I've been in touch with my Transplant Coordinator recently - they do post-op follow ups including a 24hr Blood Pressure test, additional blood and urine work, and a questionnaire regarding your health. Of course, me being me, I lost the questionnaire part and had to get in touch to get it resent. While I was chatting with my Transplant Coordinator I did inquire as to how the recipient was doing and they are doing very well... my kidney has not been rejected (I'm not sure they would tell me if it was, but it's good to know that it hasn't been) and they have recovered beautifully.
For whatever reason this almost made me cry. I know this person has a family and just knowing that they are not on dialysis and are able to live a normal life again... I feel really good about what I did.
From my end things are going really well. Life is back to normal in pretty much every way. I do make a point to watch what I am eating and to really keep the drinking to a minimum, but other than making those healthy choices life is as it was pre-donation.
The other thing that came out of my conversation with my Transplant Coordinator was that I am looking to get involved in the peer support program. I have been in touch with the Kidney Foundation and will be meeting with the peer support coordinator next time he is in town.
I know there are not a lot of anonymous donors out there (however the number is growing - yay!), and as such, not only have I offered myself to this program, but I will extend the same offer to anyone reading this. If there is anything you would like to know, any question you may have about the tests, the surgery, the post-op, what life is like, please do not hesitate to comment with questions. I promise to answer any question you may have regarding living organ donation. I know I was the first of this type in my city and as such the only support programs out there were based upon directed donations (typically friends or family), as were many of the questions/procedures. Personally, I was hesitant to connect with these other donors as prior to my decision to donate, I had no connection to kidney disease or organ donation and felt this was a major difference in the donation process.
Having gone through it, I know I would have loved to have spoken with another non-directed donor. Hence, my offer to you. I look forward to hearing from you.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Hollow Spot
I know its been a while since I've posted in anyway, and I do want to thank you for reading my story.
Living with one kidney is living a normal life. It is now mid-April and the phantom pains are gone (even when I am not being as good as I should be), my scars are fading and for the most part it's not even something that I think of daily.
As life is back to normal, I am going to yoga again and it was there that I had a rather unusual reminder that I only have one kidney - we were lying on our backs with our knees pulled into our chests, our arms wrapped around our knees, rocking gently from side to side. I could feel the difference when I rolled towards my left compared to towards my right. The best way I can think of to describe it is I felt like a weighted egg where one side was heavier (and felt like there was something inside). The other side just felt hollow. It felt weird. It's weird being able to feel it in such a random situation. I mean, it makes sense that I could, but it was surprising as I hadn't expected it and this was the first time I had felt it.
In other news, my left leg has the feeling slowly returning. It had been numb on the top of my thigh between my knee and my hip ever since my surgery, and had scared me quite a bit when I first realized it. After a trip to the ER to make sure everything was okay, we found out it was because of where my incision is, and that it is very normal for any type of abdominal surgery with a side incision. The feeling is slowly coming back, and I expect it will be fully back within 2 months.
Life is pretty much back to normal, and outside of the occasional physical reminder my life has not changed from before my surgery.
I hope that if you are thinking of donating a kidney that you will find this encouraging, and please do leave a comment if you have any questions or concerns regarding life after donation (or the donation process itself).
Many thanks!
Living with one kidney is living a normal life. It is now mid-April and the phantom pains are gone (even when I am not being as good as I should be), my scars are fading and for the most part it's not even something that I think of daily.
As life is back to normal, I am going to yoga again and it was there that I had a rather unusual reminder that I only have one kidney - we were lying on our backs with our knees pulled into our chests, our arms wrapped around our knees, rocking gently from side to side. I could feel the difference when I rolled towards my left compared to towards my right. The best way I can think of to describe it is I felt like a weighted egg where one side was heavier (and felt like there was something inside). The other side just felt hollow. It felt weird. It's weird being able to feel it in such a random situation. I mean, it makes sense that I could, but it was surprising as I hadn't expected it and this was the first time I had felt it.
In other news, my left leg has the feeling slowly returning. It had been numb on the top of my thigh between my knee and my hip ever since my surgery, and had scared me quite a bit when I first realized it. After a trip to the ER to make sure everything was okay, we found out it was because of where my incision is, and that it is very normal for any type of abdominal surgery with a side incision. The feeling is slowly coming back, and I expect it will be fully back within 2 months.
Life is pretty much back to normal, and outside of the occasional physical reminder my life has not changed from before my surgery.
I hope that if you are thinking of donating a kidney that you will find this encouraging, and please do leave a comment if you have any questions or concerns regarding life after donation (or the donation process itself).
Many thanks!
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