Initial Examination

Today I had the initial consultation and exam for consideration to become a transplant candidate. Before I describe today’s activities, let me explain how I got to this point. The story of my kidney failure is well known among my friends and family, so I won’t bore you with those details again. Check out the “about me” section on the right side of the screen.

When you are diagnosed with kidney failure, your first priority is to get healthier. Obviously, you can’t get completely healthy right away. A person who is going through undiagnosed kidney failure is miserable. They have little or no energy, they’re always feeling tired and they start to retain fluids in your abdomen and ankles. You start to feel bloated and tired. Also, your skin color is very pale and sickly looking. You start to feel sick almost every day. The toxins that build up in your body begin to cause your skin to itch.

Dialysis treatments are used to filter the blood of a patient. This is a process that takes your blood out of your body and goes through a machine that cleans the blood and removes excess fluid from your blood. The dialysis process can also be used to put other drugs that your body needs into your blood when it is returned to your body. The entire process can take between 3 ½ hours to 4 hours. You will usually have dialysis treatments at a dialysis center 3 days a week. There are a couple of other options for home treatments, but I don’t know enough about them to describe them.

After a couple months of treatments, your nephrologist will discuss the option of getting a kidney transplant. If it’s decided that’s an option, the nephrologist is supposed to contact the nearest transplant center and they will contact the patient to schedule an initial evaluation, which is what I had today. Normally, the patient will travel to the transplant center for appointments and other services. However, UC Davis will periodically travel to Reno for a day to perform the initial evaluation, which is a lot more convienent then traveling to Sacramento.

The initial treatment involves a nurse who will get your vital signs like weight and blood pressure. This nurse is also the one who will have all the various forms for you to sign your life away. She will answer any questions and give you lots of reading material to read. After that process is completed, you will have a physical exam from a doctor who is on the transplant team. He will get some information about your medical history and will also answer any questions. You will also need to get some heart tests done before you will be considered for candidacy. After a few weeks, you will be contacted by mail whether you are eligible for transplant candidacy. This is determined by a panel of medical people that looks at your medical history, insurance and other factors.

Today’s appointment was pretty straightforward, except for being 1 hour behind schedule. I was done with the evaluation and physical going well. While the doctor can’t guarantee that I will be candidate, he did say that he didn’t see anything, physically that would be cause for concern. I was out of the doctor’s office after about 90 minutes, and that included the delay. The transplant group did want me to get an EKG and some chest x-rays, which I was able to get done pretty quickly. Overall, my appointment was at 10:30 am and I was home just after 2 pm, which was a lot shorter than I anticipated.

So, how do I feel after today’s events? I’m cautiously optimistic. I don’t believe that there is anything that will cause me to be denied candidacy. The only issue that I think I will have is finding a living donor. I’m seriously hoping that I can have a transplant by the end of 2010, if not sooner. I know that’s really optimistic, but I think that it’s defiantly possible, especially if the donor is a family member. Otherwise, I’ll have to wait for 3-4 years.

I will be updating this blog whenever I have a transplant appointment so be looking every month or so. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.