Hospital Gown, House Coat, and my Red High Heels

Last night was my MRI to look at the veins and arteries of my kidneys to help the surgeons determine which kidney to remove (which one will be easiest to remove) and to make sure both kidneys were functioning at a level which will enable my body to function with only 1.
So here's how it went. The test was scheduled for 630pm, I was to arrive at the hospital by 6, and was to fast for 6hrs prior.
Upon arrival I am given a questionnaire to fill out mostly pertaining to prior surgeries and any instance where I would have metal in my body. Thankfully I don't have a pacemaker or screws in any bones, and the tattoo that I have is over 3 weeks old (its 8 years old actually). I fill out the form, and get to change into the hospital gown, and robe. Everything had to come off except underwear and shoes. Of course I managed to still look fashionable in my red high heels. Or at least as fashionable as one can look in such a situation.
I do admit it was a joy having to wait in a general waiting room with friends and family of other patients while in such a fashionable outfit, instead of a waiting room normally reserved for patients who have had to change.
Needless to say the wait felt rather long, due in part to the fact they didnt call me for my test until 7pm.
At this point a technician went over the form I had just filled out ensuring I fully understood everything and walking me through the MRI.
I laid down on the "bed" and the tech went vein hunting. My veins are not easy to find on the best of days, and they like to hide when I am not well hydrated. Being as I had been fasting for over 6hrs, it took 2 techs 2 arms to get a vein that worked. Did I mention I hate needles? Super fun.
On the "bed" I have a needle in my arm, some cage-esque device over my abdomen, and am strapped in. The vein on my left side had a tube which would carry the contrast into my body, and it was hooked around my left fingers to keep it in place. In my right hand I had a panic balloon in case it was too much and I needed to stop the test and get out immediately.
They put me into the machine and that was certainly an experience. I've never had an MRI before so this was all new to me.  The top of the machine was hardly 4inches from the tip of my nose, there was a bright light and a fan. I fully understand how the fan would help keep air moving and help people with claustrophobia, but for me, it just made me cold, and I am frozen at the best of times.
I had these headphones on to get breathing instructions as it was important for when they were taking the pictures. And also to muffle the incredibly loud noise of the machine.
The instructions were "breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, stop breathing" and I was to hold my breath until they told me to resume. This was about as hard as it sounded. Thankfully when they were walking me through the procedure before we started the told me about how long each time was going to take, and it was easier when I counted as compared to me just holding my breath and having no idea when it would be okay for me to breath again. Each time it was about 23 seconds, and there was 1 longer one of just over 30seconds.  They took several pictures in this way, and each time the machine made a new and different, yet equally loud and annoying noise.
Then the contrast was inserted. This felt akin to slowly dipping my arm in very cold water as the contrast worked its way through my veins. I didnt really feel it through the rest of my body, mostly just the arm. Once the contrast was in they took another series of pictures, same breathing instructions, waited 2mins, and took the final series. The entire test took about 20minutes.
The pulled me out, unstrapped me, took the needle out, and I was free to put my red high heels on, change and leave.
How did I feel during all this? It felt like the world only existed in that small space, and I lost all concept of time. I didnt feel claustrophobic or anything like that, but I did feel nausuated and disorientated when it was finished.
It wasnt a hard test, and other than the multiple needles looking for a vein it was relatively painless. If they hadnt been running late I would have been at the hospital for about an hour.

