14months post-op and 4months pregnant

I'm starting on a new journey. I am pregnant with our first child, due June 2012. I've wanted to share this news here for quite a while, but I kinda figured I needed to tell my family and my boss before telling this world (as I know there is a bit of overlap).

I was a bit nervous when we first found out (heck, I still am - this is a big change!), as I had assumed that I would be high-risk, due to my surgery. According to my doctor I am not high risk! I am young (25yrs now), and quite healthy (as I had to be in order to donate) and thus I am at the higher end of normal risk, but still normal.
I have to say, this was a bit of a relief to find out! They will still keep an extra eye on my blood pressure and do a bit of extra monitoring but other than that they anticipate this being a normal and healthy pregnancy.

Being pregnant did bring to mind all of the risks they warned me about prior to surgery - the increased risk of pre-eclampsia, hypertension, pre-term labor, and low birth weight. What I have been thinking about is that this 'increased risk' took me from less than 1% chance to less than 3%. Which means that I have a 97% chance of no complications.

This is one of those things - it's one thing when being pregnant is an abstract thought of something that may happen at some undetermined point in the future, and another when that second line comes up on the pregnancy test.
Granted, I am still early in the pregnancy, and June is still 6 months away, but from where I stand now, if I could know what I know now back then, I would totally do it all over again. I am young, I am healthy, and the 3% chance is still not enough to balance out the good the my kidney has done for someone else (and their family!).

I know this might be silly, but I kinda figure that since all the organs get squished and pushed out of the way, having only one kidney gives this kid some extra room to grow/move around.

I will continue to come back to this blog, to share updates on life with one kidney, and to let you know how being pregnant with one kidney is going. If I haven't posted, chances are that means things are going so well I don't really have anything to report.

I know this is a new can of worms, so please let me know if you have any questions on life with one kidney, the surgery, recovery, and now how it is having an impact on this new journey. I don't think I am the only person to get pregnant with one kidney, but in this new digital age, I may be one of the few that is willing to blog about the experience. If you would like me to post more frequent updates, let me know as well - I'm happy to post if it will help someone out there.

How are you doing?

I've had several comments from people that are going through the process of donating (either to someone they know, or in a non-directed way). How are you doing? Have you had your surgery yet? How are the tests going?
If you've had your surgery, how are you recovering? Was it what you expected it to be? How is the recipient (if known)?
Have you had any challenges or bumps along the road?
What has life been like for you? Including the reactions you have gotten from friends and family? Was it different post-op as compared to pre-op? I know it was for me!

I would love to hear how things are going with you.
It's been almost 7 months since my surgery, and life is great. It's very much back to the way it was before and some days I hardly think about it. All in all, life is great - and I have heard the recipient is still doing great.

Thanks again for reading and commenting - you guys are one of the reasons I started this blog to being with.

Update

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.

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!

Life Goes On

For whatever the reason may be, I started googling "living with one kidney" and I found this fantastic testimonial of a woman who had her kidney removed when she was 7, and is about to turn 70. If you feel so inclined, please check it out. I found it renewed my spirit in the sense that living with one kidney is not that different than living with two. Granted, there is some extra attention that should be paid to your health, but most of what you should do are things that you should be doing regardless of your kidney status - drink lots of water, eat healthy, get regular exercise.

This week is 9 weeks since my surgery and life is back to normal. I'm still catching up at work, but thats more of a product of being off for two months than anything. Nothing is different in my daily life now as compared to pre-surgery. And I think that is a really good thing. My wonderful husband and I are talking about starting a family (when it is safe to do so) and are looking to the future with all the hope and optimism we have always had.


For those who have been reading this who are thinking of doing it and wondering what life would be like after, know that you have to be very healthy to be able to donate, and thus already have good habits. Post-op, you just need to keep up those good habits. It's really that simple.
For those going through the donation process right now, I can say that I know it is a long process with never ending tests (that don't necessarily end post-op - but more on that later), but thinking about the time that it took to do what I did, I can say that it was all worth it. And life goes on, as it always has. One day at a time.

Dealing with the Scars

I know that I should love my scars, they represent a wonderful thing that I did and are relatively small. But, I don't. I am very aware of them and the way they look, and have purchased a scar-diminishing gel to help reduce their appearance. I'm not the type of girl that goes around showing off her stomach or anything like that, but I did realize the other day that there will always be the 'scar factor' to consider when doing anything such as going swimming, having exposed skin for whatever reason... and I'm not overly comfortable with that. I mean, I don't like feeling like when I go swimming I should wear a 1piece to cover the scars regardless of if that is what I would choose regularly or not. And I know that I shouldn't be ashamed of my scars, but I do have to admit I am body conscious to begin with and this just adds another layer to that.

Right now as the scars are very new, I feel like if they were to be seen, they would invite a lot of questions, and again, I am a very private person when it comes to talking about my surgery, so I'm not very interested in deflecting questions or looks. So, what I'm doing is trying this diminishing gel in hopes that the scars will fade and eventually you will hardly be able to see them at all. Thankfully, the surgeon was very, very good and they are minimal and healing very well, but I want them gone. I mean, I am a young woman, and scars are permanent.

Here's hoping the gel works, and especially since the scars are so new, that they fade fast and soon no one would be able to tell.

Back at Work

8 weeks after my surgery was January 21st, 2011. January 24th I returned to work. I went back full-time, with no provisions or accommodations, but to be fair, I didn't really need any. I wouldn't have minded going back a week early and doing part-time for the first week to sort of ease back into it, but full time worked as well - sort of a jump back in with both feet.

How does it feel to be back? Physically - exhausting. As much as I had a bit of a regular schedule the last little bit (I was going to bed at the same time as my husband who had to work in the morning, thus it was a reasonable hour), I still wasn't getting up before 930ish (or to be fair, functioning before that time). Thus, getting up and being at work at 8am has been a big adjustment.  I have a desk job, so the physical demands of the job aren't high, but I didn't realize the impact of having to sit (without being able to lay down or nap) for hrs until I went back. Monday night, I went to bed almost an hour after I got home, I was that exhausted. Now that its been a week (and it did get easier by the end of the week), I am more used to the early mornings and do have energy at night.

