In most circumstances, education is a great thing. In this circumstance I think it is an exceptionally great thing. Initially, I started documenting the whole kidney donation process because I am a picture person. I take pictures of EVERYTHING. I have even been known to photograph a noteworthy diaper to two :). But, I have decided that maybe this could be used to clear up a lot of questions regarding the kidney donation process and what is involved. Also, when (because I have faith, hope and confidence that this will work out) Josh is the donor. We can give this documentation to his recipient's mother so she can pull the whole, "look what someone did for you, you better take your anti rejection meds" card later in her teen years... IF she needs to.
So, if you ever wondered what was involved with donating a kidney... this should clear up any questions you may have and some you didn't.
The first step in donating is to fill out the form which can be found here. You can look at the form for yourself. Basically, there is a lot of just demographic stuff. On there, it asks your height, weight, calculates your BMI (which for me was depressing) and asks a limited medical history.
Second, you will eventually get a call from a member of the Kidney Transplant Team. They go over your medical history in more detail. They ask you why you want to do this and just make sure that you seem to be in it for all of the right reasons. They tell you are they are going to mail you a kit for a blood draw and give you directions on that.
Next, you get the first of many blood draws. Now, most of us do this at a hospital or doctor's office. In our family, we don't do anything conventionally. Ours was done by a family member (who is an in home nurse) at our kitchen table. They don't care where you were when the blood was drawn, just that you Fed Ex it. This blood is used for cross matching, to make sure that you have the same blood type as the recipient and to test to see if your antigens match. You can read about antigens here. We have learned that Josh and the the Princess share one antigen.
After, that is done, you get another telephone call. They ask AGAIN about your family history of kidney disease and diabetes. They ask again why you want to do this. Then, they schedule you an appointment for your donor work up.
You will get a packet in the mail that looks like this:
Inside it there are LOTS of releases, consents, information about the risks of the procedure and an appointmentpalooza itinerary.
The first part of Donor Work up day starts 24 hours BEFORE, you even go in for your appointment. You get a 24 hour urinalysis.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you carry your pee around with you in a gallon jug for 24 hours. Yes, I took pictures... I just couldn't help myself :)
Before
After
Just because :)
Appointmentpalooza day starts EARLY in the morning. We were at the hospital by 7:45.
The first step was to have labs drawn and to- you guessed it, give them MORE pee. Because a half gallon just wasn't enough :)
That man surprises me every day! I just didn't think he had anymore in him!!
The blood draw was the biggest one that he had all day. To our surprise, she said that she really didn't take more than about 3 tablespoons. This was used for cross matching and testing him for everything under the sun. Including cholesterol levels, HIV, Hepatitis...well, just everything.
Next step, one of the hairiest people I know, gets an EKG. During this test, they are checking to see if his heart is healthy, beating when it is supposed to, ect. Here is what it looks like.
He had probes everywhere... I tried to tell them that was his ARM not his HEART.. They just looked at me funny. No sense of humor :)
Do you think they will provide body waxing with the surgery ??
He does have a heart in his legs!! Who knew?!?
Not a big fan of the probe removal process...at all.
This is what we needed!! The golden ticket to go to the next phase of testing!! All is good!!
Finally, we get to celebrate with hospital food! Josh was scared that eating a fat, juicy something would mess up some of his testing. So, he had a bagel. You should all know that when I took this picture. His exact response was, "Really?" My exact response was, "This is going on the blog." I had to keep my promise :) I will never lie to you, sweetheart <3
After a quick bite AND I mean QUICK, we dashed off to the appointment with the Donor Advocate. This guy (Mr. Personality) is an independent Social Worker who's job is to make sure that Josh understands what he is doing, that there isn't any coercion going on and that he can mentally handle donating a kidney and all that it involves. I wasn't allowed in this appointment with him, but Josh said that this dude spent the first 20 minutes of the appointment trying to talk him out if it. After he realized that he wasn't budging and that Josh was pretty secure about death (only 2% of donors nation wide pass away during surgery...Vanderbilt has never lost a donor), financial risks involved in the surgery and his family was cool with things, he informed Josh that he didn't see any reason why he couldn't donate and from that point on he was HIS advocate and in HIS corner. I'd say we have him won over when the Donor Committee meets :)
I spent 45 minutes bonding with this Coke Machine :)
Next stop, to see the Nephrologist.... But we took a small detour to make sure that he was signed up for myhealthatvanderbilt so we could see his lab results. Red numbers are BAD... as you can see from the screen, he only had like two. But they weren't crazy abnormal. Just the result of being a southern man. The should have a normal all to themselves :) So, one more step to the top of that mountain was complete.
