| When duty calls: Kidney Donation and what it was like for me... |
On Thursday morning, January 9th 2003, I donated my left kidney to my friend Thomas LoStracco
at Buffalo General Hospital. I had been friends with Tommy for several years. We met at the
Niagara Falls Family YMCA where we'd play racquetball at lunchtime during the week. I didn't
know he had PKD (polycystic kidney disease) but he informed me when he began peritoneal
dialysis and explained the need for the plastic tube coming from his navel ! He needed to perform
that process 4 times a day and it took about 40 minutes each time to 'change the bags'. I travelled a
lot for business at the time and couldn't imagine what an aggravation that would be..but to him it was
better than hemodialysis ! I asked him 'is there anything I can do' ...He says "I need a kidney!"
That's when I knew this was going to happen...I had plenty of excuses- proprietor of two
businesses, one with a travel etc but I recognised this for what I think it was- God put this in front of
me and I had two choices; one, look the other way, let him wait 5 or more years on the 'list', or help
this guy now and give him likely the last kidney he'll need for the rest of his life. Putting myself in his
shoes, I'd want a healthy living donor and NOW ! So all the 'why me, why now' types of thoughts
faded pretty quickly. This is the right thing to do if I physically can.
Within a few weeks I started the whole compatibility testing process. Blood work, tissue typing,
MRI's & ultrasound's of both kidneys, pulmonary and vascular checks since a few old scars
showed up on chest xray. This took several months and was somewhat complicated by insurance
companies who didn't know how to deal with a non-relative donor ! Hopefully it's better now.
In the end we had the same blood type and matched 3 out of 6 factors for tissue type. Finally all the
tests were done and we picked a date for the surgery that worked for all parties. I lived about an
hour from the hospital so had to awake at around 3:30 AM to arrive by 5 AM, the official arrival
time.
Due to the sudden availability of a couple of cadaveric kidneys, our surgery was postponed TWICE
! But that is the nature of the needs of the patients and the critically short time the kidneys can be
stored. We were originally going in right before Christmas, but it was not to be. Christmas was a
little overshadowed by it all...
"Twas the night before surgery, and all through the house..." But finally the appointed day was at
hand.
I drove in to the hospital at 5 AM. I was 'processed' and prepped and got my initial anesthesia at 8
AM. I don't remember the next 7 hours but did awake in the recovery room around 3 PM. I wasn't
in any pain then as I was still pretty doped up and I couldn't stay awake for very long. I could
recognize voices on the phone but I was in a state of shock & so everything seemed a bit surreal.
The surgical procedure was called 'modified standard laporectomy' or sometimes 'mini
laporectomy', the major difference from 'Standard' is that a rib is not removed.
Friday was a rough day as I could now feel the 'incisional pain' despite the push-button
self-administered synthetic morphine into the IV stream. I had to be re-catheterized a couple times
(fun!) until the waterworks got working right but then gained the pleasure of having to drag the IV
metering pump and stand around for walks in the hall or to the bathroom. These pumps have loud
chirping alarms in them to alert everyone within 30 feet that they need changing or recharged- and
there's 2 or 3 in every room on the floor ! I was amazed how noisy the hospital was. My roommate
had his TV tuned to some sort of continual crime-drama channel as all I heard was screams,
gunshots and police sirens through a distorted 2-inch speaker/remote control unit. This became a
sort of torture after a while- I just wanted to rest !
By Saturday the incisional discomfort gave way to relentless waves of cramps that continued for the
next 24 hours accompanied by feverish sweats and chills. Sleep was impossible at this point and
time had come to a crawl; the next-door crime drama racket was really irritating by then and my
pleas for silence were ignored as the neighbor was likely asleep. I would consider yelling but then
another wave of cramps would overcome me. Around then I heard that Tom had gotten immediate
relief from all symptoms upon installation of his new(ish) kidney. This really raised my spirits at the
time and helped me get out of the 'tunnel' of that phase of the recovery. By the third day Tom
wanted to go home ! He had little pain and as he's Administrator for a large nursing home he was
becoming irritated with the hectic and odd pace of the floor (compared to his facility)
By Sunday morning the cramp nightmare subsided and it was as if they 'rolled away the stone'...I
discovered that the surgeons were optimistic in their estimate of the incision being 3-4 inches; turned
out to be right at 8 inches. But I knew that I elected for this procedure over the laporoscopic
because the kidney doesn't get damaged or potentially damaged during removal and that the
recovery times are essentially the same for both. I certainly didn't want to go through all this and
donate an injured kidney !
