6/9/06

17) Transplant Options

June 8, 2006
Thursday

Transplant Possibilities:
When I was approved for a kidney transplant by the Austin Kidney Transplant Program back in January, I was put on a list of people awaiting a cadaver kidney. This list is a central Texas list, including the area around Austin, San Antonio, and Temple. They say the list is about four years long. There are other lists that I could get on in Houston, Dallas, etc., but if I got a kidney from one of those lists I would have to go to those cities for the transplant operation and the recuperation process (about 8 weeks). Aside from a cadaver kidney, the only other option is to get one from a live donor; someone who decides to give a kidney to a person on the transplant list.

Over the past few months, several friends have inquired about how they could go about donating a kidney to me. One of them had an incompatible blood type and the other is still waiting to find out what blood type they are. There are a number of criteria involved in becoming a kidney donor, including age (generally a donor must be between 25 and 49); blood type (for donating to me that would be type A or O); cross-match testing (antigen compatibility has to be established); and generally the donor must be in good health (no heart problems, diabetes, weight problems, high blood pressure, etc.). There is a good article on donating kidneys, entitled Who Can be a Living Donor? (see Links on the sidebar).
I would be happily honored to discuss kidney donation with anyone who is interested. One reason I started this blog was to get the word out about my situation and to broadcast my need for a new kidney. Back in Insight* we used to say, "All the blessings already are." and I know that it is also helpful to ask the universe for what you want.

El Milagro: At the dialysis center I feel like I'm back to normal… I’m here for the afternoon session, and the staff all act happy to see me back, and are asking if I plan to stay with the afternoons. Tori cannulated me and asked if I am back for good. I tell him “Yes, I like the late afternoon sessions better than the early morning sessions cause a lot of the time I was wiped out at work”. Jennifer the Dietician visits and reports on my blood work from Monday; it was for a blood count and mine is high! (That’s good) I missed lab work on Tuesday so she advised that I have a week’s reprieve to work on getting my phosphorous levels down some more. I told her I’ve been taking my binders.

While sitting there, I am thinking about Billy Preston dying earlier this week, after years of kidney problems and a transplant in 2002. I remember how crazy I was about his contributions (keyboards on Get Back, etc.) on Let it Be way back in 1970. And, of course, he was a Texan from Houston, which I never knew until reading his obituary. You can read more about Billy Preston at his website,
http://www.billypreston.net/

Notes: Weighed in at 73.9 Kg. and out at 71.6.


*Insight Transformational Seminars: online at http://www.insightseminars.org/

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