What is that? Is that a Match? I think it is!

So we have a match! An out of province match, but a match nonetheless.
Whee!

So I found this out last week, and this morning went for my cross-match blood test. Apparently they need as fresh as possible blood, so they wanted to get me in right before the courier was there.

Simple blood test, 6 yellow vials, a red and a lavender. A little woozy after, but thats more because of my distinct hatred of needles. They just bother me soo much!

But, the test has been done, away the blood goes and hopefully we will get a verbal confirmation within a week. I did run into my transplant coordinator in the lab, and she said that its normally 2 weeks to get results but because of my time crunch they have it flagged and will be able to give verbal confirmation hopefully within a week. Yay!

So from here, once we get the confirmation that I have passed the cross-match test, then I need to be accepted into the donor program of the recipient's province, and go through final cross-match tests which will likely be done in the few days prior to surgery. 

My transplant coordinator is getting a social worker involved so hopefully Hope Air will be able to fly myself and my hubby out, and I have a buddy in the place I'm going that I have already cleared being able to stay with. Yay! Hopefully if this all comes together we won't have to pay flights or accommodations out of pocket.

So now it really comes to crunch time at the office and at home to make sure that I have everything set up for the temp, and my guest room set up for continued and long-term use for when the family comes to stay to help take care of me.

Which brings me to a question for you guys: What are your support systems like? Did many people know about your donation? Who was there with you post-op? Do tell!

Timelines

I called the Transplant Center this morning and spoke with the woman who has been coordinating everything for me thus far. I was looking for information on timelines and a bit more about what to expect.

I am still waiting for my psyc appointment, but that should be in May (apparently the Dr is bringing in another Dr to help with his course load as he is overwhelmed with all the refferals he is getting). The appointments with the nephrologist and the surgeon will follow within about 2 weeks, but right now they dont have an Operating Rooms open until July, so the wait time for surgery is about 3 months. I'm kinda hoping I can get scheduled for July as that still allows me to have the time off work that I need without infringing on our busy time. I know I will have to take as much time as I need to heal, and that with laparoscopic surgery I could be back within 3 weeks, but I need to be back at work, and be back 100%, before September.

My other question was about staying local vs going national. I am not opposed to going where I am most needed, but I think I would prefer to stay at home. Here I have my husband to take care of me, as well as a friend or two. I will have my own bed, and not be racking up a hotel bill. Apparently there is a very high demand for Kidneys, almost 1000, so as long as I am a match I should be able to stay here.

Part of me is still coming to terms with some of the reactions I have been getting, and although they do not have me doubting my decision or anything like that, they have made me wonder why I think so differently than other people that I know? The reactions I'm speaking about are not just ones that I have gotten personally when talking to people about my specific choice, rather from when talking about living organ donation in general. Things to ponder as I get back to my day...