The mental side of it is a whole different story. Mentally, was I ready to go back? I was starting to struggle to fill my days - you would think that the second month when I am able to get up and move and actually do things would be the best, but at the same time, that was also when I realized that everybody I know has a job and can't get together during the day. There was no one to go for coffee with, lunches were on a lunch break and had a set end-time, and everyone had things to do. Everyone except me. I spent a lot of alone time this last month, but I did get out as much as I could. Which meant I drank a lot of coffee. (I would go for walks and I would go too far so I would have to stop for a coffee to recover for a bit, or even just wait for my hubby to get off work and pick me up on his way home.) Mentally, I was used to a lot of time alone, which I hadn't realized I had gotten so used to. It was my schedule, my music, my time. But going back to work meant I had 8hrs a day around other people which was almost as exhausting as the physical side. It was kind of nice being around other people and having a purpose to my day, but re-learning to work on someone elses' schedule and on their task list has been hard.

Of course the other part of returning to work is the fact I've been off for two months, and the world didn't stop while I was gone. Getting back in the loop, caught up of projects and dealing with new hires has not been as easy as I would have liked. To be fair, my company changed structure and my job during this time, so there was a basketful of changes to get used to, including working in my new position.

At work, only my boss knows about my surgery, the other (new) staff only know that I was off for surgical leave for two months. I've told them it was abdominal surgery as that explains a bit without getting into too much detail, but I have discovered that I am rather private about this. I only want people to know who I have a certain level of a relationship - people that I trust. New people in my life, they don't need to know. It is none of their business and maybe if I get to know them better I might tell them, but I don't overly see that happening. My life is my life, and there are some things that are better left private.

My husband has told me that its a bit of an adjustment for him as well (the fact that I'm back at work). I'm not always home when he gets home, which means less time together - which we both miss. My job hours varied this last week as I had a few early morning, earlier than his mornings, and thus we are re-learning how to work within each others schedules. He also commented on my energy level in the evenings. Previously, he was my main source of company/entertainment and I always perked up when he got home. Now, I have been around people (and their music) all day, and I am quieter and seeking alone time at night. That part is very weird for both of us to get used to.

All in all, I am happy to be back. It makes the days go by fast, and it gives me something to do. I love my job and what my company does - working for a non-profit is very rewarding. But, I'm not going to lie, if there had been a way to get an extra week in there, that would have been awesome.

Who Knows... And Who Doesn't

One of the interesting parts of my wonderful husband's Christmas Party is that I was confronted with my surgery. What I mean by that is among the glittering trees decorated by designers and his cocktail attired coworkers, I came to find out that my surgery was not something between him and I after all. Rather, when explaining to his boss that he needed time off to accompany me for surgery, some wires got crossed and the next thing I know apparently the entire Sr Management Team from his company knew that I had donated a kidney. Apparently the only part that didn't come out was that it was an anonymous donation.

It was super wonderful, I'm standing around having a cran-soda (to not make it apparent that I wasn't drinking at a cocktail function, which I would normally be all over) and the wife of my husband's best friend (who is the second of 3 top guys at my husband's firm) starts asking me about my kidney and how my cousin was doing. I was a little shocked. In fact I believe my exact response was "What? Excuse me, but what? How do you know about that? How much do you know? Where did you find this out?" A rapid fire string of questions. I was caught totally off guard. Normally, when I know I will be telling people about this, its something that I initiate, and I have the conversation somewhat planned out. This, this was different. I didn't start this. It wasn't my doing that spread it around. I had no idea how to react. After a few briefly uncomfortable moments I excused myself from the conversation to try and find my husband to see what had happened, and low and behold, it happens again: "Hey, by the way, awesome that you donated a kidney," Similar response from me.
Although I did say to all these people that it wasn't something I wanted to talk about, I had 2, needed one and so I gave the other away. I let them continue with the notion that I had given to my cousin, I didn't really feel like talking about it.

The one thing that happened from this is that I became more open to talking about it. I did find that people's reactions before surgery and after are vastly different. Before people thought it was their right to tell me what I should  and should not do; a surprising number of people tried to talk me out of it. After, I only got positive reactions.

I started telling the rest of my family, my brother, aunt and uncle, as well as some very close family friends. I told a few more of my friends, as well as some people that asked about my surgery. In some ways I found it easier to tell people than to explain why I wasn't at work (I'm not a big fan of lying), and why I was moving around like an old lady.

Talking about it was freeing as well. I didn't have to hide any pain or discomfort, try to pretend certain activities held no interest when I really just didn't have the energy for them, or explain why I was talking certain pills and liked to nap a lot.
And when asked about why I simply say "have two, need one." And yes, if they do ask, I would do it all over again.

As for who doesn't know, other than my parents-in-law, the in-laws don't know, nor do a lot of people in my work circle. My little sister knows I had a kidney removed, but not that it was donated. Most of my immediate family knows, as do close friends, and that is how I would like to keep it, at least for now. Although, this is not set in stone. I am not out advocating for organ donation or anything like that, I am simply telling a few people what is going on in my life, as it is a big part of my life, and waiting until I am fully comfortable with these people knowing before moving on.

I do find that people look at me a little differently when they know, and I'm not a fan of that at all. Which is why there are some people who I don't plan on telling at all. For example, I don't tell people that press the issue. If a friend is asking some follow up questions from my standard statement "I'm on surgical leave" then I provide tidbits of information based on their questions, but if they don't ask, I don't tell. Then, there are the other people that knew I was going for surgical leave (particularly one woman who shares our office space) and kept pressuring me for details (not because she overly cares what it is, but because she doesn't like not knowing). She even went so far as to tell me that "I am beautiful just the way I am, and I don't need to change anything." Right. It was quite funny when I did pop back into the office for a quick visit and she was there, she kept checking me out to see if she could see what it is that I had done. Nope, boobs still the same size, as is butt and belly. Then what was it? - I could see the questions radiating from her eyes. I finally threw her a bone - abdominal surgery. Kinda made me laugh though.

I will admit, it was a bit of a relief to talk about it with some people.  I mean, this was a very major part of my life, and to lie about it and keep it hidden was not easy for me. It informed so much of my daily life that I left I was unable to really participate in much of life because I didn't want to give away what happened, nor did I want to lie. So telling people made life a lot easier, as well as making activities more enjoyable - I could stop and take all the breaks I wanted.


It was that fateful Christmas Party that started all of this rolling, but I have to admit, other than the fact that some people who I would never have told know, it wasn't that bad of a thing. So, what about you?? What has sharing your decision and/or your recovery been like? Positive? Negative? Did the word spread like wildfire or was it something you were in charge of (I asked my family to let me be the one to share the news, and they were all very respectful of my decision).

