It's Been 5 Weeks Today Since I Gave My Sister One of My Kidneys!

My sister Gemma and I - July 5, 2017   

LITTLE BACKGROUND 

My older sister Gemma (10 years older) was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease back in May 2011. She had been doing hemodialysis 2-3 times a week since July 2011 up until 5 weeks ago.

Just a little background for those who aren't too familiar with the illness:  it basically means that her kidneys had stopped functioning. The main function of our kidneys is to remove waste and excess fluid  from our blood. Once our kidneys become too damaged to do its job, then that's when hemodialysis will have to be done.  Hemodialysis does pretty much what the kidneys are supposed to do, in a form of a machine. The patient would have to be hooked on to this machine for 4 hours, 2 or 3 times a week. Pretty exhausting, huh?      

POSITIVE LIGHT  

Not once in the past 6 years did I ever hear my sister complain about her situation. I still get emotional about this, even as I am typing this now. I probably never told her this but she is, for sure, one of my biggest inspirations. Last year, when our whole family moved back to the Philippines from Hawaii, she generously let us stay in her house for the whole year until we were able to move to our own place.  She lives 1.5 hours away (which is really 2.5 hours because of the terrible traffic) from where she used to go for dialysis.  Eventhough she wasnt scheduled to start dialysis  untill 10am,  she would leave her house and take the bus at 4am so she can get to the clinic by 7am. She uses the first 3 hours to sell local food items from Bulacan (province where she lives) to the other patients and staff at the clinic. 

She would make enough money to cover her bus and cab fare plus her meals for the day because her weekly budget was barely enough to cover her medical treatment and all her medecines. But she would never complain.  I told her why not look for a dialysis center close to her home so she wouldn't be as exhausted from the communte all the time. She told me that when she checked out the centers close to where she lives, they all had that depressing vibe. She liked the atmosphere and the joyful attitude of the staff and patients at the Philippine Kidney Dialysis Foundation (PKDF) in Quezon City. She'd always look for that positive light.   

3D ultrasound images of my kidneys before the surgery

THE DECISION TO BECOME A DONOR  

Deciding to become a kidney donor was actually easy for me. My husband's cousin donated one of her kidneys to her mother (@chinito 's aunt) and based on her experience and a few others that I met, I became more and more comfortable with my decision.   My husband @chinito was actually the most supportive an encouraging and also a few of our closest relatives.  I tried to tune out the skeptical and negative ones and just prayed and trusted that everything would work out for the best.  

@chinito and I before the surgery

Amazingly enough, despite being overweight, my kidneys were in fact, very healthy. I was told by my doctor that each one of my kidneys were functioning just as well as 2 kidneys combined! However, during the intensive and thorough screening tests before the transplant, I found out that I am pre-diabetic, has a fatty liver, and high uric acid level.  Luckily, these conditions are all reversible, provided that I lose all the extra weight! It turned out to be a blessing that I found all these  health issues because I have never been more determined to lose weight than I am now. LOL (But that's a differemt story for another blog  :P )  

TRANSPLANT TEAM AT PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL, QUEZON CITY  

My sister and I were also very lucky that we had an amazing team of doctors at Providence Hospital in Quezon City, Philippines.  They probably won't even get to read this but I want to thank Dr. Dacudao – (sorry, I can't recall her first name) and Dr. Macwain Bautista – surgeons for both my sister and I, respectively. Also our wonderful, wonderful nephrologist Dr Helen Ocdol deserves a special mention. She had been the most supportive and very encouraging from the day my sister found out she had kidney problems in 2011.  She's just an overall wonderful person with a huge heart! We just love her. Also another person that deserves special mention is our transplant coordinator Mr Carlo Ponce! He helped us feel very comfortable and answered all our questions during the whole transplant process.    

FIVE WEEKS LATER  

So it's been 5 weeks since we did the transplant. My sister who used to be on dialysis 2-3 times a week for the last 6 years or so has not seen a dialysis machine in the past 5 weeks!! Hoooray!!!  Her new kidney is functioning  tremendously well. She's still in a very delicate condition for the next 4 months because she is taking anti-rejection meds that leaves her with a little to non-existent immune system which is kind of worrying but on the other hand, we're also very positive and optimistic about the whole thing. She's now able to eat and drink well and not have to worry too much.     For me, I'm now able to resume all my daily activities. I'm actually the most excited about being able to drive again. LOL.   I'm also lucky to have my wonderful uncle George who was a huuuuge help for  me, my husband and our kids  while I was recovering. Thanks, uncle!     

Uncle George and my kids

Thanks for checking out my page and I apologize for this lenghty post. LOL.    

Have an excellent day and remember to always look for that positive light at the end of the dark tunnel!