Back to work in one week. Yikes!!

[Cwhalum]

I donated a kidney one month ago as of yesterday. I donated to an anonymous recipient and an anonymous donor donated to my best friend's brother. My recovery has been good as has my friend's brother. Not sure about my recipient because there is a 6 month cooling off period before I can contact her but my understanding is that the surgery was a success. At any rate, I have found myself turning to this forum quite a bit because there simply isn't sufficient data available online otherwise. As much as my friends and family love me and want to be there for me, there is something to be said about connecting with people that have been there before themselves.

I'd love to hear from people that are recently recovered. My recovery has been a weird cycle. The first week was of course difficult for the obvious reasons but by the end of week 2 I was feeling great and thought to myself, there is NO way I will need to be out of work for the 6 weeks that I had requested. By the middle of week 3 though, I was SO grateful that I had decided to stay off because I started to feel really achy as the day progressed and I found that I fatigued easily. It was frustrating because I would wake up feeling great and thinking I was getting over the hump but then the fatigue and aches would find me later in the day. It's now almost week 5 and I still feel achy and I actually started to feel some sharp shooting pains this week followed by dull aches, though those are subsiding. I invested in an ab brace and I have found that it significantly reduces the pressure on my incision site.

 I go back to work in one week so I'm interested to know suggestions from those recently recovered on how you transitioned back into work. I work in sales so I will be sitting quite a bit. I won't have to do any lifting at all for work. Just curious how you felt when you went back and best practices. Also, if anyone has suggestions on light exercises that I can do to start to tighten the muscles in my abdomen again to start to relieve some of the achy feelings I'm having.

Since my surgery I drink a TON of water...I try to get in at least a gallon of water a day and I limit my alcohol intake. Even with all of the water I am drinking, I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night sometimes feeling a dry mouth sensation. Has anyone else had this feeling?

Lastly, I have read a bunch of posts about the lack of follow-up and I have to say that I too have been incredibly disappointed in that. I find it odd that we go for a 2 week check-up and then don't see a doctor again for 6 months. I am personally setting an appointment with my pcp for next week just to check my blood pressure, etc and make sure that everything is ok before I go back to work. I realize my creatinine levels will still be high but i will feel better just seeing someone, esp considering that when I went to my follow up appt, they literally didn't check a thing (outside of blood pressure)...he asked me a couple of questions and then suggested that I could not only walk but start a light jog AT TWO WEEKS post-surgery. At two weeks I could barely walk a block...I can't fathom having started to run then. I'm still nervous about running 5 weeks in.

Anywho, any feedback would be awesome. Thanks in advance and congratulations to those that have already taken this journey and good luck to those beginning it. The minimal inconveniences that I feel post-surgery would not ever prevent me from having made this decision! It was truly the best thing I have ever done in my life and I would gladly do it all over again!

[Fr Pat]

Dear "Cwhalum",
     First, congratulations on your donation!
     I found that bending and stretching exercises after donation surgery were most helpful, and stretching out flat on my back on the floor and stretching out arms and legs "felt" like it was helping nudge the innards into their new locations.
     Getting back to good posture (while standing. sitting and walking) can be helpful as well. Often after surgery we unconsciously change our posture to avoid discomfort at the incision(s), so being conscious of good posture is helpful.
     See if you can build some nap time and stretch breaks into your work day.
     Getting into running after donation need not be all-at-once. Take a walk wearing comfortable running shoes and every so often jog a few steps. Don't over-do it and get into it gradually.
     Since it seems to have been shown that kidney donors have a slightly higher danger of evantually developing high blood pressure it is worth the expense to buy a good electronic at-home blood pressure tester. Use it at least once a day and record the results. Factoring in the occasional ups and downs, the long range data can help you spot a problem before it gets serious and get it treated. And if you show your doctor the day-to-day records over months it is easier gor him/her to evaluate your blood pressure situation. "White coat syndrome" has been studied and shows that many people have higher blood pressure when tested by a doctor (and not quite so much higher when tested by a nurse!) So at-home regular readings can be quite helpful.
     Every donor heals differently, so we should not expect to "match" others, but we can learn from each other.
           best wishes,
              Fr. Pat

[elephant]

Dear  Cwhalum,

Congratulations on a successful surgery and welcome to the mono-kidney side of life!  I was unusually fatigued for a couple of months after surgery, but it finally passed.  I couldn't lie on my side for months either, the "kidney hole" was sore for a long time.

I actually did start jogging by two weeks out, but it was more wounded-water-buffalo than cheetah.  Everone heals at their own pace. 

When I went back to work a full day seemed incredibly long.  I took a small pillow for my desk chair, to help keep me sitting up straight.  We have a small gym at work, so I did a light workout at lunch time (walking would be great too!) and found that helped.  That was when I started doing some abdominal crunches, just lying on my back.  Maybe ten the first day and then gradually adding more.  Its also strengthing for the torso if you support yourself on your toes and forearms (like a pushup position, but resting on your full forearm) and just hold that position as long as you can. 

Love, elephant

[Cwhalum]

Thank you both for your feedback. That's great advice. I'm so glad to hear others talking about the fatigue. I'm definitely concerned about that but will be sure to set the proper expectation when I return to work. All in all my recovery has been fabulous. I just hope that I can glide back into work without a problem. Thanks again!!!   

[treehugger]

You've gotten great feedback already. Specifically about returning to work, some great advice I got was scheduling to start on a Wednesday, so that the first week back is a short one. Sounds like a small thing, but important.

I had to return to work at 3.5 weeks due to needing the paycheck, but I would have loved even one more week off. I felt pretty much OK by that point (no pain), but the fatigue was definitely still there. Just plan to take it very easy (sounds like you have a desk job, which is great), incorporate some stretching into your day, and give yourself permission to completely relax when you get home. Baby steps!

Kara