World Kidney Day - Child of a Transplant Recipient

Today, March 10, 2010 is World Kidney Day

It’s been over 10 years since my mother had a kidney transplant and that fact alone amazes me!  It just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.  Wow!

My mom has polycystic kidney disease.  I say has because she actually still has both her kidneys still in her body.  They won’t in fact take them out unless they get too big and start to bother her (as in, cause her pain or other health issues).  I like to call her a freak, since she has 3 kidneys, I’m mean that way.

Having polycystic kidney disease (PCKD) meant that her kidneys were not properly cleaning her blood and it was getting to the point where she was going to have to make some pretty big decisions.  I actually went with her to the one appointment when she was talking to the social worker (among others) about dialysis.  In all honesty, dialysis, in either form hemodialysis (hooked up to a machine several days a week) or peritoneal (imagine sloshing liquid in your gut with a high sugar content - meaning watching your sugar intact) is not a pretty thing.  Your life pretty much revolves around hospital visits in order to keep you blood clean.  Not pretty, but a necessary evil of kidney disease.  The other option my mom had was to get her name put on the donor list (she wasn’t at this point yet, she would have had to have dialysis regardless).

There was one other option my mom had, a long shot at best - live donor.  Since we have two kidneys, getting a kidney from someone was a definite option.  At the time my brothers were way too young.  I was the perfect age, but mom didn’t want to take the chance in case I 1. wanted to have kids (still hasn’t happened…having them, not the wanting part) or 2. I developed PCKD myself. That left other relatives.  First off, her siblings, that were healthy enough.  Coming from a large family may have finally come in handy.  In reality, none of the siblings who were of age/health to donate were a close enough match.  The options were starting to look pretty bleak at this point - dialysis and donor list.

I have no recollection of how the following came about, but my cousin offered to be tested.  She was healthy enough and young enough to be able to donate a kidney.  My mom’s siblings were not a match, so holding her breath that my cousin would match wasn’t really something to try.  By some chance happening not only was a cousin a match for my mom, she was a 5 out of 6 match!  This is almost unheard of between and aunt and neice.

My cousin happily agreed to become a donor for my mother and after the required meetings with doctors, social workers and other people, the transplant was a go.

The surgery went without a hitch.  My mom got her new kidney (which btw, goes in the front part of the pelvis, which is why the old kidneys stay…different part of the abdomen) and my cousin lost one of her kidneys.  Talk about cruel, my cousin gives up a body part and her incision/surgery is more painful than my moms.  And my mom, up and walking within hours.  No rest for the weary that’s for sure!

My cousin was able to get home for Christmas, but we weren’t sure if mom would be released from a the hotel (she had to stay close just in case) in order to be home in time for Christmas.  Again, by some miracle, my mother was progressing better than that thought she would and she was able to come home in time for Christmas.  Pretty cool present, if you ask me.

The worst part of being a transplant recipient’s family member - the stink of the drug she was on.  She was actually on LOTS of drugs (which have progressively been lessened) to prevent rejection and infection.  One of the drugs, which she had to take multiples of daily, smelled like a skunk!  It was disgusting, still is for that matter.

Ten years in and you’d never know my mom had a transplant or has PCKD.

If one thing comes of this, I just hope that everyone will sign their donor card.  There are many, many people desparately waiting for organs and body parts.  If you don’t sign your card, at least talk