I will only need one Kidney!

Yes that’s right I like most people only need one kidney so that’s why I have decided to give the other one to my dad. That’s him (Hugh) in the picture. The picture was taken on my wedding day at Auchen Castle, Moffat.

Dad has been ill for almost 10 years and despite the fact that he is extremely well and has a long life expectancy his quality of life is not what it should be. He is a youthful man all things considered. Dad now has 3 grand daughters all under the age of 2 and has a lot to look forward to.

After careful discussion with my wife, Sandra we agreed just over a year ago that I would put my name forward for a transplant. On the day that I called Dad’s nurse to enquire how to go about it, I got a tearful call from Mum. Dad was in hospital with a suspected heart attack! Granted he drove himself to the hospital! Make your own mind up about what scenario is most worrying. As it turned out Dad actually had an Angina attack but as such he was removed from the Transplant List.

I continued with the initial testing and this has been going on for just over a year. The testing included blood screening and matching and general health and well being discussions and thereafter we needed to wait for Doctors to confirm that Dad’s health was ok to go forward with the Transplant ie put him back on the list. Even although I am a live donor he still needs to be on the list. Dad and I met the Surgeon about 2 months ago and he agreed that Dad was ok to go back on the list, although associated risks would be higher.

Over the last month I have undergone a Kidney function test, assessing the efficiency of both of my kidneys and I did last week undergo an MRI scan to assess the entry and exit of the main blood vessels in and out of the Kidney. The function test went well but we still await the results of the MRI scan.

Everything going well we hope to be under the knife before Christmas.

I have decided to blog about our journey through this period because I think it may help other people in a similar situation. Likewise, I would be happy to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation and have them add their particular experience or, comment on my own story.

Keep checking for further updates.

Kenneth