Week 2

Week two (of being home post-op) began with my husband's Christmas Party as part of a corporate weekend retreat.

We were both quite looking forward to this event as it was at a beautiful hotel and it was a nice weekend away. However, I don't think we factored in quite how taxing it would be on me. For starters, packing was a strain. The majority of my pain (and medication) was a result of doing things I shouldn't and overdoing it. Bending, lifting, twisting, standing up and sitting down then standing up then sitting down (repeat) were all things that did me in. These simple acts could easily wear me out, and packing is full of bending, lifting, twisting, reaching etc. That and the ensuing car ride made it a long ride - I was still sensitive to every bump in the roads, and being winter, there were a few. What I would have done differently is brought my Bunny Earl with me to put between the seatbelt buckle and my body - the consistent pressure was not comfortable after the first five minutes of being in the car.

I think my issue was I was underestimating how taxing healing really is on the body. Just because I hadn't done anything other than get up off the couch a handful of times, doesn't mean I wasn't exhausted at the effort and in a bit of pain. The pain wasn't really too bad, all in all, but it was worse when I did physical things I shouldn't.

The Christmas party was spread over two nights, and it was here that I was able to notice something I never had before: phantom pains related to digestion. I will admit I had phantom pains before this, however I attributed those to my body getting used to one kidney and learning not to send anything to Earl for processing. This, however, was different. I could feel a phantom pain on my left side within 20-40mins of eating/drinking less that ideal substances. Example: I got a twinge about half an hour after eating a batch of salty fries, or having more than 1 glass of wine. I noticed 'fake' food (junk food), foods with a high concentration of sodium, and alcohol would trigger these pains. They didn't typically last very long, but it was a bit of an internal jab reminding me that this early on I needed to be a bit more careful with my diet.

In Week 2, I slept a ton. I was on my own at home, and thus getting water, in and out of bed, up off the couch, showering and dressing, all these simple tasks that I had been doing before were more draining now as I had to do more for myself which typically required more movement, and thus I was exhausted at the simple things. For walking I could manage about 5 blocks without feeling anything major, but after that I really did notice my body was just not ready for that kind of work, it was still doing too much inside. My incisions were still very tender to the touch and tight fitting clothes did not go over well at all, nor as I found out, did pantyhose.

As I posted in Week 1, being alone is hard, and I was able to notice that more so in retrospect as in Week 1 I had my Father In Law and in Week 2, after the Christmas Party, I did not. I would reccommend magazines for Week 2 - books can be a bit overwhelming, I didn't really feel up to reading anything, and tv can get old, real fast. Magazines are strong enough to hold attention, not mentally taxing, and something that is easy to pick up and put down between naps.

What did you find worked in this early stage of recovery? Any tips/tricks you would like to pass on? Any questions about the recovery process? Love to hear from you - your comments inspire me to keep blogging about this. Thanks!

The Healing Process

It has now been 5 weeks since surgery and I will be the first to admit they have not been an easy 5 weeks. Over the next week I will be posting on what the recovery process has been like and other aspects of my life that are directly related to surgery such as finding out that people found out about surgery when I have been very specific about keeping it private. For those that have been following my journey, I thank you for your time and patience. I will admit, part of the process was spending 14hrs a day online watching TV and movies, to the point where I didn`t want to be near a computer to post, hence the delay.

I am back, and will do my best to post with some regularity, and as always welcome any comments or questions. The comments have inspired me to return to the blog and continue posting about my experience.

Week 1
Short Summary: pain, drugs, loneliness.
I was amazed at how much every little thing took so much more effort. From standing up to getting in and out of a car (if I was up to going out), it hurt. The laproscopic incisions are on my left side and it felt like every time I moved I was using my abs, muscles that had been cut to allow for the tools. Hence the drugs. They gave my T3s when I left the hospital, a small prescription meant to help control the pain, but there wasn't supposed to be a lot of pain, and I suppose that would have held true had I been able to slow down and take it easy. I suck at that. Its one thing if people do things for me because they want to, its another if they do them because they have to. I didn`t like the have to part very much and thus would try and do things for myself. Not a good idea.

On Sunday my Father in Law came to stay with us for a few days. My husband had taken 2 weeks to travel for surgery with me, but needed to return to work. I was not in a place where I was okay to be alone, and thus my Father in Law came to stay. He arrived on Sunday and returned to him home on Wednesday. I must admit, having him there those first few days was so very important. First of all, I was not able to cook (for what little food I was eating, bend or reach, and most of all, I was bored. Already being back home for a few days, my hubby and I had passed the time watching TV and movies online, surfing the net, and generally hanging out in front of a computer screen. When the computer is your only source of entertainment for days on end, it can really get to a point where you want nothing to do with it. And that's what happened to me.
Thankfully, my Father in Law provided some great company - he makes a fantastic soup, was there to make sure I didn`t over do it on walks (my max was 3 blocks, round trip) and basically stop me from going insane. That's the thing, I couldn't walk very far at all, I mean, wearing denim was hard as my abdomen was still slightly distended from the CO2, and form fitting pants were painful. I`m not the type to hang out in public in sweats, so any outing was rare and short lived. I couldn`t walk, and the other thing that was interesting to learn is no driving for a month! Let me just say, the 3 blocks around my condo - not that interesting.
No walking, no driving, and over-saturation of being online. Thank goodness for company. It made all the difference in the world. My husband was still there of course, however I was sleeping when he left for work, he didn`t get home until 6ish and there was a loooonnnngggg day in there. I was trying not to sleep during the day because I wanted to be able to sleep at night, but sometimes that didn`t help either.
Just as having someone do things for me because they want to is different than if they have to, so is alone time. If I want it, great, but when its forced upon me because everyone is either at school or at work, or in a different city, the days can drag.When my Father in Law left, the remainder of the week was pretty lonely.

If I have any advice for anyone going through this: the first week after surgery when you are most limited in terms of ability and movement is almost as important, if not more so, to have someone there with you than the actual surgery itself. I could not have gone through surgery without my husband there with me, nor could I have gotten through that first week on my own. Also, don`t be afraid to ask for help. Simple things - the water pitcher in the fridge was low so I had to bend, and it was kinda heavy when full - thus I had to ask for water all the time. I fought back at first, trying to do things but I quickly realized the bravado wasn`t worth the subsequent pain. Ask for help. And be careful with the pain pills (more on that in Week 2).

