Kidney transplant - The Journey from the Donor's Side
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.
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Transplants Support Group.
@onecentwalsh People like you inspire people like me. Thank you for sharing.
@beckyjohnson This is a completely open offer. I had all of the information I needed to prepare from Mayo but it was reassuring to talk to someone that had gone through it.
I am a donor and, as far as I can tell, completely healed. I have some testing & appointments in a couple of weeks and will find out if that's true.
Emotion 15: Joy. After objectively rereading "The Journey from the Donors Side" I recognized an uplifting pattern - that is every donor experienced the emotion of genuine joy at some point along the journey. That is a blessing in and of its own
@mauraacro Thank you very much. If your not heaven sent your as close to it as it gets.
Emotion 16: Sincerity - from the depths of my soul I have believe that every single person posting on Mayo Connect have faith in something far greater than any one of us. Because of this we are able to connect with honesty & bond with purity
FYI in general. I have taken to "Like" every post for these reasons:
1. It shows everyone I appreciate their courage for posting &
2. It allows me to notice posts I've missed as I'm following our discussion
When something relates to my personal journey or fancies my curiosity or gets my attention on any level then I reply in earnest
Emotion 17: Excitement Yea I've been approved for the 1st level of donor tests
Im so excited due to the new donor kidney transplant coordinator & my conversation earlier today. She asked questions that needed more clarification from the initial application. I'm also required to have a current colonoscopy, pelvic exam/ pap smear and mammogram. She is sending a blood pressure cuff to be worn continuously for a designated period of time (24 hrs I think). She also working on scheduling 3 days of appointments to include a lot of bloodwork, stress test, echocardiogram & much more that I cannot recall. I will also be meeting her in person along with counselor, donor advocate, surgery team, financial consultant & dietician to name a few. We are aiming for the last week of this month. Yea! A final thought as an altruistic donor it is very possible I will not get to meet my kidney recipient. For me this is a downside that I had already decided to accept thanks to this Mayo Connect discussion.
Emotion 18: Motivation albeit emotion 17-joy should be in this post as well. Now that I'm on to testing I'm deep in research. Is there a way to group all these emotions? But then they would not be time appropriate... hmmm? Motivation is a positive emotion because it keeps me focused & informed.
This is an unbelievable eye opener. Apparently Medicare cuts off funding for antirejection medicine 3 yrs. after the recipient recieves a donor kidney (not sure about other organs). Some problems I'm having wrapping my brain around this fact (at least for some patients) are what happens when they cannot afford the medicine, what becomes of the donated kidney, what emotions are derived from both donor (who believes this is a life changing gift meant to last a lifetime not a mere 36 months) & recipient (who must have an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness to say the least). I'm so heartbroken that I'm relying on pure faith to get an understanding that is acceptable