Not Kidney – But Important

I added a Short page that Explains The Canadian Economic Stimulus Package.   It’s an enlightening but true Explanation of it.   DEFINITELY WORTH A READ !

Here’s the Link    Explains The Canadian Economic Stimulus Package  Enjoy and Think about it !

2 Days of Pre-Transplant Meetings & Tests

I was in Vancouver for 2 days of Pre Transplant Meetings and Testing.

I have, in the proceeding 3 months, successfully gone through numerous Blood Testing, Ultrasounds, X-rays, ECG’s, Immunizations and More Bloodwork .  ( As have 2 potential Donors ). Now We’re getting down to the short strokes. Pre transpalnt Meetings / Tests.

Day 1,  Transplant Surgeon, Transplant Nephrologist, Blood-work, Transplant Social Worker.

Day 2 was 7 am – 2pm of hurry up and wait MIBI testing ( heart testing )

Here’s the jist of it from my perspective.

Pre transplant Meetings – Step 1

Step 1,  The Transplant Surgeon, ( the Guy who does the actual surgery) .

The Surgeon ( & Coll and I) discussed my medical history and previous surgery’s , he explained the surgery, how its done, where to put it, removing old ones ( not likely as they are not giant sized or causing pain ), We then talked about the surgery week and following weeks checkups. I was not aware of the fact the new Kidney is not hooked to the nervous system,  its purely a non communicating filter, hence the blood-work to monitor function and new kidney health.

There are 2 schools of thought on when to actually do the transplant.  NOTE : The avg. life of a transplanted donor kidney is 20 years. 

Option # 1  is to hold off as long as you can, if waiting isn’t doing much harm to your other organs,  as you buy more time on the back end of your new kidneys life,  ie.  kidneys done when I’m 68 vs 67 yrs old.  At my current function level and pre dialysis level this could apply to me.

Option # 2 is to get it done asap, even a bit before starting dialysis in my case as It gets me healthy sooner and back to a full life.

We’re planning on option 2, Transplant Sooner than Later as I need the Life back now. We have a 14 yr old son and I have not been able to be as active in his life as either of us wants,  and I don’t have many more years when he will be living with us or wanting to do stuff with “the old guy “.  I also think he could “take me” fairly soon and I’m not ready to quit saying ” Old Guy Power ” when I OWN Him in sports or whatever.    Then there’s my Incredible Wife whose starting to worry is having to carry more of the household responsibility on top of being a Key Player in keeping 3 boutiques running.  It puts extra stress on her when she needs it least.  Why should I go to work and use up 90 % of my energy there with very little left for my family.  No need right.

The Doctor was also implying the purpose of the transplant is to give me back a full and fruitful life and there’s no reason not to live life fully. Some people overly baby the new kidney, but moderation and common sense should prevail ( and good abdominal armor for downhill mountain biking ). SO live the healthy life you’ve been give.  OK ! !   I’ll make him proud !

He was great to deal with, spoke at a level we understood and thoroughly answered all our questions.

Pre Transplant Meetings – Step 2

 

The Transplant Nephrologist ( kidney doctor )

He reviewed the complete process, discussed when to do the transplant from a GFR ( level of kidney function ) angle and donor considerations. We discussed all possible problems that can occur both short and long term including drug side affects ( there was nothing that would make me say no ). That’s the way I/we like it, all the facts to plan and decide with.  Once again He was great to deal with, spoke at a level we understood and thouroughly answered all our questions.    Here’s the typical drill :

The Transplant process goes something like this, 

- Monday is the Surgery Day for both Recipient and Donor, 

- Donor is discharged that Thursday, Recipient Discharged that Friday.  The Donor recovery is much quicker than the recipientsdue to the Donors Surgery being much less invasive. 

- The Recipient ( ME ) will spend the next approximate 8 weeks with Renal Unit Checkups every Monday and Thursday morning. They’ll be tweaking meds to ensure no rejection issues arise and if they do ( which is not uncommon ( they catch it quickly and everything is peachy. Losing a Kidney to rejection IF you follow thier program is VERY Rare.  The first 2 weeks after surgery , no driving, but walking is not really a problem.

- When it looks like things are stable for a few visits they knock the visits back to once a week which I can do in Kelowna,  Until then I’ll be mostly near Vancouver.  I’m guessing I’ll do a couple Thurs afternoon – Sundaynite  trips back home  as its only a 4.5 hr drive, If its summer that this is done I here recovery on a Boat on Okanagan Lake is most benificial, for both Donor and Recipient.

- Time off work is typically 3 – 4 months. ( We’ll see )

 

Next Appointment was Lab Work re TISSUE TYPE TESTING for compatability, Both my Wife and I had our blood taken to be used to Tissue Match her as a possible donor as all her preliminary tests showed she is a strong candidate. At the same time another family member / potential donor 1700 km’s away,  had his blood drawn and had it Flown to Vancouver for Tissue Typing testing this week.

It will be a week of waiting to get the preliminary results back on the tissue typing,  then hopefully pic a date !

Pre Transplant Meeting Step 3

The Transplant Social Worker meeting was the longest.

( the only other time I met with a social worker was when I was 19 yrs old, was flat broke going to Electrical trade school.   EI said I would have to quit school if any job came up ie. Pumping gas,  so I said No !  as I wanted to get the course done to better my job prospects for the rest of my life.  They said try  ’ Social Assistance’ so I did and told them I only needed 1/2 the money they offered, and that’s was it.  I was truly shocked to later find out I was on ” Welfare ” .   As soon as my Electrical Course ( 4 months) was done I bought a Thank you Card  and sent it to my Social Worker asking to stop paying me as I was going to get any job I could now that my Course was done and when the province wide strike was over I’d start an Elect. Apprenticeship . So ended my Welfare Carrier and my only Social Worker experience. I wonder if that thank you card is on display somewere, 26 yrs later.)
 