Flying Home

We flew home on November 30th, a mere 5 days after surgery and here's the important points:
1. Wheelchairs are good. Trying to walk, no matter the size of the airport is not worth the pain it will cause later.
2. Medicate beforehand. I didn't, and it sucked. I only had T3s for the pain, and wouldn't recommend taking 2 as it makes me woozy, but 1 would have taken the edge off.
3. Earl came in handy. The hospital recommended I have a pillow or blanket between myself and the seat belt as a cushion and most airlines charge for these now, but Earl worked quite nicely. Not only did he provide comfort but the cushioning was greatly appreciated.
4. Wheelchairs. They are on the list twice for a reason.
5. A ride or a taxi, don't park at the airport. Airport parking involves walking, walking is not good at this stage. Chances are it's already been a long day with a lot of activity (especially if a certain dog gets out of your friend's house just as the cab arrives to take you to the airport and you have to chase him down before you can leave), and friends and taxis meet you at the curb which is a very good thing. Plus, they don't really let the wheelchairs out of the terminal building.
6. Rest. When you get home, just go straight to your wonderful warm, welcoming and comfortable bed and sleep.  You need it.

All in all, its good to be home, and flying was way better than driving. Could not have survived every bump in the winter roads even on the way home from the airport, let alone from another city.

Freedom! Discharge Day

I loved Day 3. First, I had oatmeal with brown sugar for breakfast, which was the closest thing to real food I'd had in days, and second I got out.
Here was my conversation with the surgeon who checked in with me first thing in the morning:
Him: "how are you doing?"
Me: "I would like a shower and I would like to go home, please"
Him: "alight then, we should be able to do that."
He took a look at my chart, saw that I was eating and moving well and got started on the paperwork.

My husband showed up shortly, when and filled the prescription for T3 with codeine for pain management, a nurse  took out my IV, and gave me a shower (I HATED not being able to wash myself - one of the reasons I wanted to go home), I got dressed in some loose fitting yoga pants and a sweater, and away we went.

Home at this point was my friend's house, he had very generously opened his home to us for the duration of our visit, and although there is no place like home, this was so much better than the hospital. 1, I didn't have someone bugging me every 4hrs to take my vitals. 2, I could pee without assistance. 3, I wasn't in a hospital with a room full of other patients, who I understand had their own issues, but at times were very noisy, and those times felt like they were always when I was trying to sleep. 4, I could wash myself (which granted I didn't do until the next day, but even knowing that I could made me so much happier).

Once at home I took 2 T3s and took a much needed nap. The simple activity of showering, walking from my room to the cab and then into the house was a bit much for me. I was exhausted.

This first day of freedom involved a few naps and not much more, even food-wise. I was/am still on mostly soups with some soft solids in them, nothing much more than that. So although the food did get better, we are still limited on what I can/should be eating. Lucky for me my husband is a pretty awesome cook, so when I am able to eat more, I know I'll be in good hands.

I P Freely

Day 2 brought about the removal of my catheter. Yay! I was super stoked about that. It happened shortly after waking up on Day 2, after a breakfast of OJ again. The nurse simple came and said that she was taking it out, I was laying on my back, she reached inside the waistband of my PJ pants, grabbed the tubing and it was out. Simple as that. No pain or discomfort (other than having someone reach into my pants). I was now at a stage where I pee freely.

Which wasn't actualy true. I still had an IV, and my IV was plugged in behind my bed. So everytime I had to pee, someone (my husband during the day, a nurse at night) had to some and unplug the machine for me. But, it was great to be up and moving around even just that tiny bit.

Speaking of being up and moving around, I was also able to start taking short walks down the hallway (assisted of course by my husband), holding on to my IV stand which I rolled somewhat awkwardly alongside of me. Being able to take these short walks meant my days were not spent exclusively in bed, and that was a joy in itself.

Earl was always waiting for me when I got back, and I say always like I had more than 2 walks, which I didn't. Those simple walks of 50 and 75ft were exhausting. As the doctors, nurses, and transplant coordinators had been telling me, this was major surgery and I was not to underestimate the stress it would place on my body. Which I totally had, and that was my own fault.

My midsection was still quite distended, apparently it can take some time for the CO2 to be fully absorbed by the body, but I was more used to it at this point in time.

Day 2 wasn't very interesting. Day 1 my hubby, Earl and myself watched Toy Story 3, and today we watched Toy Story 2. Of which I slept through most of it.
It was almost easier to sleep during the day than at night, not sure why, but it was.

The other highlight of Day 2 was ice cream. I was almost on full fluids, which they tried at first with some vanilla ice cream in the afternoon. It was tasty! And I handled it well so I was able to have more than just juice and broth for dinner, and even had chocolate ice cream for dessert. Food got a lot better on Day 2.

Post-Op Day 1

Hospitals are not great for sleeping, at all. Every 4hrs there was a nurse to take my vitals, and if that so happened to be during a few precious moments of sleep - oh well.

So Day1 started with a surgeon waking me up around 7am. He was a part of the team, but not my actual surgeon and thus I had never met him before. It amused me as people don't seem to understand why I did what I did. I have no connection with kidney disease, no connection with organ donation/transplant, I just decided to do it. He seemed baffled. He did take a quick look at the port sites and the incision (my 4 dots and a dash) and said that I was doing great and away he went.

I'm not overly sure what time things were going on during the morning, I was still pretty close with my morphine drip and that added a bit of a haze to everything. Breakfast for me was tea, orange juice, apple juice. Or that was what was served. I was only able to have the OJ, wasn't feeling very hungry.
One of the nurses washed me, which was an experience in itself. I am not a big fan of not being able to take care of myself, and not being able to wash myself was not fun. Plus, I am not a big fan of other people touching me, especially in all those places - even if its just to make sure I am clean. So I got a wash and was able to brush my teeth, which was super awesome. And I was able to put on PJ pants, which I cannot tell you how happy they made me. Finally my bum wasn't hanging out every time I rolled over! And I added some super soft socks as my feet have a tendency to be cold. I still had the compression stockings on as I was very sedentary and they help prevent clots, but they also helped keep me nice and warm. I couldn't put on a PJ top as I had my IV in and it didn't work with the sleeves. Which kinda sucked, but at least I was able to have pants despite the fact I still had my catheter in.

