Kidney Transplant...It Wasn't About Me

After being at my daughter's home for some time

improvement came slowly. I had blood tests two days a week

for the first two months, and I saw the doctors every other

week. The 50 to 60 pills I was on slowly decreased to 40 to

50. Now I am taking 31 pills.

I still could not do much and was extremely tired. I

had two iron infusions and waited for weeks for the iron

to kick in. Waiting for increased strength and energy seemed

to take forever.

Since there was little I could do about any of this, I

had a lot of time to think. I knew months before that this

experience was not necessarily about me. Sure, I needed

a kidney transplant, but there was a much bigger picture.

What was truly wonderful was realizing that my daughter

and I had the opportunity to help many more people

because of our experience.

We found out about different community activities

we could participate in (such as a 5K fundraiser) that was

coming up in Aug. of this year. We realized that we could

send articles into publications interested in human experience

stories. My doctor in California requested that I become a

kidney transplant ambassador and share my experience at

educational events helping people learn more about transplants

and organ donation. (My daughter has also been asked to

be an ambassador of sorts for organ donation from the

donor side; stay tuned in the next blog post for ways you

can help in this important effort.) We realized that we could

also help more people just by seeing the needs around us.

I think we have more empathy and can be of greater

service to our fellow human beings because of what we have

experienced. I know for myself and my daughter, we have

such a passion to spread the word about organ donation and

all the many ways people can help save lives.

This started out as a trail, it then became a journey,

and  now an eye opening adventure. I have learned many

things about myself, my life's mission, and the goodness

that is still in people (despite the chaos out in the world),

and especially the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the

eternal love of a Heavenly Father.

I am so grateful for all that has happened to me, to

help me understand better where I need to go with my life

and better serve the needs of family, friends, and people

around me. It has been a wonderful learning opportunity

for all of us.

Kidney Transplant...The Test After The Test

        

         We got home and got settled in. My daughter was

comfortable lying on the couch, and I was comfortable

in my recliner. My husband had been here in Utah for

a week and needed to get back to work in California, so

he had to leave...that was hard. My other daughter and

my brother were here for a few weeks to help both of

us during recovery. We were very blessed to have them

sacrifice their time and energy to help us.

           It was very difficult to even walk at all. The pain

was much more than I ever thought. Thank goodness for

the pain pills; that helped some. I thought that once I

received the kidney I would have a lot more energy and

feel great. I forgot I was in my early sixties, and my body

would need a lot longer to heal then my daughter who is

twenty-five years my junior.

          Unfortunately, my right leg was bothering me.

While I was in the hospital, I complained of pain and

numbness from my right hip to my knee. The doctors told

me not to worry, and it was likely from the surgery. It

would eventually go away. I also had pain in my foot, but

they did not seem too worried about that either. To ease

the leg pain, even a little bit, the only place I could stay

was in the recliner chair. I slept there, too. Little did I

know I would be sleeping in that chair for a month, only

sleeping about two–three hours each night. I knew that

I needed more sleep for my body to heal properly, but that

was the only place I could be comfortable at all. My

daughter was able to sleep in her own bed, which was a

blessing for her and her recovery.

          Early the next morning I had an appt. with the

surgeon. That was extremely difficult to go and do all

that moving around. The pain was terrible! The doctors

said that the pain in my right hip, thigh, and leg were

from the nerve. It was likely stretched during surgery

and would take a long time to heal. It felt like the numbness

of Novocaine that you might get at the dentist's office, but

with hot needles stabbing continually at the same time.

The staples and stitches from the kidney transplant

were painful as well. However, one bright note...the kidney

was functioning great! There are blessings even in the worst

of circumstances...we just have to look for them.

          Weeks went by, and I still couldn't do anything but

stay in my recliner. (Thank goodness it was comfortable.)

I was very surprised by how tired and weak I felt. I had

to take between 50-60 pills (result of the transplant) which

were giving me terrible side effects: tremors, hot flashes,

weakness, feeling tired, insomnia, and un-steadiness, to

name a few symptoms plus, we found out the pain in the

bottom of my left foot was actually gout. It felt like I was

stepping on shards of glass each time I put pressure on my

left foot. So, the pain was excruciating! I stayed on pain

pills longer than expected because of it, although, even the

pain pills didn't seem to help.

         I kept wondering why I had to go through so much

pain and suffering after the transplant when I had felt so

much better before the transplant even with my kidney

function as low as 7%...at least I had energy. During this

journey of pain and suffering (with so much time to ponder

life), I learned a few things.

         I had a few epiphanies that have impacted my life.

I found that all sadness, pain, suffering (physical and

mental) connect with the atonement (that Jesus Christ

suffered on our behalf.) During the first part of my journey,

I learned to listen to Him and let Him “drive the bus” so

to speak. Stop trying to take the steering wheel away from

Him. He knows so much better what is best for each of us.

I learned to depend on Him more and have patience.

You cannot force a tulip to come up in December...you need

to let nature take its course and be patient until the Spring

when it has had the time needed to grow, and then blossom.

         During the second part of my journey, I found the

principle of acceptance was key in my learning process.

It's amazing to me that when we accept what the Lord has

in our path, it is much easier to follow Him than resist or

try to force a 'square peg into a round hole'. He always

knows what will help us learn and grow the most. Through

this journey, I have learned so much about empathy and

want to help others more.

         I thought that getting the transplant would be the

end of the waiting and the physical and mental roller-

coaster but that was not to be the case. As my daughter

has said, “This is the test after the test.” There were

more important tests yet to come during this journey

of a kidneytransplant.