I just got the call -- I'm off to the hospital!!!

[Wattle]

  Woohoo.. Welcome Home Fighter.

Thank You for sharing your experience with us all.     

[okarol]

  Hey Fighter - happy you're back!
The creatinine may drop when they reduce the Prograf, Jenna's did.
Keep drinking loads of water and take care!
Best wishes,
Karol

[Sluff]

Thanks for the update Fighter and I'm glad things are going well. Keep on Keeping on! 

[Zach]

Way to Go!!

[Joe Paul]

   Great news Fighter!!!

[kelliOR]

Welcome home, Fighter!  Sounds like everything went smoothly.............

Congrats! 

[goofynina]

Hooray    So glad that everything is going so well for you Fighter, now just cuz you got that beautiful new kidney, i surely hope you dont forget about us.  Keep us posted on how your feeling and how everything is going, it is such an inspiration to know that one of our members is doing so well.   

[Laurie]

Great news Fighter. Thanks for the update 
I hope things continue to go well for you!

[lola]

  so glad everthing is going so great for you

[paris]

Isn't this amazing?  Fighter tells us he got the call and now telling us how good he is doing! It really helps to hear these reports first hand and it gives such hope to all of us waiting.  Fighter, we are so glad for you and will keep praying for your continued recover.  Take care and keep us updated.

[angela515]

Yay Fighter!

[Amanda From OZ]

Great news fighter!!  i'm so happy for you.!

[Fighter]

Hooray    So glad that everything is going so well for you Fighter, now just cuz you got that beautiful new kidney, i surely hope you dont forget about us.

No worries, I'm not going anywhere... 

As requested in a PM I got yesterday, here's a more detailed account of my transplant experience...

I guess the first days post-op are different for everybody, but here's what happened to me:

I actually don't recall the exact moment when I woke up (apparently this is pretty common), but the nurses told me I was very agitated and started screaming that I was in a lot of pain (they had already given me morphine, but not enough it seems!), so they gave me extra morphine and that's when my first memories came: I calmly asked the nurse next to me (wh I had just screamed at) how the operation had gone and she said just fine. I was the only patient in the reanimation room, probably because I was transplanted on a public holiday. A friend of mine who happens to be a surgeon was there when I woke up and he called my family to tell them that I was awake and that everything was fine. At that point I was pretty oblivious to  all the tubes sticking out from my body because I was very drowsy from the morphine.

After a short while they brought me back up to the room where I would spend the next couple of weeks. My mom was there waiting for me. At that point I was a little euphoric so she felt that the worst was behind me, but she was wrong! The first night wasn't the worst because I was on lots of morphine and still felt the effects of the anesthetics. The following day, however, was hell. I realized that I was bound by plenty of tubes (central catheter in my neck, twin drainage tubes sticking out of my scar to evacuate the internal bleeding - and there was a lot of blood, a urinary catheter - pretty unbearable for a guy!, plus an extra tube sticking out of my hand). The scar was hurting big time in spite of the morphine and I had to keep very still or it would really hurt like hell. If that wasn't enough the first day they immediately put you through a number of tests (including a scintillography of the kidney, to make sure it looks good and is adequately perfused) and they make you stand up to get weighed! I was terrified by this prospect even though it went OK in the end (though very painful!). An experienced kinesitherapist managed to get me on my feet with minimal difficulties thanks to a couple of tricks of his.

The second night was my low point: I couldn't get a minute of sleep as the heavy doses of Prograf and steroids were keeping me awake and my back started hurting as I practically couldn't move and had been on my back for more than 24 hours almost non-stop. The hours seemed endless and I called the nurses every half hour for extra pain killers and tranquilizers. Thankfully the staff was very understanding and supportive and always had a smile on their face so that helped.

The next couple of days were more of the same even though the pain in my scar started receding. I quit the morphine pump after a couple of days but still needed a lot of less potent pain killers, especially at night. The doctors' main worry was that my creatinine was stuck at 14 even though I was urinating quite a bit. They told me the new kidney had tubular necrosis issues which means that it hadn't been irrigated with blood for too long between the moment it was taken from the donor and the moment it was transplanted. However this is completely reversible and they were expecting some real kidney function to kick in pretty soon. Sure enough, after a couple of three-hour dialysis sessions (and a small glass of yucky Kayexalate), my creatinine started to drop steadily (I got out of the hospital with 2.0).

Another thing in the beginning was that after the operation your intestinal transit shuts down so basically you can't eat anything for a few days (in my case, three). This wasn't much of an issue for me as I wasn't hungry anyway from all the meds I was taking.