My husband arrived around 10am, visiting hours were from 12noon to 8pm, but the nurses did say he could come early if he wanted, but not before 10 as they had stuff to do. Which was true, I had 'eaten' breakfast and washed up after already meeting with a surgeon before he arrived. But it was so nice to see him. He always makes me smile.

In the early afternoon or late morning (again, not totally sure) one of the transplant coordinators came to see me. She brought flowers and a card from the recipient and their family. Apparently the recipient was doing great, creatine levels were down from the 600s to the 100s, which is huge, and it was like night and day for them. She said that quite often recipients have almost a grey pallor before surgery, and after they really get their colour back, which was a good sign, and this recipient was no exception.

To protect both myself and the recipient's anonymity, I won't share the contents of the card the wrote me, but I can tell you it made me cry. The recipient was a mother, father, son or daughter. They had a family. This person was now able to do things that mere days before they were unable to do. They had a future to spend with their loved ones that didn't involve 20hrs of dialysis a week. They thanked me for what I had done, for what it meant for their family and wished me a speedy recovery. Rereading the card now, it still has the power to bring tears to my eyes and lessen my pain. It was all worth it, plain and simple.

The rest of this first day was pretty uneventful, the only other thing to note was the physiotherapist came and had me stand up and take a few steps in place. I wasn't yet recovered enough to be walking, but standing was do-able. My meals were still clear fluids, so nothing really of note, and I didn't really 'eat' much as I had (and still have) very little appetite.

I kept the flowers my my bedside, the card in the drawer of my hospital table, and my Bunny Earl by my side at all times.

If this bunny had a green ribbon, it would be identical to Earl

A while back while waiting for an appointment I was texting my best friend and we decided to name my kidneys Earl and Pearl. Pearl being on the right, Earl on the left.  When my husband came to see me when I was first out of surgery, he came bearing a white bunny stuffed animal, and when we were thinking of names for him, my husband suggested Earl. Thus the recipient got Earl the kidney, and I have Earl the bunny.

This night, however, was not as uneventful. One of the side effects of morphine is nausea. Sometime during the middle of the night the nausea hit me like a freight train. It woke me from my sleep, I started pressing my call button for a nurse, and before they could even get there I was throwing up. It sucked. They wiped me up, gave me some gravol and a small dish for if it happened again. It did. Twice more. Each time worse than the last both in quantity of 'output' and in the retching which incidentally engages you abs which hurt my incisions. It was not a pleasant night. But, thankfully, it was the worst of my nights and really the only unpleasant part of my stay.

Donation Day - 4 Dots and a Dash

For whatever reason my husband's post(s) seem to have gotten lost in the abyss of the Internet and thus its taken a few days to get you all the insider information on what it was really like to have the surgery to give a kidney away.

At Home
Thursday morning we wake up pretty early, and by wake up I mean get out of bed, neither of us really slept much, and off I go to take my second anti-bacterial shower. This one leaves my skin feeling a touch itchy as its now a bit on the dry side, but I don't have much time to ponder this.


At the Hospital
We grab my 'overnight' bag, which in hindsight was completely over packed, and head off to the hospital. Upon arrival we do not go through admitting, rather we go straight to the floors as previously directed and they were waiting and ready for us. The nurses direct us into a room where I am told to change. My clothes, jacket and boots all go into clear plastic bags that get labeled with my information, and I put on the garb.

Dressing for Surgery
This was rather interesting as I had only expected a hospital gown and housecoat over top, which I did get, but also got white, thigh-high compression stockings with a hole at the ball of each foot (I'm assuming so they can check circulation). On top of those were hospital slippers, the thin paper ones that are more for sanitary reasons than anything.
Once I was all dressed and ready the surgeon came in to have me sign a few final forms authorizing the procedure, any other necessary life-saving procedures, as well as a possible blood transfusion should the need arise (which they didn't think it would, but just wanted to cover the bases).  Once the forms were all signed we left the stuff that was to go to my room (a nurse would deliver it at some point in the day) and walked to the surgical unit.

Surgical Unit
Here we were taken into a curtained-off area (similar to a ward with lots of beds and only curtains for privacy) where we sat and a few nurses came to introduce themselves and ask a few final questions (most of which they had asked when we first got there, but the duplication was a safety thing, so didn't bother me) - when was the last time I had anything to eat, do I have any allergies etc. The anestelogist introduced himself, as well as a few others on the team. It was about 8am when I said goodbye to my husband and went into the room.
The room had a table in the center that almost looked like a cross- the main part for my body, the cross part for my arms. When I got up on the table I needed to make sure not to lay down on the hospital gown as clearly they would need access to what was underneath it. I'm laid down and they start with the needles. I'm not a fan at all, but apparently the first set of drugs was to relax me, and the second set was to put me to sleep. I was totally okay with both sets. My view from the table was whomever was in the immediate vicinity and two of those large, round OR lights. Not scary, but a little unnerving.I didn't spend a lot of conscious time in this room, so I don't have much more to say about it.

The Surgery
Here's what I do know about what happened in that room and in surgery. Laproscopic surgeries typically tend to be a bit longer than open surgeries as they are working in a confined space, by mine was only 2hrs in and out. I could tell that my surgeon had done this many times before. While I was out, they did put in a catheter, IV, and of course took out my left Kidney (named Earl). During this time my husband was waiting in one of the surgical waiting rooms on the same floor as the one we went to upon arrival that morning; after the surgery was done the surgeon came out and gave him an update as to how it went, which was perfectly.

4 Dots
I have 4 laproscopic sites on my left abs, 1 beside my bellybutton, 1 a bit higher and to the left of my naval, right below my ribs, 1 in line with my bellybutton but almost on the side of my body, and one down from the one below my ribs. They vary from 5mm to 12mm in size (I'm not sure which ones are which to be honest). If I take the heel of my right hand, place it on my stomach near the bellybutton incision, at the tip of my fingers is the one on the far side of my body, at my thumb is the one below my ribs, and at the midpoint on my pinky finger is the lowest dot.  Not a large area, but hopefully that gives you an idea of how they are spread out.

The Dash
The incision, is almost where my left leg joins up with my torso. Almost right on the crease of my leg/body. They do the incision here for cosmetic purposes, its easier to hide the scar. The incision is about the length of my pointer finger, 4inches or so.

