Living Donation Discussion and News > Living Donation Forum

Changes in your recipient's life after the transplant

<< < (2/3) > >>

lawphi:
  A 6 antigen mismatch from a living kidney is better than a zero mismatch cadaver.  As spouses, you are constantly exposed to each other and I think it creates an unscientifically proven tolerance.

Antigen matching only decreases longevity by 10-20%.  Other factors can play a role, like steroid free immunosuppression, time on dialysis, overall health ands weight of recipient.

My husband can urinate and has his fertility restored.  We did home hemo prior to transplant and saw a drastic improvement in his quality of life immediately.

shelley:
For me, there is no greater incentive to donate, than the responses on this thread.  It's one thing to be told you're "giving the gift of life", but when you get specific, like recipients being able to urinate, take part in much-loved activities like deer-hunting, eat what they want, have energy and strength......those are pictures I can see! 

Thank you all for sharing.  I understand not all donors know how their recipient's life has changed as a result of the transplant.  But for those of you who do, I hope you will chime in as well.

kali:
My recipient (one year ago) has been pretty tired/depressed.  He actually has less energy than before.

treehugger:
There are lots of little improvements to my husband's (and by extension, mine) life post-transplant (18 months ago), but they all add up to this: our lives used to be ruled by kidney failure and dialysis; now, we just lead a "normal" life with any number of other things to focus on besides poor health. We love normal life!

Life before the transplant:
at-home peritoneal dialysis (hooked up to the machine for 10+ hours every night)
sleeping in separate bedrooms
poor sleep quality
tubes hanging out of his abdomen
worries about port infection
me giving him a weekly injection in the belly
too many food restrictions to list
ER visits
exhaustion
20 pound lifing restriction
weekly blood draws
swolen ankles, general edema
no swimming
constant medication changes
depression

Life now:
sleeping in the same bedroom
freedom to travel
freedom to wake up and go to bed when the body wants to
restful sleep (no alarms!)
can eat (almost) anything
ankle bones appear! shoes fit again
allowed to swim
no lifting restrictions
can go for days without thinking about kidneys at all :)
Can enjoy an appreciate life much easier

Kara

treehugger:

--- Quote from: kali on June 19, 2011, 06:39:32 PM ---My recipient (one year ago) has been pretty tired/depressed.  He actually has less energy than before.

--- End quote ---

I'm very sorry to hear that. This is a good reminder that a kidney transplant certainly isn't a cure for kidney failure. We all like to focus on the positive outcomes, of course, but not everyone wakes up from surgery and feels wonderful. We had a very rough 5 months post-transplant, but then things suddenly turned a corner and DH felt better than he had in 10 years. I sincerely hope that your recipient can get help from his/her team of doctors and feel better soon.

Kara

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page