All donors I had spoken with before the surgery unanimously described 'two rough days then nearly
exponential improvement' over the next few weeks. This is exactly what I got and never once
regretted any of it even during the worst moments. I just focused on the 'big picture' and rolled with
it.
The nurses and staff at Buffalo General were wonderful and helped any way they could. I can't
thank them enough !
I was released from Kaleida/Buffalo General on Sunday the 12th., 3-1/2 days later. Monday we
returned to the hospital for a check of the incision & some blood work and a visit with Tom. By
Tuesday I was able to drive the short distance to work and was able to put in an 8 hour day. I
wasn't chronically tired but I would get tired after 8-10 hours and really want a nap at that point. I
could carry a light briefcase but a gallon jug of water would have been pushing it. But within another
week I could easily do that. I missed the intense racquetball workouts but within a month I was able
to start gently swinging the racquet but was hardly a competitive player. I had to be disciplined and
not risk tearing any abdominal stitching etc.
In 3 months I resumed exercise of light racquetball and slowly progressed in intensity over time and
within 6 months had transitioned to very aggressive racquetball and resumed weight training. Not
all-out power lifting, just general dumbbell work and some presses ! Within a year I ran half
marathons and have become a competitive mountain biker. There have been ZERO kidney-related
problems or concerns. Other than my now nearly invisible scar there has been NO physiological
change whatsoever in me. I'm probably in better shape than when I was a US Marine 20 years ago!
In Summer 2004 Tommy and me travelled to Minneapolis for the Transplant Olympics. We stayed
several days. Tom had entered Racquetball and ended up winning his division so at the end of it I
got to place his Gold Medal around his neck ! The focus of the Games is the recipients but there
was a 5K for donors which had a nice course across the bridge at the U of M campus by the river.
Among the runners was a former Olympic Snowboarder (!?!?!) who had rec'd a liver transplant and
then won a Gold Medal a year later. Carl Lewis was one of the speakers at the Closing Ceremonies
also.
Many thanks to God, Dr.Mark Laftavi, Dr. Kohli, the staff at Kaleida/Buffalo General, my friends
and family for all their love and support through this whole adventure. Thanks also for the
extra-special positive thoughts from my friends and family in Germany & Denmark. Thanks
especially to my Mother, Jane Luscher, for all her love & support through the years and for going
through this with me !
Feel free to email anytime with any questions or comments. May God continue to bless you all.
at Buffalo General Hospital. I had been friends with Tommy for several years. We met at the
Niagara Falls Family YMCA where we'd play racquetball at lunchtime during the week. I didn't
know he had PKD (polycystic kidney disease) but he informed me when he began peritoneal
dialysis and explained the need for the plastic tube coming from his navel ! He needed to perform
that process 4 times a day and it took about 40 minutes each time to 'change the bags'. I travelled a
lot for business at the time and couldn't imagine what an aggravation that would be..but to him it was
better than hemodialysis ! I asked him 'is there anything I can do' ...He says "I need a kidney!"
That's when I knew this was going to happen...I had plenty of excuses- proprietor of two
businesses, one with a travel etc but I recognised this for what I think it was- God put this in front of
me and I had two choices; one, look the other way, let him wait 5 or more years on the 'list', or help
this guy now and give him likely the last kidney he'll need for the rest of his life. Putting myself in his
shoes, I'd want a healthy living donor and NOW ! So all the 'why me, why now' types of thoughts
faded pretty quickly. This is the right thing to do if I physically can.
Within a few weeks I started the whole compatibility testing process. Blood work, tissue typing,
MRI's & ultrasound's of both kidneys, pulmonary and vascular checks since a few old scars
showed up on chest xray. This took several months and was somewhat complicated by insurance
companies who didn't know how to deal with a non-relative donor ! Hopefully it's better now.
In the end we had the same blood type and matched 3 out of 6 factors for tissue type. Finally all the
tests were done and we picked a date for the surgery that worked for all parties. I lived about an
hour from the hospital so had to awake at around 3:30 AM to arrive by 5 AM, the official arrival
time.
Due to the sudden availability of a couple of cadaveric kidneys, our surgery was postponed TWICE
! But that is the nature of the needs of the patients and the critically short time the kidneys can be
stored. We were originally going in right before Christmas, but it was not to be. Christmas was a
little overshadowed by it all...
"Twas the night before surgery, and all through the house..." But finally the appointed day was at
hand.
I drove in to the hospital at 5 AM. I was 'processed' and prepped and got my initial anesthesia at 8
AM. I don't remember the next 7 hours but did awake in the recovery room around 3 PM. I wasn't
in any pain then as I was still pretty doped up and I couldn't stay awake for very long. I could
recognize voices on the phone but I was in a state of shock & so everything seemed a bit surreal.
