Yesterday I was so thrilled to find this forum and sort of hit the ground running without introducing myself. It is nice to talk to friends and family about this, but it isn't the same as talking to people in the same situation. My husband and I have both always said that we would donate a kidney to someone if needed. We are both on the bone marrow registry as well.
Last February I decided to see a plastic surgeon about getting a tummy tuck in September. This is something that I had been thinking about for a long time. I have had 3 c-sections and my 5'2", short waist-ed frame could not handle it. Who knew the universe had a different plan for me.
Back story of the recipient (who I will call "J" from here on): During February J (a college friend) got a staff infection and was really sick. I am good friends with his wife and our kids are all friends. His wife left on a business trip to Northern Africa. While she was there she received a phone call that her husband was near death in a Salt Lake City hospital. (This is one week after my plastic surgeon appt.) Turns out that my friend has IgA and his kidneys were working at less than 10%. He needed to be on dialysis three days a week. This was a big surprise to everyone.
Meanwhile his wife emailed all of his friends updating us on his condition. I immediately asked her what his blood type was, O-. I am O+ and found out that I am a blood type match. His wife and my husband are both A and unable to donate. He has one brother, but he has a horseshoe kidney (they are connected).
I identify with my J because he has three little kids. My mom died from a brain tumor when I was a child and left three kids behind. Obviously no one can donate to save someone from a brain tumor, but if someone could have done something to save her life I would hope they would have. I was determined to prevent these three little kids from losing their Dad.
J's wife and I worked behind the scenes with initial testing. J didn't want a living donor due to guilt. Another friend of ours was going to be tested, but did not because she is the backup donor for a liver transplant for her aunt. A lot of other friends said they would be tested if I was not a match.
In May I attended an informational meeting at the hospital. J still did not know that I was being tested. When he saw me at the meeting the first thing he said was "I have been hoodwinked!" J was very emotional throughout the meeting. He has come to gripes with this being the best solution and is looking forward to the surgery.
At the end of May my husband, J and I all ran a marathon together. J having had dialysis the night before and very little sleep still managed to beat the two of us by 45 minutes. This man amazes me all the time. He likes to run because it helps to sweat the toxins out.
I spent the next two months getting all the testing completed. We matched on everything along the way. Doctors have joked that we are twins separated at birth. J is my twin that just happens to be three years older than me.
During my final two day testing the surgeon asked me if I had any other questions (I am sure you were wondering how I was going to tie the tummy tuck back in). I asked him how long I would have to wait to get tummy tuck after the donation. He told me that they could do it during the surgery and they would just charge me for the plastic surgeons time. He actually made it sound like they do it all the time. Come to find out they have done it before, but only a couple of times. They gave me a name of a surgeon.
When I met with the plastic surgeon the initial bid was way higher than the one I had received in February. This is because it is usually done at an outpatient facility, not in an OR. Also this plastic surgeon is the best of the best and does a lot of work for the hospital directly. At this point I thought, too expensive, not for me. For a couple of weeks I wasn't even considering it. Then last week I was contacted by the Kidney Doc and he informed me that he talked the hospital into charging the anesthesia and OR as outpatient fees. Then the Plastic surgeon called and offered her services at 50% off. They both told me that they felt I was doing something nice for someone else and they would like to do something nice for me.
I was overwhelmed. Why does the universe want me to get a tummy tuck and in September just like I had planned? I decided not to question it, but just go with it. Life is interesting that way.
We are scheduled for September 6, 2011. I wanted to do it then because my kids will be back in school and it is after labor day. Thanks for letting me put this all out there. I have spent the summer not really thinking about the actual event and now that it is two and half weeks away I have been really contemplative about it. I am so ready to do this!
Topic: Let me introduce myself (Read 4628 times)