Living Kidney Donation

>>EDIT<<
It is with great sadness I have to say that Carol died on April 5th. 16 days after receiving a kidney. My prayers are with her family and friends. Below is the story she gave me prior to her transplant.

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I was 248 pounds. I also had HBP.The doctors told me to limit my salt and sweets intake. Tell that to a pregnant girl when she is raging for donuts.

I was working at a high stress job. My kids had grown and gone. It was just me and my husband. I had not felt good for years. I knew my weight was an issue. I had tried many. diets over the years. I decided that I needed to do something I would put me first – I did surgery. Something I will never regret – trying to get healthy I found out how sick I was.

Losing 110 pounds -I was ecstatic but I ended up in the hospital for three weeks with blood pressures of 250/130. Around the clock, they were checking my blood pressure. After many medicine changes, I went home with a follow up appointment with a kidney specialist. When I went to see him, he talked at me for an hour. I actually couldn’t hear anything he said after his opening comment..” you need a kidney transplant” My world came to a screeching halt. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t breathe, I saw our future die that day. I was going to be hooked to a machine three days a week till I got a kidney transplant or till I died. Which ever one came first.

So far the machine is wining. My life changed that day. In a few short words, my life went from carefree to contained. I would no longer be able to travel, go visit my grandson in California, go to my son’s Art gallery shows around the USA. travel with my husband. I know you can set up dialysis off site, but I am on a transplant list and I know that it would be my crappy luck to get called when I was away and would have to give up my chance to get a new crack at life. My husband has been a great support. I know we said for better or worse, sickness and health, he got the short end of the stick. Although he never complains, he has given up his life, waiting for me to regain mine.

Carol

>>EDIT<<
It is with great sadness I have to say that Carol died on April 5th. 16 days after receiving a kidney. My prayers are with her family and friends.

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