I need a new kidney.

BaronPaolo · July 2012

They do leave the old kidneys in place as there are a lot of arteries running into them. I am a kidney donor (I've had two decades of kidney jokes mate.lol) and I know that they left my sisters old kidneys in place and added mine and a fourth since as mine then packed up after 10years. This was lifespan of the donor kidney in those days with the drugs they had at that time. The drugs are better today and kidneys can last so much longer. My sisters 4th kidney is still going strong after 13 years with the newer drugs.
As rgards the op, it was murder at the time as keyhole surgery wasnt around (1985) so they cut me in half basically ,snapped out the 12th rib and out came the kidney. They took the kidney with the least arteries. Recovery time for me then was ,home after two weeks and rest up for a couple of months. My sister recovered very quickly and got a whole new lease of life.She had two kids very quickly afterwards which freaked out the quacks as kidney ops in those days were rare in Ireland and they were monitoring her closely.
Today though I think the procedure is less invasive,especially for donors like myself. However at the time it was bloody murder. It cut short my binge drinking career lol. Not much help as I'm a donor but hope u can draw something from the experience.

BIG_ROB · July 2012

They do leave the old kidneys in place as there are a lot of arteries running into them. I am a kidney donor (I've had two decades of kidney jokes mate.lol) and I know that they left my sisters old kidneys in place and added mine and a fourth since as mine then packed up after 10years. This was lifespan of the donor kidney in those days with the drugs they had at that time. The drugs are better today and kidneys can last so much longer. My sisters 4th kidney is still going strong after 13 years with the newer drugs.
As rgards the op, it was murder at the time as keyhole surgery wasnt around (1985) so they cut me in half basically ,snapped out the 12th rib and out came the kidney. They took the kidney with the least arteries. Recovery time for me then was ,home after two weeks and rest up for a couple of months. My sister recovered very quickly and got a whole new lease of life.She had two kids very quickly afterwards which freaked out the quacks as kidney ops in those days were rare in Ireland and they were monitoring her closely.
Today though I think the procedure is less invasive,especially for donors like myself. However at the time it was bloody murder. It cut short my binge drinking career lol. Not much help as I'm a donor but hope u can draw something from the experience.

Cheers BP, that is a help.

nth_london_addick · July 2012

Good luck mate I was scared my daughter would lose one earlier this year and looked into it extensively

Seems that things have moved on hugely

Good luck mate keep me posted

Can your brother not give you one of his

gilbertfilbert · July 2012

I was a medical student at Kings when kidney transplants were still a fairly new and remarkable thing -- the transplant surgeon, Mike Bewick (sp?) was an amazing bloke who was available 24/7, 365 days a year to operate, should a cadaver kidney become available. Later, I was sad to see he had some problems with the GMC.

The surgery is certainly much less invasive than it was then and my understanding is that people are up and about very quickly.

So good luck! It's now a matter of finding a compatible kidney. Just a thought: have you looked into the comparative transplant systems in the UK and France, which is better? You're still British, probably have family here, whose address you could use, and still eligible for NHS services -- I'm sure you've paid plenty of tax here over the years.

BIG_ROB · July 2012

Cheers nla, I think me brother would want too much for one of his kidneys though. ; )

My specialist over here in France has been more pro-active re. my treatment than any of my UK specialists ever were imo, so I would be inclined to stay and have the treatment here in France. Also the hospitals seem very good and I have only heard good things about them. Cheers GF, that was helpful info too mate.

BIG_ROB · May 2013

Got the phone call at 2am this morning from the surgeon, had some blood tests done for a cross match and all being well I'll have 3 kidneys by tea time. Might be off the radar for a few days (sorry @AddickUpNorth ; ))

What a nice birthday present that would be eh?

Ttfn