Up and About After Surgery?

[Crocheting-Cricket]

For those who donated a kidney to a loved one, doing dual surgeries at the same time, were you allowed, once you woke up, to go SEE your relative right away? Would a nurse be willing to wheel me in to see my brother afterwards, in case they don't let you walk yet? It's important to me I see him right away.

[marcyc NKF Ambassador NKF Peer Mentor]

I am certain the nurse would take you. More likely they will help you walk if you are able. The donor surgery starts and finishes first. However, you really may not be up to this immediately post op. Best of luck.

[Happydonor]

I was out of bed the day after surgery and able to walk around a bit. Worse case I would expect a nurse to get you a wheelchair. Just be aware the first climb out of bed is quite painful so hit your morphine pump switch a few times before trying! Also don't forget to hold a pillow tight to your abdomen while trying to get out of bed........it really helps. That being said once you are up and steady the pain subsides quickly. Best wishes to you and thank you for donating to your brother.

[butterflyintraining]

I don’t have a good answer for you but that’s on my mind also (potential donor for my husband).

[Crocheting-Cricket]

I'm just getting ready to order my pillow! For those who don't know about these, check out shumskyideas.com/therapeuti... and teddy-tech.com/product/coug.... No matter what your age, you can have your own teddy bear or moose for a very good deed!

To butterflyintraining...I have the feeling no matter HOW bad we might feel, we'll make sure we see my brother and your husband ASAP!

[butterflyintraining in reply to Crocheting-Cricket]

Yes!!! I agree that we will both be anxious to see them.

[butterflyintraining in reply to butterflyintraining]

Crocheting cricket,

How are things going? Do you have a date yet?

[Crocheting-Cricket in reply to butterflyintraining]

No, still not yet! My brother has done all his testing and his case is being "presented" to the board this week, so hopefully after that, they'll get my side of it moving. Very frustrating. I would love to be an advocate for live kidney donors but I really dislike the way they do all this - no communication to the donor on what the timeline is or what you can do ahead of time.

[DSKdonor NKF Ambassador]

ABSOLUTELY YES (in my our case)!! The nursing and aide teams WANTED me to be with my Dad (the recipient) so I could see how well he was doing! It helped me deal with whatever pain I temporarily had at the time to know that he was thriving - reminded me that it was why I went through the donation in the first place! Yes, true, there will be some pain -- but it's surgery!! The pain (mine was more from the gas they put into the abdomen during the laparoscopic surgery than from the incision itself) goes away like with any surgery, and you're left with happiness and are filled with joy. YES - you will get to spend time with your recipient as you will HAVE to get up and move around for your own good post-op! By the way -- since I was in my room first, the hospital staff rolled my Dad passed my room on the way to his so we had our "Hallmark Moment" if you will where we got to see each other for the first time and said Hello and It's Over and I Love Yous etc.... I saw him again the next day as much as I wanted! He was eating a burger, and I couldn't handle much more than chicken soup/broth! THAT'S why you do this sort of thing!!!! Best of luck!

[butterflyintraining in reply to DSKdonor]

Thank you for sharing. Were your rooms on the same floor? They have said mine may not even be in the same building!

[DSKdonor NKF Ambassador in reply to butterflyintraining]

Yes, we were not only on the same floor but there is an area in this particular hospital for kidney transplants, so we were VERY close. The Recipient should from the transplant on always have a private room (for being immuno-suppressed), and in NJ the rule/law is that the donor also gets a private room for doing a good deed I guess!

[Crocheting-Cricket in reply to DSKdonor]

That's great! I'm going to USC (California) but I thought someone mentioned they put the recipient and donor on DIFFERENT floors, specifically so you'll walk more! Seems kind of silly to me.

[butterflyintraining in reply to DSKdonor]

Yes they said we would both have private rooms but that they just didn’t think we would be on the same floor. That’s hard for me to wrap my head around. I’m in Texas so different rules.

[Crocheting-Cricket in reply to butterflyintraining]

They just think you'll walk more if you have to go from one floor to another. Just looking out for you!

[Crocheting-Cricket]

Excellent! Thanks so much for posting your experience!