HELLOOOO from my new kidney!

[KR Cincy]

Such happy news!!  Congrats & take care!!
 

[kellyt]

 

I am super excited for you!  God Bless Joyce!!!!        I hope this is your first and last transplant!!!!!!   

[Romona]

 

[cambonesegirl]

Congratulations!

[2_DallasCowboys]

So so glad for you donnia!!   

It is wonderful to read everything went
so well for ya, girl!  And your donor, also,
God bless her

Anne

[kitkatz]

Great! Congrats on the new kidney. May it work long and hard for you!  

[MyRenalRomance]

    Hello Donnia's NEW KIDNEY! *WELCOME* 

I'm sooooo happy for you Donnia!  Congratulations and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Please keep us updated.  (I'll be receiving my kidney on June 20th, so I'll be looking forward to hearing about your recovery.)

    HURRAY FOR DONNIA, HER DONOR & DONNIA'S NEW KIDNEY! 

[thegrammalady]

  super, super, super fantastic

[Mimi]

Hello, Donnia's new kidney.  You are so welcome to our group.

Love, Mimi

[okarol]

 
Here is a link to Donnia's transplant photo album. You can click on "slideshow" for the show with larger photos.
Go to --> http://picasaweb.google.com/donniaj/DonniaTransplant?authkey=RI5sN0HVDNI
Please let me know if you have trouble viewing it.
Thanks for sharing these Donnia!

[monrein]

  

[kellyt]

    


I forgot to mention how calm they both look!  Like real pros!     

[xtrememoosetrax]

Great pix! Thanks for sharing! 

[2_DallasCowboys]

Thanks for the wonderful pics!

Again, so happy that all went so well for ya!

Anne

[Ginger]

Wonderful photos.  Congratulations and many happy and healthy years with your new kidney.

[skyedogrocks]

CONGRATS Donnia!!!!  That is awesome news!  I LOVE hearing great stories like this.  You go girl!!!! 

[Sunny]

Thank you for sharing your experience with great pictures.
Good to hear you are both doing well.

[pelagia]

Thanks for sharing the great pictures Donnia!  Hope you and Joyce are both feeling well and healing quickly.

[MyRenalRomance]

Thanks for sharing the photos!! 

[kidney4traci]

Congrats!!  Great photo album!  Thanks for sharing and here's to a long healthy life with your new kidney!! (water not beer!!!)

[donnia]

Whew!  Thank you everyone!  I am going to go back and read everyone's transplant stories.... today I had a pretty bad day.  I am going to post my update that  I emailed to people.  

Please, if anyone has words of wisdom, I could use them now! 


I had a pretty bad night.  Couldn't sleep well.  My breathing really bothers me, but I continue to use the lung exerciser thing.  My temperature has fluctuated between 100.3 and normal.  My donor tested positive for a cold virus in the past and I tested negative.  So to prevent me from getting this virus I need a medication called Valcyte, I believe.  Well, the social worker is working on getting me assistance with this because after insurance pays I still owe over $550.  I will need to take it for 3 months!  That is besides all the other medications, hotel, food and medical bills that are mounting!    The social worker did get me one weeks worth for now (thank God for great social workers!), and hoping the pharmaceutical company will assist with it.  I don't see how they wouldn't.  I haven't even received one disability check  yet and when i do it will be under $700 per month.  Juan has a great job with a great company, Robert Madden Ind.,  (who by the way has been WONDERFUL!  I can not thank them enough for letting Juan come back to Lubbock to be with me and for everything else they are doing for us!!!), but he just celebrated his 1 year anniversary and is still at the bottom of the totem pole, so to say.  Sooo... that does look good for us. 

Anyways, my point is, I had a bad night and a pretty bad day too.  They think it is because I need this medicine,  I should get it within the hour so hopefully that will help.  ( I did get it but I don't really know if it is helping yet... lol).  The great news of this email is, my husband is back here with me and it makes  all the difference in the world. The great - great news is that my creatinine level is still 1.1 so Joyce's kidney is working great.

 

I am taking 40 of Lasix for the next 3 days, as I still have quite a bit of fluids on me.  Hopefully when we get that off it will help my breathing.

 

Sorry this is kinda a bummer of an update, but I do feel better getting all that off my chest.  They told me I would have bad days, I guess this is one of them.

 

Please say a prayer that the new medication they are trying to get me will come through and it will make me feel better.  (Heard from the pharmaceutical co. and it appears that we qualify... just got to get our $$$  records to them)

 

Especially say a prayer for a speedy recovery for Joyce, my donor, my hero.  I heard from her today and she is feeling better by the day.

 

We thank each and every one of you who have been helping and especially praying.   

 

[okarol]

Valcyte® (valganciclovir) is an oral antiviral agent that is highly active against human herpesvirus 5, also known as cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Valcyte is used in immunocompromised patients to prevent CMV disease in kidney, heart and kidney-pancreas solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients at high risk.

Jenna and her donor both tested negative for CMV, but Jenna was still given Valcyte as a precaution (standard protocol at her center.) They started it immediately following the surgery.

I hope the financial stuff gets handled. It seems like the social worker should have helped prepare more for this.

Do they say the cause of your fever? How are your labs?

Sending you lots of LOVE and prayers Donnia! 

[pelagia]

So sorry to hear that you had a bad day and night.  You are dealing with many things and trying to heal.  It's more than a full plate.  I hope you have a better night tonight  



 

[donnia]

Valcyte® (valganciclovir) is an oral antiviral agent that is highly active against human herpesvirus 5, also known as cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Valcyte is used in immunocompromised patients to prevent CMV disease in kidney, heart and kidney-pancreas solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients at high risk.

Jenna and her donor both tested negative for CMV, but Jenna was still given Valcyte as a precaution (standard protocol at her center.) They started it immediately following the surgery.

I hope the financial stuff gets handled. It seems like the social worker should have helped prepare more for this.

Do they say the cause of your fever? How are your labs?

Sending you lots of LOVE and prayers Donnia! 

Thanks so much for this!!! 

My creatinine is 1.1 .  My WBC is elevated at 15.  My social worker did get me 1 week at no cost.  I talked to the pharmaceutical company and it looks like I will qualify for help.  How long did Jenna have to take the Valcyte?

[pelagia]

My husband also tested CMV negative while his donor is CMV positive, so he is has been taking Valcyte (first month after transplant).  He will stay on for 3 months. Apparently it's one of the only drugs they have that is really effective against CMV infections, but if you stay on longer than 3 months you develop resistance (or tolerance, I can't remember for sure which it is).  I read an article on the web that said they are seeing more CMV infections at 5 or 6 months now that patients are taking Valcyte during first 3 months.  .  This is not something the transplant clinic discussed with us in any detail before the surgery, so we are still learning.  In fact, my husband had more than one matching donor and we don't even know how the other donor tested for CMV.