Kidney transplant - The Journey from the Donor's Side

Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

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Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

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I've just read all the posts from "transplants - changes after transplant" & replied to some of them. One thought usually leads to another so I decided to post emotions because it isn't as concrete - say as the literal kidneys being transplanted.
Emotion 1: just getting accepted as a donor creates the feeling of uncertainty
Emotion 2: try as I might to remain steadfast I find myself concerned with finances even though I know the burden of surgical cost does not rest on my shoulders
Emotion 3: LOL knowing part of my body going in to someone else's body brings new meaning to "You're rubbing off on me"
Emotion 4: there is a tad bit of fear that my body may miss its organ & retaliate
Emotion 5: now I'm questioning my logic due to emotion 4
Emotion 6: calm emotion 5 because I fully believe in following my heart
Emotion 7: questions questions questions (what, why, how, who, where, when)
Emotion 8: hybrid fusion of logic & emotion
Emotion 9: LMBO even though I should have thought of all this before making my mind up I couldn't because I had to make this decision to ellicit these emotions

Jump to this post

Officially accepted as a non directed donor this past Wednesday!!! Everything looks good for me health wise. I will be donating in may, as I'm a teacher and will be finishing out my spring as to not take too much time off of work for recovery.
They will be now doing their job to find a match and create a, hopefully, long string of paired donations starting with mine! I'm excited and really can't wait to see what God has in store for this process. Will post again as I get closer to surgery.
In the meantime, I'm working on a few diet changes- less salt intake especially!!!

Jump to this post

I've just read all the posts from "transplants - changes after transplant" & replied to some of them. One thought usually leads to another so I decided to post emotions because it isn't as concrete - say as the literal kidneys being transplanted.
Emotion 1: just getting accepted as a donor creates the feeling of uncertainty
Emotion 2: try as I might to remain steadfast I find myself concerned with finances even though I know the burden of surgical cost does not rest on my shoulders
Emotion 3: LOL knowing part of my body going in to someone else's body brings new meaning to "You're rubbing off on me"
Emotion 4: there is a tad bit of fear that my body may miss its organ & retaliate
Emotion 5: now I'm questioning my logic due to emotion 4
Emotion 6: calm emotion 5 because I fully believe in following my heart
Emotion 7: questions questions questions (what, why, how, who, where, when)
Emotion 8: hybrid fusion of logic & emotion
Emotion 9: LMBO even though I should have thought of all this before making my mind up I couldn't because I had to make this decision to ellicit these emotions

Jump to this post

I've just read all the posts from "transplants - changes after transplant" & replied to some of them. One thought usually leads to another so I decided to post emotions because it isn't as concrete - say as the literal kidneys being transplanted.
Emotion 1: just getting accepted as a donor creates the feeling of uncertainty
Emotion 2: try as I might to remain steadfast I find myself concerned with finances even though I know the burden of surgical cost does not rest on my shoulders
Emotion 3: LOL knowing part of my body going in to someone else's body brings new meaning to "You're rubbing off on me"
Emotion 4: there is a tad bit of fear that my body may miss its organ & retaliate
Emotion 5: now I'm questioning my logic due to emotion 4
Emotion 6: calm emotion 5 because I fully believe in following my heart
Emotion 7: questions questions questions (what, why, how, who, where, when)
Emotion 8: hybrid fusion of logic & emotion
Emotion 9: LMBO even though I should have thought of all this before making my mind up I couldn't because I had to make this decision to ellicit these emotions

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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.

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