Tuesday, January 5, 2010

#5 Welcome to the Paired Donation Network

Some good news for a new year!!!


Well got some good news today. I received a call this morning from the kidney transplant coordinator. As mentioned previously, today my mother and I's case was presented to all the doctors. All of my test results looked great and healthy, so we were approved. We are now entered into the Paired Donation Network computer database. What happens now? We wait.......this seems to be what has required most of my time thru this process...waiting.... Every 3 months, all the different cases are entered into this program that tries to pair up as many possible matches. I had mentioned in a previous blog that they are now doing up to 32 kidney donations through this paired donation interwoven web of technology. So that means 64 people all went under the knife so 32 people could receive their transplant. Here are some examples:


I asked, and the last time they tried to pair everyone was 1-1.5 months ago. So we wait. I'm going to say 2 months. When/if this attempt fits us into a set of matches then I go and get blood work done again to reassure I will crossmatch whoever I have been paired to donate to. More tests will be done after that result comes in.
These multiple people donations require a lot of time and effort and tests. Everyone is set up to be in surgery at the same time. This is to ensure that everyone goes through with the donation. They don't want me to give up my kidney, but the person who is donating to my mom, back out.
In the meantime, my brother, who is the most likely person to match my mother (remember I was adopted so I am not blood related), was finally allowed to be tested. He went to have his blood drawn over the holidays while he was in town to see if he is a crossmatch. They originally wouldn't test him because they thought he had a problem with his blood pressure. This was many years ago, and a one time thing. Hence, not an ongoing issue. They made him also take home a computerized Blood Pressure monitor that stored his readings for 24 hours. His tests will come back in about 3 weeks.
Mom's leg is healing finally. It's slow, but doing better. Not hurting nearly as much, and she is able to get around without a crutch now. Her blood pressure is still a bit low, but much better than over the holidays. She is still on Dialysis 3 times a week. She says now she looks forward to dialysis, cause it makes her feel better. She usually does pretty good the day after dialysis, but is definately tired by the time it comes around again. Her itching is as persistant as ever. Drives her crazy, and drives me crazy watching her suffer through it. I wish that there was a cure or at least find something that relieves it just a little bit. Nothing helps, and this is not just something she goes through, it's a dialysis thing.