 2018
In reply to @beckyjohnson "I've just read all the posts from "transplants - changes after transplant" & replied to some..." + (show)
@beckyjohnson

I've just read all the posts from "transplants - changes after transplant" & replied to some of them. One thought usually leads to another so I decided to post emotions because it isn't as concrete - say as the literal kidneys being transplanted.
Emotion 1: just getting accepted as a donor creates the feeling of uncertainty
Emotion 2: try as I might to remain steadfast I find myself concerned with finances even though I know the burden of surgical cost does not rest on my shoulders
Emotion 3: LOL knowing part of my body going in to someone else's body brings new meaning to "You're rubbing off on me"
Emotion 4: there is a tad bit of fear that my body may miss its organ & retaliate
Emotion 5: now I'm questioning my logic due to emotion 4
Emotion 6: calm emotion 5 because I fully believe in following my heart
Emotion 7: questions questions questions (what, why, how, who, where, when)
Emotion 8: hybrid fusion of logic & emotion
Emotion 9: LMBO even though I should have thought of all this before making my mind up I couldn't because I had to make this decision to ellicit these emotions

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@beckyjohnson Lololol! You have a great sense of humor! I understand all those mixed emotions, as you know, let go and let God and all will turn out the way it's supposed to.

REPLY
beckyjohnson | @beckyjohnson | Jun 1, 2018
In reply to @onecentwalsh "Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health..." + (show)
@onecentwalsh

Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

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@onecentwalsh Wow As a living donor I want to meet the recipient. Is there a reason you do not know who is the new owner of your kidney? Was this by choice or circumstance?

REPLY
onecentwalsh | @onecentwalsh | Jun 1, 2018
In reply to @onecentwalsh "Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health..." + (show)
@onecentwalsh

Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

Jump to this post

@beckyjohnson I was an anonymous donor by choice. I did sign a form giving my email address to the recipient. If they sign it as well, then we can know each other. Maybe months from now, I might get to know my recipient and the chain of people that my donation started, but for now I'm happy knowing that it made it from Mn to FL and into the recipient!

REPLY
onecentwalsh | @onecentwalsh | Jun 1, 2018
In reply to @onecentwalsh "Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health..." + (show)
@onecentwalsh

Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

Jump to this post

@mauraacro it is amazing! Costco was hard yesterday...my sister was in town helping a few days with things like vacuuming and errand running. I wanted to put everything in the cart, but she scolded me and did it for me.
Recovery is just a short blip in life, so I'm being thankful in those moments where i can't do it yet!

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