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PKD kidneys removed at time of transplant
Transplants | Last Active: Mar 2, 2023 | Replies (42)Comment receiving replies
Thank you Stephanie and Bobbin. Wow! I did not expect the transplant recovery and the PKD kidney removal to be so long. I am sure learning to be patient. And some of the hospital stay was traumatic for me. So, I do not relish going back into the hospital for another long recovery and pain. I am 73 years old and I thought the long recovery was due to age. Maybe by 15 months - 24 months I will have forgotten the first difficult recovery and will be ready for the PKD kidneys to be removed. I will ask my transplant center if they even do this removal. Are all transplant centers required to do this removal? And how risky it is. THanks again, BB
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I sympathize. My initial transplant with one kidney removal was traumatic - with days and nights of pain not managed well, and a 12 inch surgical incision. Other kidney transplant patients on the ward were lapping me, when I walked the halls trying to remover. I dreaded having the second kidney out. And almost didn't. I just could not imagine putting my body through that much trauma, again. And I did not want to go through the PT to regain core strength, again.
My second kidney removal was so much better. The difference was in the surgical approach. The first doctor did an open surgery - leaving a 12" incision. The second surgeon did kidney removal by way of laparoscopic surgery, with hand assist. This left minimal incisions of two 1" incision and one 3" incision. Pain was managed well and I was walking around doing my normal stuff within 2-3 weeks.
Advocate for yourself. Find a surgeon, who will do laparoscopic surgery and who is well-versed in PKD.