Donating my kidney: Any tips? What do you wish you'd known?

Tammi, I think of you every day! We did have a stall in recovery. My husband went into early kidney rejection 3 days after receiving his new Bean. After a biopsy, the Mayo Team started him on Turbo Blasters ( thyroglobulin) for 4 days. Meds have been adjusted 3 times, and each day is a new day! Our Donor, is recovering at a speedy rate though is still having shoulder/back pain from the gas. If I may step off topic for a moment..pre transplant, all you think of is the Gift of Life and rather scoot around any potential setbacks. However, as each day is a baby step closer to the new normal, we are all adjusting. I hope you are well, I hope you have support other than all of us, and I hope you know the Sun shines for you!

I am blown away by your selflessness and generosity! Awaiting kidney transplant evaluation, I know how meaningful your gesture will be to some one!!

I pray for your family as you adjust and learn what's the new normal as healing continues. Hopefully the Dr team will find the right dose of meds for your husband's body to work with his new addition.
For the shoulder pain it really helped for me to get up and walk and some light massage. For me 3 1/2 weeks was when I began to feel much more human again. What really seemed to be the way I had the biggest improvement was when I got the okay to be in the pool. Just doing light exercise, stretching, and treading water seemed to lift the fog I was in and help relieve aches and give me a bit of energy. I still tire if I over do it but it's a huge welcome improvement. Your daughter will hopefully be noticing big changes soon.

Tammi, I think of you every day! We did have a stall in recovery. My husband went into early kidney rejection 3 days after receiving his new Bean. After a biopsy, the Mayo Team started him on Turbo Blasters ( thyroglobulin) for 4 days. Meds have been adjusted 3 times, and each day is a new day! Our Donor, is recovering at a speedy rate though is still having shoulder/back pain from the gas. If I may step off topic for a moment..pre transplant, all you think of is the Gift of Life and rather scoot around any potential setbacks. However, as each day is a baby step closer to the new normal, we are all adjusting. I hope you are well, I hope you have support other than all of us, and I hope you know the Sun shines for you!

@tasher3433 Hope to hear in a few days, that your husband is doing better each day! This underscores that each surgery is its own unique situation. My husband had a couple unforeseen glitches early in his recovery, but then has been stellar in the almost 4 yrs since. And your donor, how great she is recovering well, also!
Ginger

Dhelmstetter, I will pray your evaluation goes smoothly and you find your perfect match quickly.

Tammi, I think of you every day! We did have a stall in recovery. My husband went into early kidney rejection 3 days after receiving his new Bean. After a biopsy, the Mayo Team started him on Turbo Blasters ( thyroglobulin) for 4 days. Meds have been adjusted 3 times, and each day is a new day! Our Donor, is recovering at a speedy rate though is still having shoulder/back pain from the gas. If I may step off topic for a moment..pre transplant, all you think of is the Gift of Life and rather scoot around any potential setbacks. However, as each day is a baby step closer to the new normal, we are all adjusting. I hope you are well, I hope you have support other than all of us, and I hope you know the Sun shines for you!

@tasher3433, I have you on my mind today and just want to drop in to let you know that I hope you are seeing some progress in husband's recovery. Have the post biopsy meds been helpful?

Hi Rosemary! Thank you for your kind thoughts. It has been a very rocky road, but other than hemerroidal pain, my husband improves every day. After the biopsy scare and 4 days of thymo infusions, he is home and walking more. Creatinine levels were too high yesterday, but fluid transfusion helped immensely. Possibly another today, though levels are good and we are waiting for Dr to say yay or nay about that and tweeting the meds. Best wishes to you all. I hope my posts aren’t putting anyone off transplant! This is minor compared to the alternative.