I called the transplant coordinator this morning to learn they are keeping the original 3 donor/recipient pairs and my surgery will be in late June! I won't have a specific date until May though as all the travel and other coordination needs to be worked out. I am excited - happy that I am not "losing" my recipient... and particularly pleased that the other recipient who has had issues being able to move forward with a transplant is still in my group. :)
Medical Minutes in Urology from Dramatic Health
(1-2 minute-long YouTube videos)
Kidney Donor Program: What Do You Know?
Kidney Donation: Medical Advances
Kidney Donation: Living With One Kidney
Kidney Donation: Impact on Lifestyle
Living Kidney Donation vs. Non-Living
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
3rd delay :(
I was thinking today that I should call for an update... then who should call me but my transplant coordinator, Michael Garrels, at around 4:30 p.m. today.
There is a glitch such that there is an issue with one of the recipient's in my group. My recipient is OK and we can continue as planned with just one other donor/recipient pair potentially within the same time frame. Or, in order to complete the original donor-recipient chain, we could wait until the recipient is 'better' then possibly have the surgeries done in June. That is quite a delay from March...
I don't feel I can make any type of decision regarding this. I don't feel it's up to me to decide who gets a kidney now, or who has to wait for one. I explained this to Michael who said that that made it easier to approach the other donor-recipient pair (apparently I was the first person in the 3-pair group he called, I guess because I'm the anonymous donor).
There are 3 options moving forward:
1. Don't wait - 2 transplants can take place probably in March
2. Wait - 3 transplants can take place probably in June
3. Get a different potential recipient match and possibly my transplant surgery will get done 'sooner' or just as soon
The results of each of these options is:
For #1, I could get a surgery date by the end of the week.
For #2, I won't get a date (in June) for probably another month.
For #3, it's hard to say when this will take place as I will have a new recipient; as long as my recipient is an actual match, it should be able to get scheduled fairly shortly with the other donor-recipient pairs after the new cross-match run.
I shared this news with Erika (my HR friend).
The transplant coordinator felt concern for me that I have to wait so long for this to take place but when I have this surgery is of no consequence to me. I am not going to say, "Sorry, person-needing-a-kidney; I have vacation plans, you must wait! It's the recipients who need our living kidneys sooner than later.
I just told Michael that whatever works out best for the most people is how I look at it so he said he'd get back to me within the week.
There is a glitch such that there is an issue with one of the recipient's in my group. My recipient is OK and we can continue as planned with just one other donor/recipient pair potentially within the same time frame. Or, in order to complete the original donor-recipient chain, we could wait until the recipient is 'better' then possibly have the surgeries done in June. That is quite a delay from March...
I don't feel I can make any type of decision regarding this. I don't feel it's up to me to decide who gets a kidney now, or who has to wait for one. I explained this to Michael who said that that made it easier to approach the other donor-recipient pair (apparently I was the first person in the 3-pair group he called, I guess because I'm the anonymous donor).
There are 3 options moving forward:
1. Don't wait - 2 transplants can take place probably in March
2. Wait - 3 transplants can take place probably in June
3. Get a different potential recipient match and possibly my transplant surgery will get done 'sooner' or just as soon
The results of each of these options is:
For #1, I could get a surgery date by the end of the week.
For #2, I won't get a date (in June) for probably another month.
For #3, it's hard to say when this will take place as I will have a new recipient; as long as my recipient is an actual match, it should be able to get scheduled fairly shortly with the other donor-recipient pairs after the new cross-match run.
I shared this news with Erika (my HR friend).
The transplant coordinator felt concern for me that I have to wait so long for this to take place but when I have this surgery is of no consequence to me. I am not going to say, "Sorry, person-needing-a-kidney; I have vacation plans, you must wait! It's the recipients who need our living kidneys sooner than later.
I just told Michael that whatever works out best for the most people is how I look at it so he said he'd get back to me within the week.
Monday, January 11, 2010
YouTube monologue
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Good New and Bad News
I just spoke with the transplant coordinator Michael Garrels (x 5889).
He said the good news is that the cross match test I did last week came back negative. There were no reactions from the recipient and this is the most sensitive test they can do for compatibility.
The bad news is that there have been further delays in performing the transplant surgeries. The new date will now be sometime at the end of March 2010.
I asked a few more questions even though I've heard all this before... but basically there are 3 pairs in my match group. I am the one responsible for starting the domino effect effectively giving 3 recipients a kidney. The respective loved ones of 2 recipients are also donors then the remaining recipient comes from the deceased donor list to close off the chain reaction.
It all sounds great although now I have to wait 3 more months...
In the meantime, I've connected with a fantastic role model, Macey Leigh! (I am biased, we share the name "Leigh"). She's in fantastic shape as she competes in fitness competitions and is big on health but more interestingly and importantly she's an advocate for organ donation and particularly living kidney donors - she is a living kidney donor!
Here is her main website: Macey Leigh
He said the good news is that the cross match test I did last week came back negative. There were no reactions from the recipient and this is the most sensitive test they can do for compatibility.
The bad news is that there have been further delays in performing the transplant surgeries. The new date will now be sometime at the end of March 2010.
I asked a few more questions even though I've heard all this before... but basically there are 3 pairs in my match group. I am the one responsible for starting the domino effect effectively giving 3 recipients a kidney. The respective loved ones of 2 recipients are also donors then the remaining recipient comes from the deceased donor list to close off the chain reaction.
It all sounds great although now I have to wait 3 more months...
In the meantime, I've connected with a fantastic role model, Macey Leigh! (I am biased, we share the name "Leigh"). She's in fantastic shape as she competes in fitness competitions and is big on health but more interestingly and importantly she's an advocate for organ donation and particularly living kidney donors - she is a living kidney donor!Here is her main website: Macey Leigh
Waiting on information from another province
I spoke with Sherry this morning and there is no news yet. Toronto General is ready to go but with my group of donors/recipients apparently they're still waiting on information before any coordinator can be done on this end.
There were 2 match runs done and mine involves 1 or 2 other provinces. I left a voice mail for Michael with all my contact numbers. I would really, really love to get a surgery date before the holidays!
There were 2 match runs done and mine involves 1 or 2 other provinces. I left a voice mail for Michael with all my contact numbers. I would really, really love to get a surgery date before the holidays!
Friday, December 18, 2009
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About Me
- Roz
- I married Lorne on Saturday, August 13, 2005. Our children Benjamin and Brittany live with us and our 3 dogs Bailey, Rex, Leo, and Molly the cat.