Danny’s Kidney Update…December 19, 2003
On December 10th Danny, Jill, Baby Grace and I went to
Johns Hopkins for a pre-dialysis class. It was amazing, but
we are so hoping that Danny won’t need dialysis. We don’t
think that he will because he has so many potential donors.
Then on December 15th, Danny, Jill, Baby Grace, Kathy, Tom
and I went back to Hopkins for Danny’s Kidney Transplant
Evaluation. On this day we would meet with lots of
important people and we would start testing those of us who
may be potential donors.
We met with our coordinator, Kathy Dane. She was full of
information, tried to walk us through the whole
transplantation process. Everything we do from this point
on regarding transplant and donors will go through her. We
met with a dietician, who told us that the kidney diet is
the worst diet ever ! (Jill had already found this to be
true.) We met with the surgeon who will be Danny’s surgeon;
there will be another surgeon who will take care of the
donor.
We were enjoying meeting all of these people and gathering
all of our new found knowledge, and we were about to be
tested (via blood samples) when Kathy Dane came back in our
room and told me that Dr. Meyers said that she was not
going to test me because of my age. (I am 63 and she wants
the donor to be 50 or less) and since Danny has so many
siblings to choose from, she feels confident that one of
them will be a match.
Let me tell you, it completely blew me away. I had soooo
hoped that I could be the donor, so none of our kids would
even have to worry about it. It will be a major
inconvenience for who ever it is, time off work, away from
home, financial considerations from time off, recovery time
from surgery, etc. So if it were me, it would have been so
much easier for everyone. But, I also want Danny to get the
very best kidney for him. And I know that who ever it is,
will be giving their brother the Gift of Life and what a
blessing that will be for both of them.
They then started the blood work on Danny and Kathy; took
14 vials from Danny and 6 from Kathy. Since Kathy’s blood
type is O, she looks good !
So where we stand now with regard to any of you who have
offered to be tested is this: At this time Danny’s
nephrologist is so certain that a sibling will be a match,
that she is only going to test them for now. If one or 2 of
them are potentials, we won’t have to have anyone else
tested right now. Part of that reasoning is that the
testing is only good for a year. So, since she doesn’t
think Danny will need a donor kidney for a few more years,
there is no need to go further at this time. If, by chance,
in the next few months we find that none of the siblings
are a good match, we will then reach out to those of you
who have so generously offered to be tested. This is just
to know that there are possible donors waiting for when the
time comes. When transplantation time gets closer, the
testing on those potential donors will get more detailed. I
wish all of you could see how wonderful these transplant
people are to work with. Every one of them acts like they
have nothing else to do but sit and chat with us; it really
makes this very serious situation more bearable.
As far as Danny’s every day life goes right now, it is
pretty much the same as everyone else’s. He does get a
little more tired than usual. The biggest adjustment is in
his diet. Because his kidneys are so diseased and are so
shrunken, he has to do all he can not to make them work too
hard. This is done through diet, and believe me, it is
backward from all that we have ever been taught. Protein is
a good thing for us, right ? For Danny, he can only have 60
grams of protein a day because it is really hard on the
kidneys. Who would have ever thought that green, leafy
vegetables were not a good thing ??? They aren’t good for
Danny…they have too much phosphorus or potassium. Bananas,
orange juice, tomatoes aren’t for him anymore. Pizza, ice
cream, chocolate, milk, peanut butter, colas, etc…..have
phosphorus. Danny can have these things, but his amounts
are severely restricted, so to have them would be a major
decision.
I have told Jill many times that I am glad that she is
taking care of him and not me, because it is a huge change
in cooking and eating habits. And it is not a good diet for
Jill, or any of us, so she tries to eat the things that she
should eat, but he can’t at lunch and times when Danny is
not with her. She sure is a great little trooper. I told
her that this sure isn’t what she signed up for when they
got married. And she told me that it was, because she
said “in sickness and health”.
God Bless you, Jill !
Thanks to all for your thoughts, prayers and concern. We’ll
continue to keep you posted with further developments.
Love to all,
Esther and company
- Friday, December 19, 2003 at 07:26:05 (PST)
Author: tomnesther@aol.com |
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