Life with a new kidney

First of all let me say this...Life without dialysis is GREAT!

I could really finish the post with that one phrase but I thought I would let you in on some of the specifics that have made it great.

My kidney transplant surgery was on September the 14th, 2010. That means that it has been 2 1/2 weeks since the surgery. And 2 weeks and 1 day since I was released from the hospital's care and went home.

I remember coming home and every little bump in the road was pretty uncomfortable, but we made it. When we got home I saw my neighbors Howard and Barbara. They greeted me and helped me to the front door. I told Howard that I was so thankful that he had installed an elevator in the building 30 years ago. I was glad to be home.

The first week felt much like the hospital. Laying in bed, and when I had to get up to go walking or do something, there was always a creative approach to getting up with the least amount of pain. I figured out that if I kept my right leg as straight as possible and rolled over on my side, I could use my arms to push me up without using my stomach muscles too much. It must have been quite a sight.

The interesting part is that besides my incision pain and discomfort, I felt great. I really wanted to get up and do something, but the pain limited me for awhile. It also didn't help that one of our boys, Duncan, had a cold. And with my suppressed immune system at its lowest, I needed to keep my distance, which meant being confine to my room.

I asked the Dr. on one of my many follow up visits, twice a week for about 3+ hours, what my immune system was in a percentage and what it would be in 6 months. He told me that you really can't measure your immune system, but he could give an estimate about what it should be. He said that at my lowest it was around 30% , which isn't a lot. But after 6 months he estimated that it would be at around 75-80%. The funny thing is that I don't feel like I have an suppressed immune system, it just feels like normal. Which makes taking precautions something that I have to be constantly thinking about. I figure between the 4 of us in our family, we probably wash our hands about 100 times per day. This doesn't include anti-bacterial gel that we keep handy as well.

When I had the surgery done, I woke up to find a row of about 20 staples over the incision site. I do have pictures of them, but trust me you don't want to see them. Quite revealing. A day under 2 weeks from surgery I went into my bi-weekly appointment and the doctor said it would be okay to remove them. Most of the pain was completely gone, but those pesky staples were really quite uncomfortable. I was glad to get them removed. They were replaced by some tape that was supposed to last about a week. But the tape didn't keep things as secure as the tape, which introduced a new kind of pain, as my new skin and scar were getting used to holding everything in without the staple support. I started with 12 pieces of tape and I am down to three. The remaining will probably come off in a day or two.

So here is why life without dialysis is great. First of all, NO DIALYSIS!! Although there have been several times that both Sarah and I have slipped back into our old routine of putting the boys down and thinking we had to come and set up the machine, only to realize a second later that we didn't have to. Each time that has happened, we rejoice.

Sarah and I used to think when we didn't have dialysis anymore that we would have so much time to do all these great things. Projects around the house, painting (one of Sarah's great gifts), and anything else we could think up. But so far we have just enjoyed being able to go to bed early and actually get 8 hours of sleep. I am sure in time we will give way to other ambitions and start doing things that we have missed out on for the last 2 years. But it is wonderful.

Also on Thursday I was cleared to drive! That felt like restored freedom. Although I didn't have anywhere to drive to except the doctor's office. But tonight I made my maiden voyage with my new kidney. It wasn't too exciting, I went to Target. The doctor wanted me to drink 3 liters of water everyday to see if I can get my Creatinine down. It is just a tad higher than he would like. Creatinine is a natural product of your body that is produced from your muscles when they are used. One of the many functions of the kidney is to remove the buildup from your body. A normal guy's creatinine should be between .6 and 1.2. Different for women. The day I went into the hospital for my surgery, my creatinine was 10.0. So I went to target to buy water. They have these great 3 liter bottles and I know that if I finish that in one day I am on target. But it is a-stinking-lot of water to drink! Try it sometime, and you will be amazed. It is the equivalent of drinking 6 of the 500 mL bottles of water.

The most interesting part of not having to do dialysis for me is how great my body feels having a working kidney. I remember that when I was on the machine I could simply flex any muscle on my body and hold it flexed and it would immediately cramp. I didn't know why that happened it just did, and I don't know why I made my muscles cramp as often as I did either. I also had restless legs at night. I would lay in bed and feel the compulsion to quickly move my legs. It was similar to being in a concert hall that was full of people, but very quiet, and suddenly you get an itch in your throat. You try to ignore it, but the more you ignore it, the more you have to clear your throat. That is how my legs felt. But since the kidney has been living in my body, I no longer cramp and I no longer have restless legs. It feels great.

Also, and this is hard to explain, but my body actually feels fresh. It feels like a room after being cleaned. Or when you lie in bed with freshly cleaned sheets. It just feels fresh. I know that is a result of all the levels of stuff in my body that were way to high, but now being at normal levels, but man does it feel great.

I can't wait for the incision to be completely healed. Right now I am only supposed to lift things 5 pounds or less. Which means no holding my boys. Although the boys went from just Duncan having a cold, to both Calvin and Duncan having a more serious cold. So I am in isolation from them, but I do venture out often, but I must wear a mask to protect myself from catching anything from them.

It just feels so great having this kidney that works. There are about 100 other little things that make this such a great new chapter in my life. I am looking forward to seeing all the unknown areas that will continue to make themselves known to me as my body continues to heal and recover from the 3 years of dialysis.