Three years into my battle with chronic kidney disease it was time to talk about a kidney transplant. Although I had put a good fight, I had entered stage 5 and received the End Stage Renal Disease/ESRD diagnoses. The first step was to attend a Kidney Transplant education class. This was my first introduction on the different types of kidney transplants. A transplant can come from a Living donor someone who may or may not be related. Or a transplant can come from a Deceased donor someone who has just passed. Living donor transplants are becoming more and more popular and this year so far there has been almost 7,000. The education program also discussed The List and waiting times,a brief discussion about diet, and transplant medications. It was great introduction into the world of transplant. We each walked away with a huge binder full of information to continue our education about kidney transplant.
After the class my sister, brother and my best friend all decided that they wanted to be tested to see if they were potential donors. You can only imagine how touched I was to see my family and friend want to step up to save my life. To be willing to risk going through surgery so I may have a better life and feel better. During the initial testing process they are looking for 2 factors. The first is matching blood type. I was O negative and needed an O negative donor. The next step would be a crossmatch. This is a process to see if the donor's blood is compatible with the blood of an intended recipient. There can be two outcomes; a positive or negative crossmatch. This is the one time when you don't want a positive result. A positive result means the candidates are incompatible because antibodies (a protein substance in the blood) will immediately react against the donor's cells, causing loss of the transplant. We were hoping for three negatives but ended up with two positives and one negative. It turned out that my best friend was my best match. So the two of us began the next steps towards transplant.
For the next eight months my donor and I went through a series of tests which included; a complete physical exam, chest x~ray, EKG or ECG, ultrasound of donor kidney, many blood tests really like eleven vials of blood worth, and renal function testing of donor's kidney. The doctors at my transplant center were extremely thorough and the last step of the process was a visit to a social worker and psychologist. They wanted each of us to be mentally ready to handle the transplant as well physically ready. My friend and I did great! We each passed with flying colors so they scheduled us a surgery date.
Finally the day had come August 19, 2002. It's hard to believe that was eleven years ago. I remember getting up at the crack of dawn, 3 a.m. We were required to be at the hospital by 5 a.m. I was so scared, excited, and thankful at the same time. I was in awe of my friend who was willing to put everything on the line to do this for me. As soon as I saw her arrive at the hospital I remember just hugging her and we both started to cry. It was just so emotional to know what we were about to do. The nurses came to waiting room and it was our turn. The waiting room was filled with our family and friends and now we had to say goodbye. The next time they would see us I would have my new kidney and my friend would be a Hero!
They wheeled my friend and I into the holding area and started preparing each of us for surgery. Putting in I.V's, giving us cute little hats, and of course those slipper socks. The entire time we were holding hands across the stretchers. Then it was time, as they wheeled my friend into the operating room the last thing we said to each other was " l love you sister" from that day on we would be kidney sisters. My friends surgery began first so they could remove the kidney. A few hours later they began mine. After twelve hours of surgery my new kidney was pumping out urine and the surgery was a complete success. The kidney was making so much urine it got the nickname "Turbo Kidney" and for my week of recovery in the hospital that's what the doctors, nurses, friends and family were calling it. One week later I left the hospital and began a journey with my new kidney.
Every time I think of this day can't help but get emotional all over again. It was like having a second birthday and even though in the end my body would reject the kidney I will never forget this experience. I just hope I get the chance to do it all over again with a slightly different ending.
Keep on fighting, you Kidney Warriors!
~Kidney Blogger
what a exciting and touching posting...hard not to tear up.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget that day. Or many of the ups and downs that came after. But really it's been about how strong you are more than anything .
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