Surgery is scheduled!

[Suzie]

Hi!
My recipient and I finally got approval and our surgeries will be on April 19!  I'm so excited for Kevin.  He has been kidney-free (and cancer-free!) on dyalisis for FIVE years.  He is so thrilled at the prospect of getting his life back and I am blessed to be able to contribute to that.  We both live in the Cincinnati area and surgery will be at The Christ Hospital.  So far everyone there has been soooo nice!

I had my first wave of nerves when my coordinator told me the date, but it passed quickly.  I have so much around the house to do before I'm laid up recovering and I know the day will be here before I know it.  I think the next 2 1/2 weeks are going to be a wild ride!

This may not be logical but my biggest worry about donating is the risk of gaining weight from not being able to exercise like I normally do and from "treating" myself to extra goodies.  Those things are reasonably within my control but are there other effects of donating that will/can cause me to gain weight?

Thanks for any input. 
Suzie

[elephant]

Dear suzie,

When I donated I lost  more than 10 pounds.  My surgeon was not suprised. 

love, elephant

[jennybebopper]

I'm about 5 weeks out.  The first week, weight is definitely up from all the fluid & swelling.  I ate, but didn't have much of a real appetite until week 3-4.  Then I started craving all my junky normal food and had the same fears as you since I'm still not doing much for exercise other than lots of walking.  But I seem to eat a lot smaller portions (normal portions!!!) than I used to; I just fill up quicker.  So it all balances out.  I'm about 5 pounds down from pre-op and eating pretty healthy.  I think from what I've read on here most people either return to baseline or lose if anything.  It's all the more important to keep our weight in check from now on, but I wouldn't stress about in that post-op period.  You need calories & protein for healing, so just like activity post-op, listen to your body. 

Good luck to you and your recipient!  Let us know how it goes.

Jenny

[CK]

I lost about 5-7 lbs too. My appetite was down for the first couple weeks, which probably helped.

[cupid]

I'm five weeks out and unfortunately, I gained 10 lbs. But it really is my own fault-I just thought I was entitled to eat all the chocolate I wanted because I did something so wonderful-haha. If you eat your normal diet, you should be fine. I think once I get back to the gym, I'll be able to shed it. When you are used to working out a lot and now you are stationary, something is bound to happen.
Good luck to you and your recipient!

[Suzie]

Thanks for the input and well wishes!  I'm really glad to have this community to "talk" to as this all becomes reality.

[CK]

Oh, and BTW, it's been fantastic to watch my recipient get better and better. 2 months out and I feel exactly like I felt before the surgery while he feels 100 times better. Amazing.

You will really enjoy watching Kevin get more energy and be able to take his life back.

[smudge]

I lost about 8 pounds.  I've put it all back on and more in the last 3 years since donation though!

Have my annual check up in about 6 weeks and really need to shift some of the excess before then!!

[Aries7]

Congratulations Suzie!

That is so exciting that you have the date set! I also remember thinking about all the things I had to do around the house once we got our date set. We made a list of all the things we could think of that we would need. (Soap, toothpast, etc) and bought and stocked up on all of that type of stuff. Also any non perishable food too. We also had a lot of family and friends to help us, so we were fine.

I also remember wondering if we were going to be able to get the Christmas lights up that year. (I donated in October). We had family members who came and helped us get them up. I am not sure out of all the things why I was so worried about the Christmans lights. LOL

As far as weight, I did lose some, I think it was about 10 or 12 pounds.

Also, just some extra advice, I would bring lip balm and lotion to the hospital. I found it to be rather dry and I am someone who really doesn't like my lips or hands to be dry.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

Linda