Other surgeries post-transplant?

[RightSide]

I got my kidney transplant on 26 January 2011, about 10 months ago.

Now there is a possibility that I may need another surgical procedure for an unrelated health problem.  Perhaps some time late winter or spring.

Of course now I'm on the full cocktail--CellCept/ProGraf/Prednisone--and I don't want to do anything that will damage my pre-owned kidney either.

So I'm wondering what to expect.  Anybody else here have any surgical procedures some time after you got a kidney transplant?  And if so, what have been your experiences?

[cariad]

Well, I am both the best and worst person to answer this question. To the first question, any surgical procedures after transplant, that would be yes, EVERY surgery (barring the access placements) I've ever had has been post-transplant. Unfortunately, I don't much remember experiences with them. I never had one that went wrong because I was on immunosuppresants, that I can say with near certainty. I had to have an open biopsy about six months after my transplant, and whatever doses of immunosuppresants you are on now, I promise you I was on even greater (proportional to body weight) doses. I do feel youth was on my side for most of these. If you are concerned, I would ask your transplant hospital to recommend doctors who have experience with immunosuppressed patients. Your center may suggest that you wait as long as possible so that they can drop your doses to maintenance levels, which I should think would happen around the year mark. Perhaps taking antibiotics and antivirals through the procedure and recovery would be in order, but beyond that, I would say all you can do is find someone/somewhere you trust and hope for the best.

Good luck!

[monrein]

I've had a back surgery (laminectomy with foraminotomy)  which was tough, removal of first trx two months after second, and recently, more minor gum surgery.  No problems with any of these.  I agree with cariad that the key is finding a competent surgeon whom you can trust and who understands your history and your situation with the trx meds.  Best of luck.

[coravh]

I had a pancreas transplant 6 years after my kidney transplant and had no problems surgery related. I also had a feeding tube put in about a year after that and again had no problems with the surgery (tube later removed and healed well). I also had a femoral bypass this past July. I remained on my rapamune even though it's supposed to inhibit wound healing and I healed beautifully. So I have always healed well after additional surgeries and my kidney and pancreas have continued to function well - no changes in baseline readings.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cora

[natnnnat]

Hello dear rightside.  I asked gregory what advice he has, because he has had many surgeries since his transplant, including surgeries to fix the ureter, appendix removal, thyroid removal, I forget the rest.  Also he had general anaesthetic to have a plastic surgeon remove his skin cancer on his head and replace the skin with skin from his thigh.  He wrote back (he's at work) and says:

Don’t be stressed. Have faith in your kidney. Mine has survived several post transplant operations two of which were done when the transplant was only two weeks old (I was still in hospital). The first thing you have to expect is that the kidney is going to take a bit of a hit. General anaesthetic tends to knock it around a bit. You probably won’t pass much urine for while either (maybe a day). Creatnine will probably rise during recovery also. All of these problems will be solved by the doctors juggling the medication to get a balance until eventually the graft settles back to normal. This has been the scenario for every operation I’ve had since transplant (including, although not an operation, pneumonia). If you got a good surgeon and renal team they will get you through. Good Luck.

[Marina]

If your  surgery  won't  be  at the  Transplant hospital,  have  the  TX  drs  and the  surgeon  have  a  talk  as  to what  meds  you  can take.

I  had  a MRSA  outbreak  on the  already  healed  TX incision  at  5months  post-TX.
I  had  to  undergo  a  surgery  to clean up the     infection.       
Luckily  it  was  done at  TX hospitals  so my  TX  neph  kept  me  well.        Since it  was  MRSA  we  were  dealing  with,   they  had to  give  me  some  heavy  duty  IV  antibiotics  and  my  creatinine  did  rise  a  bit  (as  expected  by  Drs).               
I  was  kept  on  saline  and  told  to  drink  plenty of  water  after  I  was  discharged.
Creatinine  went  back to  my  normal  in  less  than a  week.

Good  luck!

[rsudock]

Let's see after the first transplant...I had my spleen removed and gall bladder removed. I also had a cyst on my forehead I needed removed post first tranplant as well. The surgeon who did the surgeries was the same one who did my transplant as well (and the second transplant come to think of it) he loves cutting me open! 
I hope it all goes well!

xo,
R

[RightSide]

Thanks to all who responded.  You were a big help.

I'm not sure where I will have the surgery.  If I don't have it at the transplant hospital, I will definitely have it at one of the other hospitals in the Partners group.  They have a common database, so that medical information about me is shared across all those hospitals.

http://www.partners.org/Services/Hospitals-And-Affiliates.aspx