Does anyone have experience with having their transplanted kidney removed? I started hemodialysis 3 months ago. Shortly after I started hemodialysis I visited my transplant team, and the doctors recommended that I have the kidney removed because I tend to get kidney infections. They also want to remove one of my native kidneys. I have had this kidney for 9 years, but I always had issues with a narrow ureter and urinary tract infections. For the last three years, I had a nephrostomy tube, which is a tube that goes through the skin directly to the kidney so the urine drains to a bag outside the body instead of going to the bladder. I will be happy to get rid of that tube.
But I wonder if I should hold off on having the kidney removed because it still produces some urine--some days more than others. If the kidney is removed, I will be totally dependent on my hemodialysis treatments for fluid removal.
