Greetings to all of you,
I have been lurking here for a year and a half, learning about living donation through the standard sources and your various perspectives. I applied to be a non-directed donor through the National Kidney Registry in March, and I will be donating my left kidney on Wednesday.
I'm a little nervous this weekend, but feel quite well-informed about my decision and am not second-guessing it. I am writing now to say "thank you" to all of you who write here for the information you've given me and to ask for your good thoughts on Wednesday morning. I will write and let you all know how it went, and I hope to be helpful to other potential donors afterwards.
In gratitude,
Lisa a/k/a Marilynnea
Hi Marilynnea
Just wanted to wish you good luck & I hope it all goes well for you.
take care
Well congratulations!!! and soon you will be posting here after surgery I hope as well.
This is a wonderful recourse of information so stay in touch. I would suggest the day before surgery eat clear broth soups, and no salads. Salads sit in your gut longer and make you feel lousy after surgery. I didn't have that bit of information and it might have helped. And really drink a lot of water the day before surgery, 2 quarts through out the day. Your belly will be sore and the incision area will pull and hurt so be prepared. Get up and start walking as soon as you can, but also take the pain medication. The stool softeners they gave me just mainly gave we terrible gas as I wasn't eating, nausea, so there was nothing to move along. You must be your own advocate and hopefully you will have someone in the hospital with you to look out for you while recovering as well. Those first 24 hours can be a bit rough, but it does get better.
What you are doing is a wonderful thing. You are truly giving the gift of living to someone. I am a member of I hate dialysis website. It is very eye opening as to what people in end stage renal disease are facing with dialysis, it is not something anyone should have to do to live. Like chemo, but there is no end, they have to do it to live for as long as they can or until they get a kidney, or die. Even those that have kidneys that are failing, they are very ill, can hardly work at all, let alone raise and care for their families. So as I said, this giving the gift of living.
The day of surgery, I was very calm, at peace, as I think all donors seem to have said they are. I didn't find this site until after donation and it helped me with my recovery a lot. My transplant hospital has also been wonderful with follow up care, I have a wonderful co-ordinator that was always quick to help answer questions.
Best wishes, and please stay in touch.
Best wishes, Lisa. Where are you donating? Perhaps, one of the LDO regulars can visit if you are in their area. Give yourself time to heal and let us know how it goes.
Thoughts and prayers for a full and speedy recovery to you and your recipient.
Sherri
Best Wishes - know you are in my thoughts/prayers!
Best wishes and prayers for all involved.
Fr. Pat
Hi all,
I'm sorry I didn't write more sooner--I used to get email notices when people posted and since I didn't receive any, I thought no one had written anything. :-p I'm glad I finally checked back! Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and kind words; I know they helped.
Surgery went well and my recovery has been very smooth. Your descriptions and advice helped me a lot. It probably also didn't hurt that I've had 2 other abdominal surgeries (appendectomy and c-section) so I had a pretty good idea of how my body would react. The pain was relatively mild and well-controlled with medication, which was a nice surprise.
I donated at UW Hospital in Madison, WI, and I can't speak highly enough of the transplant folks there. My kidney took a car ride to O'Hare airport in Chicago then flew to Houston, where it sat on the tarmac for a couple hours because of severe thunderstorms. Eventually, it was installed in its new home and word is that the recipient responded well to it.
I went back to work last Monday, 19 days post-surgery, and so far, so good. It seems almost too easy, given that I've never been a model of physical fitness. I'm 54 and until recently have completely taken my body for granted. I've been treating it with more respect since I made the decision to donate, and that must have helped.
Once again, thank you for your support! You are a great group, and I will recommend this site to anyone who wants to know more about donation.
Best regards,
Lisa
Welcome to the club, Lisa,
So glad things went smoothly and both you and your recipient are doing well. I have heard nice things about UW in Madison. Makes a big difference when you have a good team and and easy recovery. Take care of yourself and make sure to get rest when you get home from work. Will take time for your body to heal as well as just think about all the emotions leading up to this surgery.
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Sherri