Transplant Diary 10: Dream Becomes Reality by Ron Steinman

Transplant Diary 10: Dream Becomes Reality by Ron Steinman

January 6 was one of the most important days my life. While in the shower that morning I got a call from the transplant coordinator saying there could be several live donors for me. She was not specific. Her words were guarded but hopeful. I was on the verge of ending my two-year search for a live kidney donor. Yet I could not be sure how close I was to getting a transplant. Cliché or not, only time would tell. Only Eileen and I knew what was happening with the possible good news. I did not want to tell family or friends because hope is so fleeting and disappointment flourishes when reality fails. We kept what was going on to ourselves in case it collapsed.
Because this great news could become real, the transplant coordinator told me, to be safe, she wanted me to undergo added extensive testing. It was “a lets be sure” moment. So, over the next many anxiety driven months I had yet another EKG. Then I had a nuclear stress test that took most of a day. Then because an analysis thought it saw something in and around my heart from the nuclear stress test, the cardiologist set me up for an angiogram to make sure my heart was healthy. For a man my age it turns out it was nearly perfect. No action was necessary. Then I had a CT full body scan with dye. The final test was a colonoscopy, something I did not expect to ever have again but wanted by the surgeon to make sure all was right inside me. All the tests went off without incident. I met again with the surgeon who would perform the transplant. I saw a nephrologist and we had a good discussion about my general health. Nephrologists usually have wonderful bedside manners. This doctor was no different. To round things off, I had a long discussion with a finance person. I also met with a social worker and had a further discussion and meeting with my transplant coordinator. Because of certain invasive procedures, I had yet more COVID tests. All the results were excellent. After the last test the wait began and though short in time, a week actually, it seemed like forever. I asked the coordinator what was next and she replied that she, too, was waiting for results, in this case from the potential donor. I should have asked her how long I would have to wait to hear but for some reason I did not. Maybe I did not want to venture further into the unknown and possibly hear something negative.
To stay sane during the wait, I did not stray from my daily rounds. I went to dialysis. I wrote. I read. I watched TV. I cooked. I ate regular meals. I conducted my life as if nothing else was going on yet knowing that my future life was forming up somewhere and that my fate was at its center. Mostly I sat and waited. I fretted. My anxiety level soared. In the end, the wait was not really too long. Because a week after completing my round of tests I got a call from the coordinator to tell me the transplant team wanted to schedule the transplant for Tuesday, April 13. I was on my way to a new life. This past Monday I had my formal pre op including a chest X-ray, another EKG, meetings with the surgeon, the nephrologist, a pharmacist, the transplant coordinator, and a nurse who took many notes about my lifestyle. I had another COVID test at the end of the week. It was negative. Tuesday I will arrive at the hospital at 6 a.m. Prep is about one hour. Surgery will be upwards to four hours. Then into intensive care until perhaps midnight only because of it being major surgery after which the medical staff keeps a close eye on my recovery. Eileen will accompany me to the hospital and then return home on the recommendation of the hospital staff because neither she, nor anyone else will be able to see me until the next day, probably after 10 or 11 in the morning. She will hear from hospital about my progress when they have something to report and she will share with family and friends when she knows something. I will be walking within a day and home by Saturday. I know this is a lot of detail, but I thought my readers who have accompanied me on my journey would want to know the latest, so this is pretty much everything as we stand now.
After I return home, my most intensive recovery will be over the next three months, including twice a week visits to the hospital and staying away from public transportation as the immune medications take hold in my system, medications, by the way, that I will take the rest of my life. Yes, necessary in a good way, not in any way a hardship, and a very small price to pay for a longer and better life.
Final verdict from my transplant surgeon: “Good candidate. Surgically cleared to proceed.” There is no better feeling than that.
Note: Over the next year I plan to write about my adventures with my new kidney. I will call, it Transplant, Year One. Please accompany me on my upcoming journey.