On the fourth day things started to really look up with much less pain, better nights and less tubes every day (they took out the urinary catheter on the fourth day which meant huge emancipation!). I still felt a little nauseous for another three-day cycle until the creatinine started to drop and that's when I really started feeling good, as in better than on dialysis. I started getting a lot of visitors, my friends were all very supportive and I started getting a little euphoric as things were going better and better. On the ninth day they even let me out for half a day to go to one of my best friends' wedding. It was great to get out and see some people in normal circumstances!

The last week was completely different as boredom became the main inconvenient. I went through a number of exams (to check the state of my new kidney, heart, lungs, bones, eyes, nervous system and teeth). No problems to report and the days started to get long with little to do besides watch TV and read... But they were waiting for my creatinine to drop to 2 before they would release me, which eventually happened on day 15.

I'm now 19 days post op and I feel fine most of the time, but my mobility is still hampered by the scar (though the pain has disappeared) and I sometimes feel a little nauseous in the morning. I also have to go to the bathroom very often because my bladder has shrunk after years on dialysis, but the docs say that won't last long. They have already started weaning me off some of the Prograf and steroids so things are looking up! It's great to be free from dialysis, and soon I'll be working, travelling, partying, doing sports, etc... For those of you who have yet to be transplanted, some of the above details may seem a little frightening, but the tough days are so few and the rewards so great that in this day and age I'd recommend just about anyone on dialysis to go for that transplant (if you get the green light from the docs that is). The wait can be long but it's just so worth it in the end... I know some people on this site will disagree with this but as far as I'm concerned I can't imagine staying my whole life on dialysis.

I wish you all the best whether on dialysis or transplanted! If you have any questions, shoot!

[Sluff]

Thanks for the OUTSTANDING update fighter. It is always a pleasure to hear the details especially for those who are on the fence about considering a transplant.

I'm glad you are doing well and I hope you resume a normal life again. What ever normal is.

[skyedogrocks]

That is AWESOME!  So glad you are doing so good!   

[kitkatz]

Hurray. I am glad you are home and healing!

[goofynina]

Thank you Fighter, thank you for being honest and just not telling us that you woke up feeling great, lol,  I am so glad you are feeling better and you are on your way to living a normal life and doing all the things you cant do on dialysis.  (just dont get too carried away)    Keep on keepin' on my friend...

[angela515]

Great update Fighter. Glad your well and home!

I also had a simliar experience during my first transplant, with the waking up from the surgery. Except for me, I woke up directly out of the OR before I was in the recovery room so I wasn't even hooked up to morphine yet, and started screaming and my dad heard me all the way in the waiting room and came running in despite nurses saying your not allowed back yet, and demanded to know what was going on. He saw them holding me down and rushing the morphine over to me, soon as they injected it, I was off to lala land. LOL, Luckily that did not happen the 2nd transplant, of course before they put me under I made clear the situation I went through the first time and wanted them to make sure they put me under long enough!

I wonder why they made you get up day 1 to weigh, most hospital beds now have a scale in them to weigh you. Either way, getting up as soon as possible after is great for faster healing so it probably helped ya


I'm so glad your doing well, and it's another person off dialysis!!!    Hereis too a long future with your transplant. 

Angela

[rimbo74]

Can you drink alcohol after having a transplant?

[Fighter]

Can you drink alcohol after having a transplant?

I can and I have 
Moderation is the key though, as always...

I wonder why they made you get up day 1 to weigh, most hospital beds now have a scale in them to weigh you. Either way, getting up as soon as possible after is great for faster healing so it probably helped ya

I could have used one of those scales in my bed Although they did tell me that the sooner I'd be up and walking, the faster I would heal...

[goofynina]

Can you drink alcohol after having a transplant?

Um?  are we NOT supposed to drink?  *puts bottle down*      please dont tell 

[Amanda From OZ]

Thanks fighter for going into detail with my request about your transplant. I love to hear everyones different experiences with transplantation.

Amanda xxoo

 

[angela515]

Can you drink alcohol after having a transplant?

Moderation. You can't become an alcoholic... but a drink here and there is ok. I had a few strawberry daiquiris once in awhile after my 1st transplant, like once a month, but my doctor said once a week is kewl..

[Fighter]

Thanks fighter for going into detail with my request about your transplant. I love to hear everyones different experiences with transplantation.

Amanda xxoo

 

You're welcome. I've been meaing to send you a PM, but oddly it always fails with a 'Max PM' error... Even though I haven't sent that many PMs lately. Oh well...

[Amanda From OZ]

Thanks fighter for going into detail with my request about your transplant. I love to hear everyones different experiences with transplantation.

Amanda xxoo
 

You're welcome. I've been meaing to send you a PM, but oddly it always fails with a 'Max PM' error... Even though I haven't sent that many PMs lately. Oh well...

No it was my side, my inbox was full. Its fixed now

So many people have had transplant this year, im so glad they are all gong well.