Going South and I don’t mean Florida...
So, things started to go south in April 2019. When I went for my routine blood work, my GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) dropped below 15. Fifteen is the “magic” number. Once the GFR decreases below 15, one is at high risk for needing treatment for kidney failure, such as dialysis or kidney transplant.
My nephrologist monitored me closely the next 6 months or so. My GFR, although now below 15 and technically in Final Stage or Stage 5 kidney renal (there are only 5 stages) remained stable until it was not. Now every few months it was dropping lower. At around GFR 10 they usually tell one to start thinking about dialysis. However, this was something I didn’t even want to think about.
So now two choices presented itself. A live donor or a deceased donor. What most people do not realize is that, in Canada, one has to be on dialysis to be considered a candidate for a deceased kidney, and the wait can be up to 5 years.
My doctor and I talked it over and it was decided that the best option for me was a live donor transplant given that I am still feeling relatively healthy and that there are many more benefits to a live transplant vs a deceased transplant.
Also, for those not familiar with dialysis, it involves hooking yourself up to a machine 3 times per week for about 5 hours at a time. Not really what I imagined doing in my “golden years”. I have worked in the same field (Vocational Rehabilitation) for the past 30 years and I had always planned to retire at around 60 and do some travelling.
I have three older brothers and they all immediately completed the requisite questionnaires at St. Mikes to determine if they were potential candidates to donate a kidney. For years prior, my youngest brother, Daryl, just assumed he would be donating his kidney and would always joke, as only siblings can “you better be nice to me or I won’t give you my kidney ;)”.