My Kidney Journey: Get to the Point

One of my newest friends tells the story of how Social Media (Twitter) Stole Her Kidney, well, I gave mine away at the Quick Lube.

Sitting at lunch one day with my girlfriend, I learned of a friend of hers needed a kidney. This man, this single father of a ten and twelve year old, this fellow Pathwanian, this HUMAN BEING was dying. He had 15% kidney function and PKD was taking his life, his children's father, his future from him. I had to ask twice, "I am O+, what do I do," before she even heard me. She couldn't even fathom that I would make such an offer for a complete stranger. My husband, children and friends are all super supportive and behind my donation 100%.

The next day, the process began. First, the application full of personal questions like medical history, legal history, mental history and body fat percentage.

Then, depending on your transplant center, there are a few days of testing. The first day, for me was the hardest. We left Dallas at 3am to be in Houston at 7. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight, and I was a little nervous so not much sleep that night anyway. 

After fighting Houston traffic, finding the hospital, and parking the car, the wonderful folks in the transplant center sent me to a vampire who promptly drew 25 or so vials of blood, ow what a sharp point, there. (And I thought the obstetrician's office was bad...) Then you get vitals checked and meet, one by one, the transplant team. The donor advocate, the psychiatrist, the transplant coordinator, the dietician, the nephrologist and the nurses. I tell you what, friends, I have never met nicer people in my life. I really love these guys. With the no food, no sleep, and anxiety, by the end of the day I had a serious puking migraine and nobody cared. They were all so very kind. 

Day one went well and all my tests were good. We found out that my kidney function is awesome, my cholesterol is good, and I am generally a pretty healthy person. Right before Day two we received the amazing news that my recipient and I are a perfect antigen match and that I can donate directly to him. On Day Two, we had a chest X-ray, EKG, and a GFR test where they inject radioactive dye into your blood and run a test to check your kidney function. (Can you say incredible hulk, well, not really but it WAS radioactive, hehehe.) Day three, well that was fun back to the obstetrician again, with the Glucose Tolerance test...ewwwwww. I now have medical documentation that says I am extra sweet. We also did a CT and met with the surgeons to decide which kidney they're going to use. 

With all the testing done, we know now that I will be donating my left kidney. We had a surgery date but it is put on hold, pending a visit to the infectious disease doctor. It seems that at some point in my life I have been exposed to TB. I may or may not have the bacteria in my system inactively (Latent TB, am not sick and cannot spread the bacteria), but we need to find out before we have the transplant. If I do have Latent TB, I will have to undergo up to three months of medication before we can continue and have the surgery.

My recipient and I are excited to proceed. I cannot wait to see him healthy and interacting with his children. I hope to have a positive update for you very soon!! If you pray, please pray that this test will go well and that we can continue in the next couple of weeks.

The point?  Well, with almost 200,000 people waiting for a kidney today, won't you consider sharing the gift of Life???