Transplant on June 18th - A FEW QUESTIONS

[jaybird87]

Hi!
I guess this is my first official post?? But it’s a happy one. My fiancé is getting a  kidney transplant on June 18th!!! Yay!!! We’re leaving the end of next weekend for it.
However, we’re a bit worried. He said he’s been having pain kind of where his kidneys are located (mind you, his kidneys basically do not function at all anymore). So lower back and side area to be a bit specific. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? He just finished fighting a bad bout of peritonitis, and we tried googling it (bad idea) and most of what came up was kidney stones.
So a few questions
Have you ever experienced this pain?
Could it just be from him recovering from peritonitis?
He also just switched to hemodialysis, could that have an affect on it?
And finally, if it is kidney stones, would it affect the transplant?
It’s been a really rough year and honestly at this point I don’t know how well either of us would handle it if his transplant was delayed or cancelled again.

[Cupcake]

Don't forget all the other reasons for back pain- like musculoskeletal! How old is your boyfriend, is he in good shape? Any previous history of back pain? Peritonitis must have been pretty scary. Congratulations on the upcoming transplant- keep us posted! Lots of us are also pre transplant and we learn from each other. Best wishes!

[jaybird87]

He’s 21 and in pretty good shape! We’re just worried cause his peritonitis already delayed the transplant by a few weeks, which is better than what we thought cause his doctors thought it would just be completely cancelled! I will keep posting updates though as we find new things! I think he’s planning to call his doctor today to find out what’s going on.

[lulu836]

I'm curious about kidney transplants.  Even if I could I would not opt for one but still curious.  What is the success rate?  Do they last for more than 5 years.  Are there more cadaver donors or more live donors.  If one gets a live donor what happens when that donor needs the kidney  later in life they gave away earlier? In the same way nephs never tell the prospective dialysis patient the whole story (good and bad) about HD, how much of what happens to a post transplant patient remains for the patient to be surprised.

[Simon Dog]

Live donors are given a large number of extra points on the waitlist, so they wait will be shorter if they need a kidney.

[MooseMom]

Lulu, success rates are generally very good, but one can't be unduly influenced by statistics of this sort.  A patient who has suffered from years of diabetes will not have as good an outcome, most likely, than someone who has been healthier. 

The most frequent cause of rejection is non or poor compliance taking the meds.  You have to make sure you are taking them correctly. 

Yes, transplants can certainly last for more than 5 years.  Again, your success rate depends on a lot of things.

There are more cadaveric donors than live donors.

I was not surprised by anything that happened post transplant.  There was a lot of information on my center's website, I meet with my pre-transplant team, and after surgery, I attended "classes" on varying subjects like meds, diet, post tx appointments, etc.  When I was released from the hospital, I was given an entire folder filled with valuable information that I occasionally still refer to today.

All of this information can't cover absolutely everything, however, but my tx team has always been just a phone call away to address any concerns I might have.  Naturally, said concerns always manifested themselves on a Friday evening, but even then, a coordinator would return my call within 10 minutes.

I hope this helps, but if you have other questions, please ask!

[lulu836]

Thanks for the info.  Last question was about what the donor does if the donor needs a kidney later in life?  Do they get special circumstances or an advanced place on the list or any advantage at all?