Going To give my husband my Kidney What to expect?

[krismimo]

Hello everyone,
I'm still new here so hopefully I have found the right place. So I'm from California and there is an program wher you can swap a kidney if your not a match to the sibling and or loved/friend for my husband I know it can work much quicler than being on the list. I have read some things before and I know some people living with one kidney and are doing just fine. So my question is for those that have given a kidney what can I possibly expect? And for those that have received one what have been the changes you experinced after your transplant? Thanks!

[okarol]

You might want to check out Living Donors Online - they have lots of good info and a message forum like this one too.
http://www.livingdonorsonline.org
Are you at a hospital that uses the National Kidney Registry?
The woman who donated to our daughter has had no problems with her surgery or recovery. She ran the Boston Marathon every year since the transplant in 2007.
Good luck to you both!

[monrein]

My sister-in-law donated to me and has had no issues since.  If you ever wanted to speak to someone by phone about it I'm sure we could arrange something. 

[tyefly]

Kidney swaps can take time.... I had to try to change transplant hospital because I had a live donor with the wrong Blood type.....  and my current transplant hospital was not a Part of the Alliance for paired donation which can be found  HERE    http://www.paireddonation.org/

I have been working on this since January and still trying to get the my insurance and the transplant hospital to communicate.... anyway  thats the red tape....   But I did get transplanted Sept 2  So I will not need to use a kidney swap..... its a great program and I support it ....

Be sure to follow up with every thing you can to make the program work and go thru..

Other than that ..donation is wonderful....many people live long healthy lives..and giving to a love one is wonderfull.....

[coravh]

My cousin gave me a kidney in 2002 and is doing just fine. I think in some cases the recovery is quicker for the recipient who goes from almost no kidney function to a full kidney, while the donor goes from 2 to 1. There will be some fatigue for you until the remaining kidney picks up the slack, but I think the majority of donors would do it again if they could. I know my cousin said she would.

Cora

[The Noob]

bravo for you and bless your heart!

my mother is 69. she has been an RN for over 30 years. has done and still does home construction, traveled all over, had 5 children, you name it i think she did it. she was an EMT in the 70's when they drove the old station wagons, prior to nursing school.
a few months ago she had a heart attack and had to have some stents put in. she likes fast food and junk.
while doing this, the Docs found that she only had one kidney. the second one was basically not there, had never developed. they said she has always had only one kidney. some real food for thought.
she is back to work again and doing it all as usual, never slowed her down and she has a boyfriend 20 yrs younger..heheheh..

[lawphi]

Honestly, it was a heck of a lot easier than anyone told me. Anxiety before the surgery was the worst part. I would hate going under and not knowing my husband was ok.

[boswife]

oh my goodness,,,, have i missed something?? tell us more!! 

[Amiel]

I spoke to my friend/donor. He said they had to move his floating rib to give way to the kidney. So his incision is a lot bigger than mine. He also opted not to have an epidural after the procedure cause he doesn't want to have the catheter. It was painful without the epidural and he wishes he just had it. He left the hospital a day earlier.

[jersey girl]

Hello all, I am jersey girl's husband.  We participated in a paired exchange.  My wife had a high PRA and was a difficult match.  Within 4 months we had a match.  Our surgeries occurred on a Tuesday in July.  Our surgeries occurred in Philly and my donated kidney was flown to University of California - San Francisco.  Yes, actually flown to San Fran via Newark, NJ!

I have to admit it was easier than I expected.  I went into surgery at 6am and was out by 10am and awoke in recovery at noon.  By 8pm that night, I walked, albeit slowly, down to see my wife who received her kidney around noon that day.  I had some pain on day 2, Wednesday, but was easily managed with meds.  Make sure you get your meds!  I went home Thursday at 1pm.

I was a bit tired the first week or so after the donation and had some mild pain, but that was about it.  I was able to manage my pain with percocet and switched to Tylenol by that first Saturday home.  I was back to work within 13 days, but I sit my butt behind a desk all day so that's not the necessary norm.

We are 4 months post and thankfully my wife is doing well and I feel great, in fact I'm finishing a glass of wine as I type this, LOL.  I would certainly do it again.  OP, you are doing a wonderful, unselfish thing and I wish you and your husband the best.   Please, if you have any other questions that I can assist with just ask.

Best regards.