Recovery Room
Apparently I was in recovery for about 2 hours, mostly still under anesthetic. I remember the nurse (male) waking me up with a warm washcloth on my face, and being very cold. They grabbed me lots of warm blankets and after what seemed like a few brief minutes of checking my vitals, took me to my room.

My Room
I didn't know most of this when I first got there, but my room was a 4 patient room in the surgical ward (the recipient was in a different ward to help protect anonymity). I was on a morphine drip to help manage the pain, and I had this handy little button, much like what I assume the ones they use on Jeopardy are like, to administer some when I felt the need. It would of course lock me out if I tried to get too much in too short a period of time, but I didn't really notice much of that the first day.

I was feeling pretty happy, I knew it had gone well which is what I wanted, and a little loopy from all the drugs running through my system. All of this I had expected. What I hadn't expected was how distended my abdomen was going to be from the CO2 they pumped into me during surgery. I looked like I was 5 months pregnant. Or at least it felt that way. My entire midsection was pretty tender.

I was on clear fluids as a diet, and still had both the catheter and IV. The catheter served 2 purposes. 1, to monitor my 'output' to make sure there wasn't blood in the urine or anything like that, and 2, there was no way I would be able to get up and pee as often as I would have needed to give how much fluid they were pumping through me via the IV.
Hospital food, not that great. Mind you, I wasn't exactly getting the best selection at this time, and even then could only manage a bit of orange juice and a few sips of vegetable broth.

I spent most of the day on my back, and had to get the nurses to assist me to roll onto my right side the first time as I was that tender. Of course I was still wearing that ever so lovely hospital gown, and thus when I was on my sides during the night, I constantly felt like my butt was hanging out, even when I knew it was covered.

I was so drugged up that day, and stayed pretty consistent with the use of the morphine, that although they woke me up every 4hrs to take my vitals (temperature, blood pressure, pulse, O2 saturation), I was out of it. Not saying that I was sleeping, that didn't happen much at all, but I was pretty out of it.

During the night my blood pressure did drop pretty low, 93/45 or something like that. It happened at the midnight vitals check but they didn't do anything that I could tell, other than to keep a pretty close eye on me. Apparently morphine can lower blood pressure, which combined with my typical blood pressure which was on the lower side of normal, resulted in the drop. Thankfully the next time they roused me to check my vitals it was a bit higher.

My dear husband was by my side all afternoon, having made call to the small group of people who know during my time in the recovery room. From his side, apparently those 'guest' chairs in the hospital rooms are not that comfortable, and the entertainment that we brought was mostly for him as I was too out of it for any of it.

Thus ends DDay.

Anti-Bacterial Shower - Night Before Surgery

 The last two days have been... waiting. Its been too bloody cold out to do much or go anywhere, thus we've just been hanging out and seeing the odd movie (or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 as that was one that I wanted to see before surgery). The days have felt like we are waiting, and as its gotten closer and closer to D-Day (Donation Day), the air has become thick with anticipation. This has been 11 months in the making and it's finally here.

Tonight we got my bag for the hospital all together - pyjamas, slippers, toiletries, yoga pants, laptop, charger, phone, phone charger, books etc. Simple enough as most of it hadn't gotten unpacked in the first place, but still something weird to do. I've never been in the hospital overnight before, so this has been a whole new experience.

The final thing to do tonight was shower with a special anti-bacterial sponge. Two of these were given to me on Monday at the Pre-Op clinic, and I was given special instructions. One I was to use the night before surgery (tonight) and the other the morning of. I am to enter the shower as normal, wash my hair, face, whatever, then use the sponge to first wash the surgical area (left abdomen) then the rest of my body. The sponge had 3 parts to it. 1 was a soft sponge part that looked like it had been doused in some sort of liquid that had a faint red-ish colour, which I'm assuming was the anti-bacterial agent. The second part was a clear scrubber (attached to the sponge) with fine bristles that I was to use to scrub off the lather generated by the sponge part. The third was this light blue plastic thing that was sticking out of the soft sponge part. It came out and was a tool for cleaning under the nails. They weren't joking when they said they wanted all of me nice and clean.
It didn't smell like anything, and lathered mostly like regular soap, although some of the lather had a reddish-orange colour to it, It didn't colour my skin or anything like that, which was nice. And the bristles were soft and pliable, they didn't hurt at all, it felt like a very gentle exfoliation.

Not a big deal or anything like that, but was interesting to know I would need to do this as in all the research I did, I didn't find anything about a pre-op shower.

As for D-Day, my lovely husband will be blogging for me with his insights on how it went, any useful information he can find, and what the initial stages of the recovery process are like. I'll come back to the blog when I am coherent, as apparently this make take a day or so as I will be on some pretty strong drugs. I want to keep this as real-time as possible, and I hope that my posts as well as my wonderful husband's will help in whatever way. If there is anything specific that you would like either of us to take special note of and blog about, please comment and we will do our best to provide the answers you are looking for.

Many thanks for all of your support, and I am looking forward to blogging again soon.

What does Anonymous mean to you?

I've had a couple comments/questions about this blog, anonymity, and why I am doing it the way I am. I  want to take a moment and address these as they are quite valid.

When I was looking for information on Kidney Donation, what it would be like and the process, I found some clinical information and some short paragraphs on the experience but nothing real time or detailed. Some of the accounts I found were from a few years ago and I wasn't sure if technology or the procedure had changed and what it would mean for me. I didn't find anything that gave me a real understanding of what the process was like as it was happening. Some recollections were lacking in detail, or focused almost exclusively on the nature of the act and the life it gave to the recipient. Please understand, all of this information is valuable in its own way, but I was looking for something more. And I didn't find it. So I decided to chronicle my journey, in hopes that if there is someone out there looking to donate a kidney, that they would find this information valuable.

I know that the Kidney community is a small one, and please understand in no way shape or form am I trying to jeopardize any one's identity, including the recipient's. I have told very few people what I am doing and may tell more people when I am ready, but am not yet ready yet. I know that there are ways to find out who I am, so I ask for your understanding. Remaining anonymous is a choice that I've made, and I ask that you respect my decision, not only for me, but for the recipient. Their life is a part of this as well.


This blog has also become a personal experience for me. Its become a place for me to talk about the mental and emotional journey this has been, in addition to the physical one. As my husband is starting to realize, the blog itself has become a part of the process.

