And So...

We met with my transplant nephrologist today. My blood pressure has been up recently, so he made a couple of adjustments to my medication. My labs from two weeks ago were off a bit, so I'm going to get another set in a week or so just to check on things.

The big issue was what to do about my diseased kidneys (see previous posts). The doctor does not want me to undergo any elective surgery until I've had the new kidney for at least a year, which will be March 24. It takes that long for things to settle, making it a vulnerable time. Once we clear that point, he has no objections to having one or both kidneys removed, pending consultation with a surgeon.

So, we're working on setting up an appointment with a kidney surgeon, either the one who did my transplant or the one who removed the donor kidney from Tom. If all goes well there, and nothing goes wrong in the meantime, we'll get something scheduled for after we hit one year.

By the way, I had mentioned earlier that we thought they would be able to remove the diseased kidney(s) laparoscopically, but the nephrologist said today that my kidneys are so enlarged with the cysts ("as big as footballs") that laparoscopy probably won't be possible. That will make it more of a major operation, and another reason to wait until the time is right.

I'm somewhat disappointed, because I don't want to have to go through any more severe episodes. But the new kidney is the most important thing, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize it. [That includes changing one of my anti-rejection meds to something that might help with the cysts but is less desirable for immune-suppression.]

So we wait and hope things go smoothly for the next two months. If not, we'll do our best to get through it. As difficult as this is and has been, it still doesn't compare to having received the new kidney. That changed everything.