Have you had an organ transplant?

I was just thinking about a friend of mine who was a triple transplant recipient. She died a few years ago but she had many years of good life because of the transplant.

Just wondering…did your life go back to the level of quality it was before you became ill? Is there a down side to taking anti-rejection medication (other than the fact you have to take it forever)? Any other problems directly related to the transplant? Psychological issues?

Thanks.

If it helps, I donated a kidney… once. The recipient was suffering from an advanced case of diabetes (routine emergency trips to the hospital for dialysis and blood sugar counts that would hit 800 on some days.) On good days he looked like a zombie; on bad days he would be in the hospital and we would be praying that he wouldn’t die (or that we could just accept God’s will, whatever it would be.) He was planning to have a pancreas transplant if the kidney wasn’t rejected.

Two years later, he is still weak and gets dehydrated easily, but his blood sugar has stabilized and is easily controlled with insulin–the pancreas transplant isn’t needed. He has been able to see his children graduate from high school and college, and he is getting stronger. If everything goes well then he will be able to return to work in the new year. There is still a very real risk that he will get sick or the kidney may be rejected, but he’s doing fine for now.