Pre-Op Day

I am super excited. Made it this far, have my hubby with me (although that almost didn't happen due to a slight mix up with the flights and the reservations), have a place to stay and a jeep to drive around town. Thankfully the wonderful home we are staying in is quite close to the hospital which again makes life just a bit easier.

This lovely winter morning held a 10:30am appointment at the hospital for a few final tests and some pre-op stuff (more on that in just a moment). Of course there was a touch of confusion at admitting as I am out of province and therefore things like health care numbers are treated differently. Add in the fact that I don't have a current health care card in my married name (its been ordered several times and has never arrived) yet the coverage is, and it was a solid 25minutes to get through admitting.

Once that was dealt with off to the Testing Center we went. Spot urine test and a final cross match. Lovely 12 vials of blood (and for some reason unbeknowst to me, she did not use a butterfly and thus each vial managed a touch of pain and increased my hatred of needles). I keep hoping each blood test will be my last, yet I never seem to get that lucky.

From here we went up to the Pre-Op clinic where we watched a video on breathing, coughing, and leg exercises. Was beneficial. Apparently there are risks of pneumonia and whatnot if you don't clear the fluid and secretions (which can pile up if you lay in one position for too long, especially on your back). The video also showed how to support the incisions with a pillow or cushion when coughing. Good to know there is a wrong way to cough. The leg exercises are particularly important too. They help with circulation and post-op mobility. Simple exercises like pointing toes 10 times, making circles with our toes 10 times in each direction, at least once per hour while awake. Thankfully my husband was there and I know that he will take care of me and make sure I do the exercises because knowing me, I won't remember.

From the video we sat and chatted with a Nurse. We went over some specifics regarding the surgery (what to bring to the hospital, what not to bring, ie  bring slippers, leave jewellery or valuables etc), as well as a rather intimate questionnaire. Similar to donating blood, these questions are to ensure that not only am I healthy, but that the recipient is getting a healthy kidney with no surprises. As for the actual procedure, I will arrive at the clinic the morning of the 25th, they will admit me directly and I will  get changed, we will go to a pre-op room where they put me under and insert a catheter. From there into the OR and its a 3-4 hr procedure, a touch longer than if they were doing open surgery. Post-op I go into recovery for about an hour where the nurses will check my vitals and make sure I am good to go. From there I will be moved to my ward and my dear hubby will be allowed to see me. I'll be quite out of it and likely won't remember much.

They will have me up and walking the second day and I'm not to get up without a nurse handy (even if my hubby is there) the first few times. One thing they were quite adamant about its the pain post-op. I will be on a morphine drip and need to make sure that I am regulating my pain as if it goes unchecked or I let it get too bad, then it takes longer for me to come back to a good place. Communication with the nurses is also key. They need to know if something, anything, isn't feeling right. If I'm nauseated, if I hurt, am hot, cold, itchy whatever, I need to be telling the nurses as these may be side effects and we need to deal with them ASAP. Gotcha. Again, my husband was sitting there with me through all of this and rest assured, if I don't tell the nurses, he will. He is pretty worried about me not because he is scared, but because we are each other's world and he doesn't want anything to happen to me. I will be well taken care of, which I love.

If you can't tell, it was a long day at the hospital. From meeting the nurse and going over her checklist, we then met with the transplant coordinator for this center, and went over a few things. The most interesting one was the organ interview. Its a generic interview they have for all different types of donations, including cadaver donations. So my relationship to the organ is 'self'. That one made us smile. Again, a few more intimate questions, but nothing too scary. The interview with her lasted 30minutes or so, then a quick visit with the social worker, more so she had a face for the name and we were done.
At least, we were done at the hospital. The surgeon's office was not in the hospital and our appointment with him was later in the afternoon so a quick bite of lunch and a parking battle later and we got to meet the one who will be cutting me open. Well, not open. 4 'ports' for instruments and 1 incision on the lower left side of the physical extraction. Oh! Totally awesome, as we go to sit at their desk, my MRI is up and I actually get to see my insides, the veins and arteries. Very awesome (I'm a nerd like that). It was a quick visit, but was nice at least seeing this person before surgery. Not seeing them would scare me a bit I think.

Then we were done with the appointments. When we got home it was on the phone to book a flight home for my husband. Thankfully it was pretty easy and we are all taken care of. Returning home on the 30th, together. Then it was time to relax and I must admit it was nice.

So from here I have 2 days off, no appointments no tests, just hang out time in this beautiful city, then Thursday morning is the big day.

That's where we are as of today, and I do hope that if there is anyone that is reading this wanting to know what the experience is like, that this helps. If not, please comment and let me know what you would like to know more about. For those of you who have been through this, if there is anything you would like to add from your personal journey, would love to hear from you.

Its all coming together! Many Thanks...

These last few weeks have been stressful to say the least. There have been so many details to get sorted out as I near my last day of work (tomorrow), as we prepare to fly to the city of surgery (November 21st) and have my Father-in-law come stay with us for a week to help take care of me. Add getting a Physical done to the mix and its safe to say I have been busy.

Up until late this morning we still hadn't had any confirmation that we were going to be able to fly with Hope Air. Then that fateful call came and the news could not be better. My husband and I are flying out this Sunday and have our return flights all booked (assuming recovery goes smoothly). I am grateful to the social worker for all of her time and effort in arranging this, and to Hope Air for the wonderful service they provide.

Work. Its been crazy busy. I have had a temp in the office for the last three days that I have been training as she will be covering me for the 8 weeks I am off. She's wonderful, really is. Smart, and able to think and use common sense to make sure things run smoothly. Its been a bit of a challenge as being the only full time employee means that my job has a lot of components and we only have 3 days of training. I think she might be a little overwhelmed, but I do have 2 days before surgery next week when she will be on her own and able to reach me with any questions that she has. Of course this also means that I have a lot of tasks that I can't hand off as they need my special touch and need to get done before I leave tomorrow. My desk needs to be totally cleaned off and organized (a much larger task than the simple sentence may lead you to believe it is) and the list of tasks to do seems to be growing the more I go through my stacks of paper. I think its safe to say that I will be working late tonight.

Which doesn't leave a lot of time for getting my home in the condition I want to leave it in. I am normally a fairly tidy person, but when we have guests I like to make sure the place is spotless. I typically would do this a day or so before the guest arrives to ensure that I don't undo all of my hard work. The plan was to do a good section of the deep scrubbing tonight but both my hubby and I are working late. This in itself is not too much of an issue, but it does mean that the remainder of our weekend will be spent cleaning instead of enjoying the mobility that might take me a while to regain post-op.

