I got the "call" on Christmas Eve 06 on my cell phone at the dialysis clinic

Quote from: bajanne2000 on January 28, 2007, 05:54:54 AM

Ahamner, please (if you have not done so yet) give us a detailed account of how it went. This is not only to appease my curiosity, but it helps others who will eventually go through the same thing. Knowledge is power.
I wish you all the best and continual improvement.

I was surprised beyond belief when I got the call. I have only been on the waiting list since May 06 and was told to expect 4-5 years wait. My blood type is AB and the cadaver kidney was also AB. Since it is a rare type they are fewer on the wait list with that blood type. Of course that means there are fewer kidneys of that type that become available so I was just plain lucky.

I now have three kidneys so they had to make room for the transplant in my lower abdomen. In that process my colon went to "sleep" and I blew up like a balloon. I had a tube down my nose for a week to remove the stomach acids and was fed only through IVs. Eventually that straightened itself out and aside from the soreness from the surgery I had no other significant problems. I also have epilepsy and was taking phenobarbital to prevent seizures. That medicine is not compatible with the immunosuppressant drugs so I had to change to another drug for that.

Since the surgery I now have tremors when I write so I can hardly read my own writing. I think that is a side effect of some of the new anti rejection drugs I am taking which include Prograf, Cellcept, and Prednisone. I am down to 20mg a day of Prednisone and am scheduled to reduce to 10mg within a couple of weeks. Somebody told me the Prograf is probably causing the tremors.

My new kidney function is improving. My last blood work had serum creatinine of 1.9 and BUN of 35. That is not as low as some transplants but is much better than what it was on dialysis. My phosphorus level is low in spite of me trying to eat things that I couldn't before. I guess old habits are hard to break! The post transplant diet is pretty much the opposite of the dialysis diet.

I noticed my fistula had stopped working as soon as I woke up from the transplant surgery. The docs said that happens about 60% of the time due to changes in the blood chemistry with the new kidney.

I hope and pray for all of you that want a transplant that you will get the call soon. I feel extremely blessed to have been given this opportunity!