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Questions about Rules for Transplant Caregivers while at Mayo Clinic

Posted by booma @booma, Oct 11, 2021

My brother needs a transplant and his wife will donate her kidney. They will therefore both need caregivers . My sister and I would like to be there to help but I don’t want to stay in his room as caregiver .. can we stay in a separate room ( Rochester facility) .. if anyone has info on this please advise. Thanks

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Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Feb 22, 2022
In reply to @dbirkel21 "My husband had a kidney transplant last May (I was the donor) and on release from..." + (show)
@dbirkel21

My husband had a kidney transplant last May (I was the donor) and on release from the hospital (day 4) he was moving slowly but unaided. You can see it with everyone when you are there at 7 am getting the bloodwork done the new folks who are just 4-7 days post transplant all look a little tired and are moving slowly but it gets easier and by the end of week 2 it's sometimes hard to tell which ones are the patients. The first month after transplant you are at the hospital a lot for bloodwork and appointments often early as they need bloodwork before you take your morning meds, so my advice it get lots of books/movies to watch as there is a lot of downtime. My husband is in his late 70's but managed to shower by himself and dress himself once he was home - I just put his clothes/towels out. As your friend is younger am sure she will bounce back pretty quickly and will need minimal help with self-care. I would make sure you have lots of healthy snacks available as it's tricky sometimes to find these at hotels. Not sure if she's thought of what she'll be wearing but nothing that is hitting her waist as the incision is just below there and is stapled so you don't want anything rubbing against that.

Wishing your friend a good surgery and wonderful recovery, we are at 9 months now and every day I am so thankful that we have this new life.

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@dbirkel21 What a great first post! I see you have been a member here for a while, so welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Good pointers about food. And, always carry water! We had a small canvas bag that held notebook, water, snackies and such, and went with us even years after. I see that bag now, and realize the memories it carries.

You reminded me that sweatpants and elastic banded pants are clothing of choice. My husband found that out after his transplant in 2016.
Ginger

REPLY
Mentor
Rosemary, Volunteer Mentor | @rosemarya | Feb 22, 2022

@donnasuecarer, I am remembering that you and your mom will be at Mayo next week for the appointment with the young women who is going to begin her kidney transplant evaluation.
Do you have any questions before you finalize your preparations for this first visit?

REPLY
Mentor
Rosemary, Volunteer Mentor | @rosemarya | Feb 22, 2022
In reply to @dbirkel21 "My husband had a kidney transplant last May (I was the donor) and on release from..." + (show)
@dbirkel21

My husband had a kidney transplant last May (I was the donor) and on release from the hospital (day 4) he was moving slowly but unaided. You can see it with everyone when you are there at 7 am getting the bloodwork done the new folks who are just 4-7 days post transplant all look a little tired and are moving slowly but it gets easier and by the end of week 2 it's sometimes hard to tell which ones are the patients. The first month after transplant you are at the hospital a lot for bloodwork and appointments often early as they need bloodwork before you take your morning meds, so my advice it get lots of books/movies to watch as there is a lot of downtime. My husband is in his late 70's but managed to shower by himself and dress himself once he was home - I just put his clothes/towels out. As your friend is younger am sure she will bounce back pretty quickly and will need minimal help with self-care. I would make sure you have lots of healthy snacks available as it's tricky sometimes to find these at hotels. Not sure if she's thought of what she'll be wearing but nothing that is hitting her waist as the incision is just below there and is stapled so you don't want anything rubbing against that.

Wishing your friend a good surgery and wonderful recovery, we are at 9 months now and every day I am so thankful that we have this new life.

Jump to this post

@dbirkel21, I want to add my Welcome to Connect! Your husband's post transplant recovery sounds a lot like mine. I also wore loose elastic waist sweat pants which made dressing easier for me. My incision was low and didn't rub.

9 months ago you donated a kidney to your husband. Congratulations to both of you. That is an example of true love!
Did you each have a caregiver?
Where did you have your transplant?

REPLY
1 reply
dbirkel21 | @dbirkel21 | Feb 23, 2022
In reply to @rosemarya "@dbirkel21, I want to add my Welcome to Connect! Your husband's post transplant recovery sounds a..." + (show)
@rosemarya

@dbirkel21, I want to add my Welcome to Connect! Your husband's post transplant recovery sounds a lot like mine. I also wore loose elastic waist sweat pants which made dressing easier for me. My incision was low and didn't rub.

9 months ago you donated a kidney to your husband. Congratulations to both of you. That is an example of true love!
Did you each have a caregiver?
Where did you have your transplant?

Jump to this post

Hi Rosemary, we had the transplant at Mayo Jacksonville everyone was fabulous. My Coordinator Christine was lovely and so supportive, we had a few hoops to jump through and some extra testing to make sure it was the right decision for me and thankfully it all worked out but she was great keeping me updated and positive. My girlfriend was at the hospital post surgery for me and picked me up and I stayed at her house for 2 nights. On my 2 nd night I felt great and took us both out to dinner so knew I was ok to go home the following day with my husband. My husband’s daughter stayed for a few more days to get us to the one week post surgery date and drive him to the appointments and then I took over. I was certainly blessed as had no pain and recovery was easy just napped when I was tired. Fortunately as I was a direct donor we had about 4 weeks to prepare so stocked the freezer so very little meal prep when we were home alone. Would do it all again tomorrow if it meant my husband continues to have such better quality of life.

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