by Krissi Bates

Created on: July 06, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I just received my "new" kidney on June 11, 2007 @ Tampa General Hospital in Tampa, Florida. This is how I felt upon leaving the hospital (after only 6 days!) on June 15, 2007:

For all the doubts about this I had before, I'm glad I both waited until I was ready (i.e. 3 1/2 years on hemodialysis) and then proceeded when I reached the point of being able to mentally/emotionally handle it. I know I still have a long road ahead taking care of this kidney, but the "road" itself seems like nothing compared to what I've received.

I do want to thank my brother, my living donor, for sharing his life with me. Anyone wanting to know about organ donation should visit the website www.shareyourlife.org/

Without further adieu

I'VE BEEN FEELING GREAT. I honestly feel better than I think I have EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE (no kidding!) I can't describe it, there aren't words in my vocabulary to tell you how amazing my entire body feels. My only hope is that everything will continue on this path.

I am still in the hospital but am being discharged by mid-afternoon. We're just waiting on a couple of final labs and one more infusion of steroids. I am so so lucky that I won't be going home with a steroid prescription, too. Trust me, I know the HELL of taking daily steroids and the havoc it renders on one's system.

The ONE AND ONLY ISSUE I have right now is the fact that the high-dose steroids (SoluoMedrol) I've gotten through my IV every-other day since my admission has left me physically exhausted (steroids make you wide awake and unable to sleep for more than about 4 hours in a 24 hour period) I'm looking forward to getting through this last dose and getting home to MY OWN BED for a hopefully good night of sleep.

I am drinking bottles of water and Starbucks Venti Iced Teas by the gallon and peeing like a racehorse. Unless you've had kidney failure you might not appreciate fully the amazingness of these two simple parts of life, but they are the highlights of my days. Seeing actual pee coming out of my body is exciting!

My kidney function couldn't be any better - I went from a creatinine (pre-transplant) of 12 to an EXCEPTIONALLY PHENOMENAL level of .7 this morning. To put that into perspective, a normal range for serum creatinine is .5 - 1.5 and even most transplant recipients don't reach a completely "normal" range for sometimes a few weeks or even a few months post-transplant. I'm also outputting approximately 750 ml of urine every 2 hours (thats about how much a healthy person might put out about three times a day) My transplant nurse coordinator has told me that not only have I done excellent, I've had an exceptionally excellent transplant and recovery. That made me feel really positive about the future for the First. Time. EVER.

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