Kidney is Magna Cum Laude

I have “graduated” from the first phase of post-transplant care. We are at home and recovering nicely.

Following a week-long hospital stay, we were asked to report for labwork every morning for two weeks. The transplant team provides close monitoring of vitals, checks blood work for medicine levels and watches for early signs of rejection of the new kidney. During the immediate post-transplant period, they also deliver training on long term transplant care, help with developing a plan for daily medicines, and offer mental health services if needed.

Because I was able to receive a kidney from a living donor, and because she has amazing kidneys, my new kidney hit the ground running, and was working at a high level from the start. It really went to work, and I passed almost six gallons of fluid in the first twenty-four hours after transplant! Much of that was retained fluid we later learned, because when I stepped on the scales, I had “lost” seventeen pounds!

We stayed in the hotel a couple of blocks away for the first week until I felt comfortable enough and was ambulatory enough to come home. I rest much better at home, so we commuted back and forth for a week or so until I officially “graduated” from this phase of care over the weekend. I am now on a twice-a-week schedule for reporting labs, and I am able to take advantage of UAB’s outreach clinic in Leeds rather than travel to downtown and park. I will be on this schedule for another month or so at which time I will step down to once a week for labs for a couple of months, then once a month and so forth.

I am regaining strength and endurance every day. I’ve been walking in the neighborhood and I’ve been able to get out for a couple of events in town. I’ve been working from home some, and in the office a little. I plan on working a good bit more in the office next week. We plan on playing on the lake some this weekend, but not “in” the lake. I won’t be able to swim for probably the rest of the summer, both from incision healing and to safeguard against infection while I am still on such heavy doses of anti-rejection and immunosuppression medications.

Speaking of medications, they are the leading culprits in the only two complaints that I can report. Even though the dosages have been reduced a few times because of both the treatment protocols and because of how well everything is working, I am still taking a double handful of pills each day, and some of them are causing some cramping in my hands and legs, and even worse, insomnia. The cramping happens at night, and coupled with the insomnia, many nights find me staring at the ceiling for hours. Both are uncomfortable, but tolerable, and the doctors say that as the dosages continue to decrease, so will the side effects. Patience, they say... have patience.

I’ve seen many of you around town this week as I am getting back in the swing of things. Everyone has had a smile, a hug, an encouraging word, and each one has been a blessing. We’ve had so much going on this last month or so, and we have had a lot of people looking out for us. Thanks for the calls, texts, cards (I see you Athens FUMC Outreach Class!), meals, prayers, and love. We are just about ready to turn the page on kidney transplant and start getting ready for round two coming up in August.

Thank you for taking this journey with us.