re: Kidney Transplants, Anyone?

I’ll happily give you some of my kidney stones.

Good luck in the surgery brother to a speedy recovery

Have family who underwent kidney and liver transplants. Both are alive and well over a decade since and leading productive lives. I will say, though, that the common denominator between the two was developing diabetes due to the immunosupressant drugs, which has taken a toll on their bodies over the years.

A relative of a friend had one. He was bad off and in the hospital often. I think a virus took his kidneys. Finally got a transplant last year. He’s doing well now. I think he’s in his mid-20s.

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artisticsavant

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First, I wish you well and hope everything works out well for you.

Your post really piques my interest , though.

I have a question about how you came to learn your kidney wasn't doing so hot... was it the fatigue, itching and itch related insomnia?

I have a person with this exact constellation of issues that has cropped up in the past year or two. He just had a 'cardiac score' done, but it was clean/good. He's 46 and I worry for him that something is wrong aside from simple aging. He can't hardly sleep for the itching, tried different soaps, lotions, creams, prescriptions. He naps almost daily after work. Quit drinking, doesn't smoke, eats okay.

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this would be the path as lab work changed, worsened. I haven't hit dialysis level yet

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What is your GFR number? I was at 34, then had a surgery where my chart clearly said, "NO CONTRAST". They administered contrast anyway. It brought me to 27.

Good luck.

Thank you, Jimbeaux!

I volunteered to donate a kidney to a friend. We went through the testing process and I was not a match. The doctor gave my friend a packet explaining the transplant process and what to expect.

Livingdonors.com
Matchingdonors.org
LOPA.org

Living Donors has a membership fee, and you will end up talking to ppl from all over the world, some wanting money. Then they have to be sent a test kit from hospital, complete it, and send it back. Voluntary donors have to be committed to the process, which is probably one reason why they ask for money. Parent had a liver transplant in ''02, and, due to years of anti rejection medication, needed a kidney transplant roughly 10 yrs later. Had liver transplant in FL at Mayo. Dr. said FL was a good place for organ transplants, as they had no helmet law at the time. If you are old, priority is given to younger people, as my parent was 74 at the time of kidney transplant. Since list was long, said we needed to find one on our own. Since she was not internet savvy, the project fell to me. Must've talked to a couple hundred ppl, and ended up finding one on our own, which is a whole other story in itself. Bottom line, I would be still looking on my own, even if on a list. Good Luck to you.

Good morning, everyone. Or it's still morning to me, wrestling is still real to me, dammit, or wherever in the world you are. It's not morning but it's my morning routine which is a bit weird. It's been an adventure with my experience, and thank you to those prior to my post who shared experiences, encouragements, prayers. It's all appreciated an awful lot. This experience of being off work for four solid months now and the sleep patterns is a little teenager summer vacation meets "I don't know where the day went"

Jimbeaux - wow, that sounds like it's been quite a journey for you. I expect when I can unscramble my brain with some morning/not morning coffee to charge me up I'll have some questions. There's a lot I've been looking at but somehow the surgery itself feels like the least of my problems. I've got a brother who SHOULD be a match but he's been dragging arse, so I have talked with a longtime local friend who is also a blood match. However it works out I've got lives like a cat so I have a few remaining.

SallysHuman - How I found out about the deterioration with my kidney health, or the lone survivor kidney... i'd been seeing a specialist since either 09 or 2010, and was getting regularly monitored lab work, once a year visits. Around 2022 the creatinine numbers were slightly changing, so here in 2025 they have changed significantly. I think at the time in 2022 he noticed changes. I was steadily around 0.2/0.4 and over time, steadily climbing. 1.1, 1.4, etc and now creatinine numbers are now around 6. GFR and BUN numbers, I'm not too sure of the numbers. Basically it was "your numbers are looking different, let's do another lab and come back in three months". Now he's got me on a monthly schedule to see him.

If you can urge this person you know to see a primary doctor, get referred to a nephrologist (if that's the direction the doctor advises) it's important to get treated as early as possible. I lost my mind with the itchy skin battle and countless hours of sleep too. The lotions and soaps and stuff can only do so much. For me, I tried the anti-itch lotion and it only brought about 2-3 hours of relief at best.

Snickerdiddle - How do you feel after your dialysis treatments? I've been visiting my nephrologist's office where he works in a dialysis treatment so I could kind of prepare myself for that stage if I was ever in that position. I've heard different outcomes - some patients there I spoke to said they feel great, others say they feel tired and want to sleep until the next treatment.

LRB1967 - That's great of you to at least do the testing to see whether you could be a match rather than not getting involved at all. I had another friend ruled out for her own medical issues ruling her out from being my donor.

Jackie - Thank you, any support is a big help, the amount of time your father got from the transplant is beyond the timeline I was anticipating but that's great to hear.

Burnt Pine - Any information is useful information and thank you for sharing these sites and groups. I'll definitely get a look at each of them and see how I can get involved and what they offer. I mean like connections to others who have been through the process, not skipping the line to the front to get a new/used kidney jammed in there (but I wouldn't complain!)

COVTIGER71 - that's great to hear about your recovery from your own transplant. I may take you up on personal communication. It's been a lot of learning what happens as the patient, but hearing from others who have been through it or seen what it's like is always helpful.

I think that's everything? I apologize if anybody needed eyeball bleach after reading through this.

I'm very interested in this thread as I'm a stage IV kidney cancer survivor (so far). I was diagnosed in 2021, received chemo until 2022, had a kidney and adrenal gland removed in 2022 (softball sized tumor), and then continued the chemo to get rid of the remaining tumors where the cancer spread through my chest and lungs.

I feel great now and I'm exercising and getting my strength back, but I'm wondering how long does it take to possibly get to needing dialysis. I was only 48 when diagnosed and 49 when my kidney was removed. This is very young according to my doctor as kidney cancer usually occurs at 70+ years old. It was good that I was young enough to handle the aggressive chemo plan, and I'm grateful to be alive this long after the diagnosis, but I always fear if I live to old age that I'll be on dialysis or need a kidney transplant.