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← Return to PKD Transplants: Did you remove your second kidney?
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PKD Transplants: Did you remove your second kidney?
Transplants | Last Active: Sep 15 4:40pm | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
@stephanierp, I'm paging fellow PKD transplant recipients @jolinda @nimalw @jennifer0726 @kayb @grady1 who may have experiences about the decision making regarding keeping the polycystic kidney post transplant or removing it.
Stephanie, has it been suggested that the flank pain would resolve if the kidney were removed? Do you have concerns about undergoing surgery again at this time? What pros and cons are you weighing?
Replies to "@stephanierp, I'm paging fellow PKD transplant recipients @jolinda @nimalw @jennifer0726 @kayb @grady1 who may have experiences..."
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@colleenyoung Thank you for your kind response and for connecting me with some of the other PKD transplant recipients.
I believe the flank pain would resolve. I will still have some lower back stuff but flank pain would most likely resolve. I do have concerns going into surgery. I found the first surgery - open nephrectomy and transplant - pretty traumatic. The pain was not well managed post-op, and I was left with a very large incision (over 12" across both sides of abs), which made recuperation challenging. The kidney transplant itself was miraculous! Just the muscular/skeletal recuperation that was difficult. Having been a dancer and dance instructor all my life, this has been difficult.
With that said, Dr Prieto has said he will do this next nephrectomy laparoscopically, with hand assist removal, and he believes recuperation will be much quicker. In addition to reducing flank pain, removing the second PKD kidney also has the benefit of reducing the chance of cysts rupturing and causing problems in the future. The last kidney they removed was pretty ugly. I named her Polly. I imagine her cyster is equally attractive:)