Pros/cons

[Kt4920]

What are the pros and cons people are noticing with dialysis and post transplant?

Also anything anyone wish they knew prior to starting dialysis?

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

PROS: of transplant. Being able to live life to the fullest. Not being tied down to dialysis. Feeling better than you have in a long time. Still watching salt intake but not having the restrictions on your diet that you did pre-transplant. Being able to travel whenever you want - Europe, Mexico, Caribbean....

CONS: of transplant. Taking immunosuppressants for the rest of your life. I still even 19 years later, still have quarterly renal labs drawn. Sorry, can't think of any other cons.

[blackkat2]

Obviously, the pros of both are prolongation of life. Dialysis was inconvenient, but I never felt that bad while on it (I only did if for 1 year). Daily life is so much simpler post transplant compared with PD, much more comfortable, and the long-term prognosis is generally better from what understand.

However, I have found that the requisite post-transplant drugs have wreaked havoc on (the rest of) me. Diabetes, anxiety, mood swings, hormonal shifts, at times violent myoclonus, insomnia, weight gain (in spite of strict diet/fitness regimen). So I spend a lot of time and energy post-transplant figuring out all this new stuff. I've been to see lots of specialists but so far they all just want to give me more drugs, which tend to come with more side effects. So I'm kind of on my own journey of discovery now.

[Kt4920]

That's good to hear about dialysis at least. Our family keeps hearing negative stories so it helps to hear this.

We're worried because right now we're unable to get on transplant lists because of his obesity.. Seems like weight gain is an issue afterwards too due to the medications involved which I understand can be frustrating. I wish I had something to share in return. I've heard yoga is helpful maybe with the anxiety and mood swings?

Thank you for sharing by the way, I appreciate it.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Don't forget that we are all individuals and how our bodies react are also different. Just because one person has these issues with anxiety, mood swings, etc. doesn't mean he will.

Life before or after transplant can be challenging, but for me LIFE is worth any side effects I may experience.

[JeffSherman1958]

One thing we encountered: because of the immune suppression post-transplant, I could not take vaccines of live viruses, like for Yellow Fever. This cut down the available destinations for our travels (which we did, indeed, resume once i got off dialysis). If a transplant is in the future here, this is one odd thing maybe to keep in mind....

[Kt4920 in reply to JeffSherman1958]

Yes we hoping to take my dad on his dream cruise he's been wanting to go on. I hope we'll be able to on the near future.. This is good stuff to know though. Thanks!