July 12th, 2012 | 
Author: 2 years since I donated my kidney. Went for annual check up (free for life) and here is the report.
We were very pleased to know that this lady is doing well two years following her altruistic donation of one of her kidneys. Her renal function remains good with a creatinine of 87 and a GFR of 61. This is in fact as good as her renal function prior to donation. Her blood pressure is good at 112/76. Her urine dipstick did not show any evidence of proteinuria. I have sent off a urine ACR for completeness today. This lady remains an active campaigner for kidney donation and we again expressed our sincere appreciateion for all her work. This lady will be back to see us again next year.
Well I am very pleased about that. You read so much about the levels remaining low for many years due to only having one kidney but mine are as good as before I donated just 2 years ago.
Bearing in mind I am 60 years old next week, I am really pleased with those results.
8 Responses to “Annual check up after Kidney Donation Results”
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I am so pleased for you. It took me three years before I was back to normal. Of course I would not have known, I felt perfectly healthy, in fact I felt better than before I donated. People think the older you get the harder, but just shows, two years and you are back to normal. I am 30 years old, half your age. I donated to my brother. You are truly an inspiration. I have read your whole blog and listened to your radio programme. I was moved to tears listening to it.
All the best for the future
Mary J
One year post donation for me :-
Creatinine = 76
GFR = 73
Pre donation creatinine was 60, Gfr 97
First year rarely as good as year 2+
Di
Well done Di!
I first heard about you on a Spanish radio program where you gave a half hour interview. Not only was I inspired to look into donating myself, but was enthralled by your interview. You not only came across as a wonderfully warm and funny person but so sincere in your convictions re kidney donation. You are a natural on the radio and so easy to listen to. I did then listen to the Michael Buerk program. I wished the program had been longer as I felt I wanted to get inside your head more on this subject. Rarely does an interview grab my attention so much, but your personality come shining through. I say this as a compliment nothing else as it was all of this that eventually led to me putting myself forward as a donor. I am American. I was visiting friends in Spain at the time. I hope to donate to some needy person in a few months time in America – thanks to you. I wish you were in America and could appear on some of our chat shows as I am sure you would inspire so many more people. Thank you for such candid interviews they inspired me more than anything else has ever inspired me.
God bless you Di
With warmest regards
Jonathan
Hi Jonathan,
thank you so much for your wonderful comment. you have me all embarassed now, lol! But it does truly fill me with joy when I read that donating my kidney did not end at that point but continues on in other people donating because they were inspired by something I said. Once you have donated, I am sure you will be the inspiration for someone else to donate. How wonderful is that. Good luck with your assessment. I would be interested at some point to hear what the USA system is like for a donor as I know there are some differences in our two countries.
All the very best to you,
Di
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Hi Diane,
I have survived one year after donating a kidney. The hospital donation team was super great prior to the surgery. However after the surgery I was left on my own to try to get relief from months of sciatica pain down my left side. My incision was to be 3″ and actually was 8″. Apparently my pelvic bone was somewhat dislocated causing the sciatica nerve to rub on the bone. After 1 year of intense physical therapy (paid by my insurance) the pain is gone. I did not receive any follow up after one month. I have emailed asking what test should be done after one year. The hospital is sending a questionaire to be received sometime later. My question is what should I have my primary care test or look for after this year of kidney donation has passed.
Thanks for any help you can give,
Linda
Hi Linda,
Sorry for the late response but in the middle of a house move and have been without internet!!! how on earth did your pelvic bone dislocate? not during the operation surely? Sounds like an awful year you have been through. Sciatica pain I know can be horrendous, thank goodness you are now free from it.
What is the hospital questionnaire related to?
I find it awful the hospital just left you to it when you had that pain. I can understand it took a physio to get you better but you would have thought the hospital would have kept in touch … oh well!!
Annual check up …. well for mine I had bloods and urine samples and they checked the normal creatin levels etc and how well the remaining kidney was functioning. took blood pressure. then just asked a few questions about my health in general. It was the renal unit that did the tests and they are just concerned with the kidney and its function. Though if I had reported any thing else wrong would have been advised to seek help from my own doctor.
Not sure if that has helped or not.
Di
x
Hi Everyone
Hope everyone is doing well. 2 years ago I had donated my kidney to my brother and he is well. So far my numbers were also ok.
Last week I did a test and I found my creatinine 1.61 and urea
48.before this, in the last 2 years my numbers were always within range.
The local doctors here are just saying to drink water.
I wanted to see if anyone has similar hikes and they return to normal overtime.