The last things I have are a meeting with the psychiatrist (the appointment still hasnt been booked and likely wont be until May), then with a Doctor to go over all the test results and to determine which kidney they are taking, and finally on to the surgeons. How many surgeons and transplant specialists depends on if I am staying local, or if I am going to be going somewhere else in the country for the surgery.
I hope to be able to donate in this city as I dont think  I would be comfortable trying to recover in a hotel.
And as we get closer to being confirmed for surgery I am getting to a point where I am going to need to tell my boss. I havent said anything at this point, although I did tell her I was going for an MRI, and was 1 step away from telling her the full story. I told her about the MRI so she would know that some of this has been going on for a while, and wont be caught fully off guard when I do tell her. My husband thinks I should tell her the full story when I get confirmed, but I am leaning towards just telling her that I need surgery to remove a kidney and leaving it at that. I dont want any accolades or special treatment, and I know if I tell her it will be very hard for her to keep this between us. I know I need to figure all of this out, but I also know that it will be a while before I tell her as there is really no point until I am confirmed as a donor and the surgery is booked.
For now, I'm just happy to be back in regular clothes and out of the hospital gowns.

Deciding on the Journey

This blog is about my personal journey to donate a kidney as an anonymous donor.
I am starting this 2 months after my initial meeting with the Live Organ Donor Coordinator and figure I should bring you up to speed on how this came about and what's happened thus far.

The Decision
I have been a blood donor for several years, which started because in 2005 my brother was T-boned by a semi and needed blood. Since that time I have been donating as often as I can as it was some one's blood that helped save my brother's life. After one particular donation I was given a pamphlet for the One Match program, and I signed up. Through my research into what One Match is I came across information on organ donation.
This was something that struck a cord with me and I decided to research further. At the time I was a starving student, and unable to take the time to recover from surgery, let alone afford the time off work. But it stuck with me. My life finally became settled in December, I was done school, married, moved to a new city and was working at a new job. All of the bumps in the road had been sorted out and I finally had the stability required to revisit organ donation.

I continued to research what donation was, the risks, what life was like post-donation and through it all I decided that I wanted to do it. The city in which I live just started the Anonymous Donor program, and I am the first to go through it. I contacted the Living Donor program, and on January 25th went in for my initial meeting.


The Road Thus Far

At this initial meeting they described for me the tests I would need to go through, what the surgery would be like, what to expect in life after, and the difference that I would be making in someone's life.

For tests I would need 2 urine tests, a blood test, abdominal ultrasound, a kidney function test, and a full body scan.
Additional requirements include a meeting with a social worker, a psychologist, and a few others which havent happened yet.

I have 1 urine test left (glucose level) and the full body scan. The urine test I need to go for 2hrs after eating breakfast, which unfortunately due to a busy schedule is why I havent been able to get that one done yet.
The MRI is scheduled for April 21. I have to fast for 6hrs prior to the test, and as its in the evening so I dont miss work, I anticipate being a bit cranky.

The interesting test was the kidney function test. I was told that I needed to be well hydrated and right before going in they even had me drink water. I was given an injection of radioactive material, laid on a imaging slab and contrast images were taken for 30mins, then every hour for 2 hours. I was able to look on the screen and see the green of the radioactive material work its way through my body through my bloodstream.
That was the other "fun" part of this test. Bloodwork. Every hour for 2 hours following the injection. Just a note... I hate needles. Hate them. Cannot stand the thought of them, and I get squeamish if I see one. Any type of blood test or injection into a vein makes me nauseous and light headed. Apparently one of the reasons I had to be well hydrated is so my veins would be nice and plump, easy to stick. Right. Apparently by the time the third and final blood test was being done my veins were not in great shape as it took 3 attempts to find a vein. I almost passed out.
But I did it. Thankfully. And my understanding is that I am pretty much done for blood tests until a match is found and surgery is approaching.

The other interesting part of this process thus far was the visit with the Social Worker.
She was a wonderful lady, and I had a great time talking with her. She asked about me, my personal medical history, my family, my support systems, my husband; my reasons for donating, how I came about deciding to donate, and what I expected to get from this. She told me that as an anonymous donor I would probably never meet the recipient of my kidney, and I told her that I was okay with that. I dont feel this person would owe me anything, or that I would have some sort of say in how they live their life. The only thing I would want is that this person, whoever they might be, would do something, however big or whoever small, to make a difference in this world.
I'll fill out more of the details on this in a later post, and will continue to blog about what the road to donation is like.