The surgical procedure was called 'modified standard laporectomy' or sometimes 'mini
laporectomy', the major difference from 'Standard' is that a rib is not removed.
Friday was a rough day as I could now feel the 'incisional pain' despite the push-button
self-administered synthetic morphine into the IV stream. I had to be re-catheterized a couple times
(fun!) until the waterworks got working right but then gained the pleasure of having to drag the IV
metering pump and stand around for walks in the hall or to the bathroom. These pumps have loud
chirping alarms in them to alert everyone within 30 feet that they need changing or recharged- and
there's 2 or 3 in every room on the floor ! I was amazed how noisy the hospital was. My roommate
had his TV tuned to some sort of continual crime-drama channel as all I heard was screams,
gunshots and police sirens through a distorted 2-inch speaker/remote control unit. This became a
sort of torture after a while- I just wanted to rest !
By Saturday the incisional discomfort gave way to relentless waves of cramps that continued for the
next 24 hours accompanied by feverish sweats and chills. Sleep was impossible at this point and
time had come to a crawl; the next-door crime drama racket was really irritating by then and my
pleas for silence were ignored as the neighbor was likely asleep. I would consider yelling but then
another wave of cramps would overcome me. Around then I heard that Tom had gotten immediate
relief from all symptoms upon installation of his new(ish) kidney. This really raised my spirits at the
time and helped me get out of the 'tunnel' of that phase of the recovery. By the third day Tom
wanted to go home ! He had little pain and as he's Administrator for a large nursing home he was
becoming irritated with the hectic and odd pace of the floor (compared to his facility)
By Sunday morning the cramp nightmare subsided and it was as if they 'rolled away the stone'...I
discovered that the surgeons were optimistic in their estimate of the incision being 3-4 inches; turned
out to be right at 8 inches. But I knew that I elected for this procedure over the laporoscopic
because the kidney doesn't get damaged or potentially damaged during removal and that the
recovery times are essentially the same for both. I certainly didn't want to go through all this and
donate an injured kidney !
All donors I had spoken with before the surgery unanimously described 'two rough days then nearly
exponential improvement' over the next few weeks. This is exactly what I got and never once
regretted any of it even during the worst moments. I just focused on the 'big picture' and rolled with
it.
The nurses and staff at Buffalo General were wonderful and helped any way they could. I can't
thank them enough !
I was released from Kaleida/Buffalo General on Sunday the 12th., 3-1/2 days later. Monday we
returned to the hospital for a check of the incision & some blood work and a visit with Tom. By
Tuesday I was able to drive the short distance to work and was able to put in an 8 hour day. I
wasn't chronically tired but I would get tired after 8-10 hours and really want a nap at that point. I
could carry a light briefcase but a gallon jug of water would have been pushing it. But within another
week I could easily do that. I missed the intense racquetball workouts but within a month I was able
to start gently swinging the racquet but was hardly a competitive player. I had to be disciplined and
not risk tearing any abdominal stitching etc.
In 3 months I resumed exercise of light racquetball and slowly progressed in intensity over time and
within 6 months had transitioned to very aggressive racquetball and resumed weight training. Not
all-out power lifting, just general dumbbell work and some presses ! Within a year I ran half
marathons and have become a competitive mountain biker. There have been ZERO kidney-related
problems or concerns. Other than my now nearly invisible scar there has been NO physiological
change whatsoever in me. I'm probably in better shape than when I was a US Marine 20 years ago!
In Summer 2004 Tommy and me travelled to Minneapolis for the Transplant Olympics. We stayed
several days. Tom had entered Racquetball and ended up winning his division so at the end of it I
got to place his Gold Medal around his neck ! The focus of the Games is the recipients but there
was a 5K for donors which had a nice course across the bridge at the U of M campus by the river.
Among the runners was a former Olympic Snowboarder (!?!?!) who had rec'd a liver transplant and
then won a Gold Medal a year later. Carl Lewis was one of the speakers at the Closing Ceremonies
also.
Many thanks to God, Dr.Mark Laftavi, Dr. Kohli, the staff at Kaleida/Buffalo General, my friends
and family for all their love and support through this whole adventure. Thanks also for the
extra-special positive thoughts from my friends and family in Germany & Denmark. Thanks
especially to my Mother, Jane Luscher, for all her love & support through the years and for going
through this with me !
Feel free to email anytime with any questions or comments. May God continue to bless you all.
Lots of information here:
National Kidney Foundation link
National Kidney Foundation link
Another great information source and a
national resource: American Red Cross
national resource: American Red Cross
8/1/05