Expected recovery time for 53 y/o kidney donor?

[chuckbradley66@gmail.com]

I am new to this site and have been searching for an average expected recovery time for a kidney donor in good health?  I am 53 years old and have a 3 month break from work in which to have the surgery.  My work involves traveling to Afghanistan for DOD.  I have already been approved to donate, and will return from OCONUS late September.  I was told I need to be in the states for two weeks to insure I have not contracted any infectious diseases.  I need to be ready to redeploy by January 2020.  Does this leave reasonable time to recover before traveling for work, if the surgery is completed by mid October 2019?

Thanks,
Chuck Bradley

[Fr Pat]

There is quite a variety on recovery times among kidney donors. Some bounce back very quickly, while others have a longer recovery, or even complications. 3 months, I think, is reasonable to hope for, but it is wise to have plans in place IF more time is needed.
     These days many more donors check in at the FaceBook page of "living Donors on Line" and "Living kidney donors support group". If you post there also you may get more responses than here.
          Fr. Pat (donor at age 56, 18 years ago)

[sherri]

Welcome to the forum,

sounds like 3 months could work but with any surgery you may need to consider if there are complications or if the surgery gets delayed will you be able to make it back by Jan 2020. Are you donating to a specific recipient? What happens if the surgery gets delayed due to an infection or other setback? Also will the DOD take into account your surgery and allow you to go back to work after Jan 2020.

Most donors do recover well in about 6-8 weeks. there are lifting restrictions for that time and you do have to give yourself time to heal.

best of luck to you and keep us posted how things go.

Sherri

[Orchidlady]

I was 50 when I donated.

I remember seeing a lot of people saying how they healed so quick and were back to work in 4 weeks, etc. So I asked the surgeon at one of our initial visits, since I had a desk job, if he thought I could go back to work at 4 weeks. He looked at me rather sternly and said "We tell people 6 weeks because that is literally how long it takes your body to heal - (dramatic pause) - whether you cooperate or not!

It was the first time I had ever been in a hospital overnight and the first time I ever had surgery so it was quite a shock to my system. I had been exercising regularly for a year and working with a trainer 3 days a week specifically with an eye to the surgery. It still took me the six weeks. I began to feel back to normal around the 4th week. I went back to work half days at 5 1/2 weeks - even then I had to take a "power nap" when I got home. The surgeon was pretty much right on the money with the 6 weeks.

Age does play a role in recovery and, as Sherri said, you need to be aware that there could be some issues that do draw out the recovery time.

[bradmac]

I was 31 when I donated to my brother, but I had to go back to work a week after (my supervisor at that time was NOT understanding).  The desk job made it a little easier, but it was a few weeks before I could button my pants.  ;D