As I mentioned, this is something that we would normally do our best to get started on much sooner, especially with areas that we don't interact with on a daily basis (ie the guest room); however as the best laid plans often do, this went by the wayside. I was contacted by the hospital where the surgery will be and told I needed a full physical and family history. Great. I called my doctor's office. They are booking into December and there was no way they could squeeze in a full physical. Which meant I needed to find a walk-in clinic that would do one. Again, not an easy task at all. I received the call Tuesday around 3pm basically saying if I didn't have a physical I wasn't going to have surgery. So despite a slightly busy work week I pretty much dropped everything that I was doing and started making calls. I was fortunate enough to find a clinic that does physicals on walk-in, and away I went. It apparently has been longer than I thought since I had my last physical as I didn't know they made you strip. Ya... down the just undergarments, and even then, only on the bottom. I wasn't exactly anticipating this and thus when the doctor gave the instructions to strip and sit on the bed thingy I was in a touch of shock. If I'm going to have to get naked, I prefer a bit more notice. Anyways, made it through, got the paperwork and thus ended what I thought was going to be a quiet night packing and cleaning.

One of the good things that happened this week was my mom sent me a surgery care package. Since she can't be there with us, and works during the week she wanted to do something to let me know that she was thinking of me. She sent 2 pairs of slippers (1 for the hospital - as I was advised to throw them out when I leave due to the germs they will have picked up) and another for recovery at home as I am prone to cold feet. There were yoga pants (2) and sweat pants, both with very loose waistbands that can be tightened with drawstrings as opposed to elastics as I have been advised that I will be tender after surgery and will struggle with waistbands. She also sent PJs for the hospital (these will be laundered thoroughly instead of discarded post-op) with a great waistband. My mom loves me very much and this was very, very much appreciated. In fact, its going to be 90% of what I pack for the trip as its pretty much everything I need, clothing-wise that is.

I'm busy, and a touch stressed (I haven't been sleeping the last 4 nights) but not worried about surgery. My husband and my mother take care of that for me, and a lot of the stress has been alleviated today with the confirmation of Hope Air flights.

And I know that I am making a bigger deal out of cleaning my place to within an inch of its life, but it really doesn't take that long and being the lovely procrastinator that I am, I have a feeling that even if I didn't have an impromptu physical or a late night of work that it would still get done this weekend.

The good news is its all coming together. My temp has done wonderful during training and knows where to go for help if she needs it, the tasks I have left to do before I go will not take me as much time as I think they will (as soon as I get my procrastination out of the way and just focus), my mom's wonderful care package took the packing stress away as I now have everything I need, and we have our flights. We have a place to stay with a good friend of mine who, in a more generous gesture than I could have dreamed about has also offered up a vehicle to use while in town, and family to help take care of me when my husband has to go back to work. I'm very lucky that this is all coming together so beautifully and I don't need to stress about anything anymore. Maybe, if I get enough done today, I will even be able to sleep tonight. Now that would be a real treat.

Another day, Another Blood Test

I hate needles. Like, a lot. Ugh. *shudder*.

I thought last week when I went and had fresh blood pulled for the cross-match that I was done, but no such luck. That blood went to the hospital I am going to be donating at for a cross match, which went well, and today's blood stayed at my local hospital for another cross match. Apparently the double check is making sure that each lab gets the same results. My local hospital's policy is that they do a final cross match 1 week before surgery, but apparently the hospital I am going to be donating at won't need that as we just did a confirmation.

So, hopefully I am done with needles until the 22nd. The 22nd is the day of my pre-op clinic, which is essentially a full day of tests to confirm that I am healthy and that all the information they have is the latest and greatest. Chest Xrays, EKGs, etc. I can do that.

I did have a chance to talk with my coordinator just after the test today and we talked about some of the specifics relating to pre and post op. Again, the different hospitals do things a bit differently, but she did give me a general idea of what to expect.

My surgery is on a Thursday, so I will either be admitted on Wednesday or even Thursday morning. The surgery is typically first thing, and I will be pretty out of it right after due to the anesthetic. Apparently most patients report nausea after surgery due to the drugs and anesthetic, and they pump my abdomen full of CO2 to give the surgeons room to work so I will be really bloated. I will be in the hospital until my bowels start working, but apparently will also have a catheter in. Yay. The good news is they put that in just before surgery when I am already out. Apparently they need to monitor what is coming out as well as what is going it.

From the sounds of things, once I am out of the hospital I am good to return home and will have my 2week post-op appointment here.

As for what life is like immediately post-op, there is no lifting (nothing over 10lbs), no bending, lots of rest, and it will take a while to get my appetite back. I will need to make sure that I am walking and not in bed all the time but still resting when I need to. I can do that.
Apparently it is 3 holes for the surgery, 1 for the camera, 1 for the instruments,  and 1 for the kidney removal. Oh! I totally forgot. Apparently it is a urologist who will be doing the surgery, a doctor who deals with nothing but the kidneys and kidney surgery. Just another one of those slightly different things, but still worth noting. Anyways, back to the holes. The one for kidney extraction is right by my bellybutton, and the others are one on each side. Apparently these take up to 6 weeks to heal (they heal from the inside out), which is one of the reasons why bending and lifting are out of the question for the first few weeks.

It will also take a while to get my appetite back and also to be on solid foods. I'm okay with that. My father-in-law (FIL) will be coming to stay with us for about a week when we get back (which might be sooner than expected) and the good news is that he makes fantastic soup. If I'm not up for solid foods or anything like that, at least I will have tasty soup waiting for me. Plus he is great company and since its getting cold out I will be pretty much confined to the condo. Will be really nice having someone there so I don't go stark raving mad because I'm alone too much.


I think I can handle everything thats going on, and know that between my husband and my mother I don't need to worry, they are doing enough of that between themselves.
I'm excited, I really am. Just not for needles. I really hate them. Hate everything about them. I'm not a fainter, but I do need to stay distracted when they take blood or it does make me light-headed and weak.
So here's my question to you: What was life like for you immediately post-op? What did it feel like? Any tips/tricks for making it easier? If you got a kidney, could you feel the change when you woke up? I'd love to hear about any/all experiences, the more I read the better prepared I am for my own.
Thanks!