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.
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