Lets talk about Nephrologists ( Kidney Specialists). They take blood pressures A LOT.
There his blood pressure was taken sitting...
And standing....
Then, the doctor took it by hand... WHILE she was telling him the risks of the surgery. Funny thing, her biggest concern was the fact that our youngest son, Biscuit, spends a lot of time in PICU. We assured her that it wasn't genetic. But, if it was, it wasn't our fault! She was cool after that and another hurdle was jumped :) Off to meet with the surgeon!! Yippie!!
He filled out forms... Only he didn't need to check any boxes. That is the kind of person that they like in the kidney donation world- The healthy kind :)
His Blood Pressure was checked...again. His temperature was checked...again. Then, we waited A LOT... a whole lot!! Then, we met with a resident- who wasn't very smart. I say this from experience, we have met him before in his peds rotation and we weren't impressed then either. Luckily, they don't let them touch anything at this stage of the game. So, we are cool. Finally, 45 minutes later the obviously color blind surgeon came in. He informed Josh the risks... again. Checked out his "canvas" told him that he would be very itchy for a few weeks because they were going to shave his hairy stomach. Then, he said that he thought that things were looking great and we would need to see what the last two tests showed. He also said that he was willing to take a picture of the kidney when it comes out!! Stay tuned for that one!!!!!!
Following the surgeon, It was time for the second set of labs. This set was used to cross match. They draw them three times total just to make sure that their isn't an error the first two times.
After labs, it was time for the chest x ray. I really don't know what they are looking for with the chest x ray. Obviously, something wrong in the heart or lungs. I think, but it was on the sheet and we had it done. I didn't get to go back with him, but here is the sign :)
Next it was time for MORE hospital food... I hope this gives you an idea of how much time has passed during appointmentpalooza.
After we ate, it was time for the biggest test of them all. A CT scan. This is the test where they run dye though his body to make sure that his plumbing matches up with the Princess'. They also use this to determine if his kidney's shape is normal, if there are two of them and that their are no stones. This test was the one that we were the most fearful of because her father got all the way to the end and was told he had stones.... it broke everyone's heart. So, here is the test....
First, you get an IV. Josh said it hurt because it was so close to the spot where they drew blood earlier that day.
Then, they placed him in the tube and took a WHOLE lot more pictures than I took :) During this process, the dye makes you feel...well... like you have peed your pants. I have never met anyone that likes the way that this makes them feel. They required Josh to drink several glasses of water when he was done to make sure that he flushed all of that out of his system. The person that did the test, unofficially confirmed that everything looked great! We felt like a weight was lifted off our shoulders!!
So, what is the next step???? We wait... I know... fun times, right!!?? I assure you that this can't be anything compared to what her Mother and Father are feeling. But, we wait. The donor committee meets on April 30th. We should HOPEFULLY hear something by May 1st. If we don't, I may explode with anticipation. I really might. If he is the one, we go for a few more tests and expect a surgical date 6-8 weeks from the date of notification.
If you are considering being a kidney donor... This process is NOTHING compared to what the recipient goes through on any given day on dialysis. Josh said, it wasn't that bad. Yes, it was a long day. No, it isn't ANYTHING compared to what he is preparing himself for following the surgery. But, is it worth it?? Absolutely, yes! Look into the eyes of any child- yours, a family friends or just one in the grocery store line and tell me, you wouldn't take pain if you knew it could stop theirs. If you can... kidneys aren't your problem... you need a heart.
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