Pre-Op Donor Advice

[MatthewC]

There's only a week to go now. I've been checking all sorts of sources for advice, including the Tips sticky topic above, inasmuch as it's relevant to a donor, but has any one got any last minute advice for me? Anything it would be helpful to know/take/do/avoid? Has anyone been operated on at St George's London?

Matthew

[cindywoolley]

Wow Matthew what a great thing you are doing. I was at St. George's and my cousin was the donor. They have an excellent team there and a great follow-up team. Mu cousin lived outside of London so when she was discharged 2 two after op she was given a contact number to one of the transplant sisters that she could ring if she had any further concerns that her own GP couldn't mangage. Obviously she was sore and advised not to do any heavy lifting and all in all I think she took a month off to recover. I do remember she suffered very badly with trapped wind to begin with and that was all because they pump air in to enlargen the organ during the op but with the right meds she was fine again after 4-5 days. That was just over 4 years ago and both she and I have been absolutely fine since then. Good luck with it all and do post after the op to let us know how you are.

[rheaybou]

Matt,

Like Cindy my cousin donated to me. He suffered trapped wind for a few weeks, he advised to get something like fizzy water to help bring it up and he said moving about helped. i have nothing but respect for what you are going to do and wish you both the best for a quick recovery.

PS......enjoy the pain meds

[MandyV]

Good luck - no real advice for you except that, following Big Buzzard's advice about his first tx, you should not aim to eat a heavy meal and wine as all GA's can cause stomach problems and the last thing you want post the op is for that to give you problems. I had a curry (mild) the night before my tx (cadaveric so just lucky) and had no problems so tend to do the same before any planned GA these days. It may not be the most delicate conversation but believe me - if you read Big Buzzards blog on the subject; advice well worth considering!!

[Tibbs]

Post-op, be careful about over-eating.

Both dad and I have had nephrectomies, and we've both found that over-eating can be quite painful. Your bowel moves to fill the gap your kidney removal leaves which can make you sensitive to a full bowel.

It is getting better a few weeks in, but small meals are the way to go at first.

[bigbuzzard]

If you're desperate to follow Mandy's suggestion, my transplant diary from my first transplant back in 2007 is here.
Scroll down to the bottom and read from there upwards. Good luck! Both of my donors seem to have overall enjoyed the experience. I hope that's the same for you.

[smudge]

Hi Matthew
All the very best for the transplant. I donated at Georges & the care was excellent. The food, however, was something else! I recommend taking some snacks in with you. If you can get a jacket potato they're a good option as many of the other renal patients won't be able to eat them so there's usually some left! Failing that get your visitors to stock up in the M&S shop on site.

If Liz is still the Transplant Co-ordinator you will be in great hands, but if not you'll still be well looked after.

One thing they forgot to tell us was that we would be on different ends of the Ward. We had expected to be in neighbouring beds so it was a bit of a surprise to find we were being separated.

Take ear plugs, the transplant Ward is very noisy at night.

My story is somewhere on this site if you're interested in searching for it. I had a month off work & at that point was about 90% back to normal. By 3 months post-transplant I was back to 100%. Now, 4 years on it's easy to forget I did it, though I have the regular reminder of my healthy recipient who is no longer on dialysis.

Keep us posted on how it all goes.

[MatthewC]

Thanks BB - in fact I remember reading your rather graphic story some time ago. Surprisingly when I asked onThursday I was given no warnings at all!

Thanks for the advice Smudge. My brother's transplant centre isn't St George's, but our transplant nurse is also very helpful and has warned me to not rely on the hospital food! I think the idea is that I should be mobile on the Thursday so can go and buy something for myself (or else my wife will if I'm not up to it).

Not long now...

[smudge]

No ours wasn't Georges either but the surgery took place there. You won't see your own hospital's Transplant Co-ordiator, it'll be the St Georges one who looks after you. You will be up & about on Thursday though whether you'll feel up to a walk to the M&S shop by then is debatable as it's quite a way. Best dispatch the wife!

By Saturday it was a whole different situation. Having been discharged on Friday morning, I went back on Saturday afternoon to visit my friend and was perfectly fine to go & get coffees & food. Also popped onto the cardiology Ward to see another friend at the same time! I was a little tired on my return but not excessively so.

All the very best

[MatthewC]

Well, all done on Wednesday and I was discharged on Friday. Both my brother and I are doing very well and everyone is very pleased with the progress we have made. My brother's creatinine was below 200 when measured only just after the op! I think my old kidney was producing urine as soon as it was connected.

You were right, Smudge, about the distance to M&S in St Georges. As it happens, I didn't feel like eating much anyway so I didn't do the trip until I got a coffee just before I was discharged.

I've updated my blog but will do some detailed bits about the experience later.

[bigbuzzard]

Congrats and good luck to you both.

Thanks for writing the Diary of Donor blog. It's always great to hear that other people have had as good experiences of all this as I have.

[AmandaClare]

Well done! I hope you both continue to make good recoveries

[Thumps]

Congratulations, hope it all continues to go smoothly!

[Slow learner]

Great news...congrats and a speedy recovery to you both.

My wife donated to me... They tell us our results are :

Pre tx creatinine : Me 750ish She 60ish
End yr 1 post tx : Me 100ish She 100ish
End yr 2 post tx : Me 100ish She 80ish
End yr 3 post tx : Me 100ish She 60ish
End yr 5 post tx : Me 100ish She 60ish
End yr 9 post tx : Me 100ish She ...not measuring anymore but feels fine

[MatthewC]

That's interesting, SlowLearner, thanks. My brother was down to 124 at the last count and was released on Monday after last Wednesday's operation. The surgeon has explained why mine is unsurprising to be higher than his right now, and reckons that mine will come down but that his is actually likely to settle at a higher figure in the longer term. I don't care really - we're both well! He is literally "in the pink" and "bright-eyed" (but is "bushy tailed" only metaphorically).

My old kidney actually was in some sort of overdrive immediately after the transplant, and he was told to drink a ridiculous amount each day to avoid being dehydrated by excessive urine. This seemed odd to us as surely the drinking was causing the excessive urine? I think he has sorted this with salt.