I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Spouses and Caregivers => Topic started by: buffalogal on July 14, 2009, 12:54:54 PM
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Hey all - I haven't posted much, more of a lurker. But wanted to share the news that my hubby got THE CALL today. We have a date set for a transplant! It'll be near the end of August. The person didn't say who the donor was, not sure when we'll find that out. But I'm so excited and now there seems like there is stuff to think about and plan.
Any advice on what's ahead of us?
And thanks for all the info that I've found here, this is a great place to find the real stuff.
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So it's a non-directed living donor I assume?
Congrats - great news! :yahoo;
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Great news!! Please keep us posted. Looks like its shaping up to be a GREAT summer.
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:bandance; Best Wishes!
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Great! :yahoo;
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Good luck.
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Tell us more! Congratulations on the good news. :2thumbsup;
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Advice....
1) Take one day at a time
2) Buy a notebook and write everything down, they will bury you in information
3) KEEP SMILING!
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Congrats !!! :yahoo;
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Congrads :yahoo; :yahoo; :yahoo;
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Best of luck and please keep us updated. You know how much we love this kind of news.
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Congratulations! That's wonderful news. Get the house super clean. Clean out pantry and get rid of things that are either expired or close to being expired. Do the same with the fridge and your spices. I steam cleaned the furniture and everything. It's great that you have some time to plan.
Take a blanket to the hospital and your own pillow. Also, take a towel. The towels at my hospital were painfully hard!
Buy some big sweats or shorts so that there is no pressure on the incision.
Good Luck! I can't wait to hear all about it. God Bless the donor!
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So sorry about the delay in coming back to respond. We have been super busy! Thank you all for your well wishes and advice, I just love them all.
Yes, it is a live donor, a man from our church. Hubby is A the donor is O, and everything else checked out. There's the final blood matching the week before, of course. The donor said that they took his case to committee twice but finally decided it was a go.
Oddly enough, we are happy but not as excited as friends and family. Not to say that we aren't happy to get a donor - but I think that we're putting our noses to the grind and trying to get things done and plan for the after. I'm not sure if this is strange or not! But I really am glad about him getting a donor - 5 months after all this started.
I do have some questions and probably this is the umpteenth time they've been asked, so please direct me old threads if you'd like.
What do we do now to prepare? I love the advice of cleaning out the kitchen. Will we need our house to be super clean when he comes home?
What will the diet be like on the other side?
What can I expect as I wait at the hospital and during that stay? Should I plan to be there most of the time? Will there be a lot of down time or will it be busy?
Anything you did that you thought was good - or wish you would've done?
Thanks for any wisdom you can pass on. I'll also search out some old threads too. ;D
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The house should be clean, yes. Mainly kitchen and bathrooms. If you have indoor cats talk to your transplant team. If you have birds you may want to find them another home. No knew pets for the first year following transplant, by the way.
I bought a recliner for my living room and was so glad I did. It was nice and comfy and I was able to take the pressure off my incision. Get nice, big, comfy sweats for him to wear. Something that won't be to tight around the incision. I had the living room furniture steam cleaned, but we have two indoor dogs. They needed them, too. Since it was me that was receiving the kidney I cleaned a lot of stuff that my husband would have never touched like baseboards, ceiling fans, closets, etc. I knew I'd be down for a few months. I also premade some food for the freezer so that my husband could "make" dinner. He went back to work the day after I came home. I was doing really well and didn't feel I needed that much help. I just sat in the recliner and watched the Food Channel. Not a good idea when on steroids!!
If he's on Prednisone, and he probably will be, he will be HUNGRY!! Get him fruit and veggies. His diet will not be restricted post surgery unless he is diabetic, then he'll follow a diabetic diet. Otheriwse, high protein in the beginning to help with healing. Low sodium, low fat, low carbs (to minimize weight gain which is normal with steroid usage).
If you want more info you can email me. I'd love to help! kellytalbert@satx.rr.com
I'm so excited for him! And you!
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You can read others experiences in some previous threads of members who have had transplants:
Jenna's story http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=1721.0
Tamara's journey http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=3356.0
Monrein's surgery http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=11970.0
and many more in the transplant section.
Good luck!!
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One often overlooked thing to clean are the aerator thingys that are attached to many taps. Unscrew them and soak in bleach. These were the culprits of some infections in a hospital.
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:yahoo; I love it when someone gets a kidney!!!! I read the other posts and one thing I can think of (since I work in acute dialysis at the hospital). Some people will need dialysis after they get their transplant while the kidney adjusts to it's new home. So don't be discouraged! I'm so excited for you guys!! What an amazing, selfless donor! We need more like him!! Good luck and keep us posted!! :2thumbsup;
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Thank you all for your help and support!!
I just got back from the hospital, today was THE DAY. We got up at 3:30am and wow, am I tired now.
The surgery went great, it was a little longer for my husband because of some old scar tissue. But the kidney is already working! It looks like everything went well, the donor is doing great too. The nurses said that he's making enough urine for the entire ward.
It's been 6 months to the week from when the crisis happened. It's hard to believe that the transplant was today. Sometimes it seems like forever, but I know that we had a short time to wait compared to most. We are so blessed!
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Great news :2thumbsup; It is good to hear when someone gets a transplant and in a short time. Sending good wishes to all of you :grouphug;
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:yahoo; Yay! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Living donors ROCK!! :thumbup; :thumbup; :thumbup; :thumbup;
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:bandance;
Love hearing good news!
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YEAH YEAH
Happy "P" Day!
I hope he recovers soon.!
hugs
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Best wishes to your husband and his new kidney!
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Yahoo!
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Any update??