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Living Donor Kidney surgery next Tuesday: Any advice?

Transplants | Last Active: Apr 1, 2020 | Replies (42)

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@earlenes

My experience has been very positive. The surgery itself was as expected. Laparoscopic, took about 5 hours. I had quite a bit of pain upon waking up but once I had some heavy duty pain meds on board, I was fine. I went home the following day. Within a few days I was able to control the pain with only Tylenol and I was driving within a week. One complication that is not directly related to the surgery, I developed shingles about two weeks post-op. They were definitely more uncomfortable than recovering from the surgery! I'm now coming up on 4 weeks and pretty much feel back to normal. I find that my energy level isn't quite what it was, but it's getting better every day.

I hear from my recipient's wife every couple of days with progress reports and he is doing fabulous! I have zero regrets about being a living donor and will continue to tell everyone I can about my amazing experience!

Pair #2 of my 7-way chain is scheduled for surgery on March 3 at Mayo Jax!!!

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Replies to "My experience has been very positive. The surgery itself was as expected. Laparoscopic, took about 5..."

@Darlene Thank you for checking back in with us! Glad to hear your recovery has been unremarkable. And, ouch for the shingles! We look forward to hearing about your gift as it pertains to the chain donation.
Ginger