Post-Transplant Notes

[I wrote the following about a week after my kidney transplant. At the time, Hercules had not started working yet.]

Post-Kidney Transplant Thoughts:

Now I can turn off my phone at night.

I smelled a little pee pee on myself yesterday, and I almost didn't mind.

I look forward to paying it forward.

I should be asleep right now, but I am back in full Dave mode. The new one, not the old one. I'm going to try to get some sleep anyway....

No more post-dialysis naps. That's ten hours back every week.

If this all goes to shit, I did the best I could every step of the way. And I found love and support when I needed it.

The rest of me works just fine!

It's easy to say that it will all have been worth it when I'm peeing again. But what if something goes wrong and I end up with a third nonfunctional kidney? Will it have been worth it then?

I've gained about 30 pounds in seven days because of the water weight gain and weight gain induced by steroids. The swelling has moved from my hands to my ankles, feet, scrotum, thighs, and face. I'm not totally freaked out because I went through something similar when my kidneys failed. I'm in much better physical condition now, and I look forward to regaining my original physique and then some.

I have grown tighter with the Renal community.

I now know who my true friends are.

Life doesn't give two craps about my new kidney and the challenges that it brings to my life. Life just keeps on as if nothing has changed. This means no rest, no breaks, no slips, no time for sleeping.