Becky’s Story

I donated my left kidney to my brother on April 11, 2014 at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA (Mason Transplant Clinic).  I’m 56 and my brother is 58.  I chose to have the robotic surgery.  Everything went textbook until the final step of separating the kidney from the renal artery and renal vein.  An unaccounted for metal clip got in the way of the stapler, allowing it to cut but not staple my artery on my side (the part that was to stay in me and not go with the kidney) and I went into shock due to acute blood loss.  Apparently, I lost two pints of blood in about 5 seconds.  I  had to have two transfusions and ended up in ICU for a couple of days. My surgeon literally saved my life by putting his hand in the lower bikini line incision–used to bag the kidney and remove it–so that he could put pressure on the bleed, and with his other hand, he cut my abdomen open from top to bottom so he could “get in there” and stop the bleeding with sutures.

It’s been 5 months and I seem to be “fine.”  Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else..