 My lovely wife was not allowed in this one as she is a potential donors.   The Social Worker process was basically  ensuring :

A) I knew what was involved in the transplant process and the 2 – 3 months after transplant and the commitment for the rest of my life in taking anti-rejection drugs and periodic blood-work and checkups,  and that I would lose the new kidney if I didn’t keep up with the meds & checkups.    

B) ensuring I thought about all the potential outcomes for myself and my DONOR at all stages of the process., even the worst case cenario’s and how I mught react.

C) considered  Donor’s possible motivations and feelings , the act of donating, the things the social workers will discuss with the donor and any possible changes in OUR DYNAMIC post transplant.  ( I told him about my hating to even borrow stuff or asking for help and how this was a mind bender for me, but I was coming to terms with it and how it is really the best thing for my family and I.  But I’d do the same for anyone else.  Also my #1 Donor Choice explained to me his motivations and set me straight on it not being such a sacrifice on the Donor side and how amazing an opertunity Donating Will Be.  ( the Social Worker dude then beat me with a hose until I admitted I was a moron and would stop my Stupid thinking,  the beating part isn’t true, he actually cemented in the conversation from my #1 Donor Choice, I am no longer a Moron, from a kidney standpoint anyway :O   )

D) discussed my curent family / support plan pre and post op and during the first 3 months after.  ( ie.  I can’t drive for about 2 weeks after getting Surgered (  TM. ), that sucks )

E)  Recovery Time and the importance of NOT overdoing it.     ( I asked if I could put in a Coma for 2 months so I couldn’t overdue it during healing as I have been known to do any other time I was supposed to ” take it easy” . The Coma part is BS )

F) Accommodation options,  I’ll likely be at my sisters the 1st 2 – 3 weeks of recovery ?.  Then  maybe visit / couch surf or car camp a bit ( with help from my Son )  or Do some exploring of the lower mainland with my wife and Son ?  (  I’d really like to mtn bike the north-shore, but that will have to wait until next year and for my custom abdominal body armor   ).

So the Social Worker meeting was GREAT as it pulled it all together and makes sure you have all the info going in FOR SUCCESS.

Pre-Transplant Meeting Step 4

Day 2    The M I B I test.    ( Radioactive Die Heart Test )
   You show up at 7 am, no caffeine products for the preceding 24 hrs.
They put in an IV needle for the various injections throughout the day.
- Then Shoot you up with a dose of radio active juice.
- wait a couple hours then put you on a Cat scan type ( Gamma Ray Camera ? ) thing for 20 – 30 min of pictures.
- wait another hour then the stress test.  They put a bunch of electrode pads and a blood pressure cup on you.  They figure out the heart rate you need to exceed to get a valid test ( mine was above 147 bpm)  if you can’t do the treadmill they shoot you up with heartrace 1000 to get it pumping, I def. prefer to get me heart racing old school style,  on the treadmill.
  Once your above the target bpm you go as long as you can.  When you feel your close to spent you tell them and they inject the Special Shot via the IV and you have to run for 1 more minute for the test to be valid, they they slow you down.
     During the run they speed it up a couple mph and and a couple degrees incline every 2 ? Minites then check your BP .
  I got to my Target heart rate 147 bpm, but said keep it going. They bumped it up a couple more speeds /  inclines ( then I heard them yelling at me ” we have to shut the treadmill down , it can’t take this speed and its starting to smoke ‘ I yelled back ‘ wind up the other treadmill , I’m just getting my stride and I didn’t get outta my Penny Loafers and into my Runners for nothin ‘ )   Back to reality,    I hit 170  bpm and held it for about 2 min. but had to give the   ‘ I can only go 1 minute more  signal ( at about 12 min ) when it bumped up the 5th or 6th gear and i’m guessing 10 degree incline .   ( I’ve been living a Fat Bastard lifestyle since my out of control skier crashing into me and tearing my ACL- knee injury at Christmas and 3 weeks of Safari and lazy travel trip. ).   I’m sure I didn’t have to do that much, but what the heck, leave it all on the field right.    I cooled down and they took their last reading and ripped off the electrodes, pulled the IV line and told me to come back in 2 hrs for the lay there for 20 – 30 min Cat Scanny thing.  At 2 pm I was done for the day.   Not a bad day, I read a lot of good newspapers and was enjoying reading ” the Economist Mag” , it’s actually got a lot of good articles in it.   I remeber saying that about another magazine many years ago :O ,   So now we wait for a week or two for results.

. . .

 I spent the next hour walking around downtown/ Westend Vancouver thinking about the upcoming transplant and how I’d likely be spending a lot of time there during recovery, mostly around English Bay, Grandville Island or . . . I ended up at a Starbucks on the corner of Denmam and Davie St. Sittting up to the window bar with my coffee and looking out on the water of English Bay thinking ‘ I AM SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED TO BE RECIEVING A NEW KIDNEY / NEW LEASE ON LIFE , FOR MY FAMILY AND I ‘

I felt a peace about the coming events and a desire to really make a differance with my life.

How do you convey Thanks for something like that with words ?

You don’t, you show it / live it, day to day , AND PAY IT FORWARD ! , for that too, I can hardly wait !.