Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Surgery - complications

I had my surgery on Friday. Although the stats were with me, I was in the minority. My cousins kidney has some abnormalities that made the transplant difficult. The surgery took nearly 6 hours instead of 3-4 as planned. They had to call in a vascular surgeon to help by taking a vein to from my leg to graft the kidney. They had to place the kidney in a different position than is typical, too, but it works! They spent an hour making sure it was in a good location and wouldn't move. A full hour. I had a great surgeon and I'm absolutely positive this kidney will work for at least the next 20 years. Now it's up to me to take good care of it.

I'm going to take the next few blog entries to talk about the days after my surgery, the hospital stay and what it was really like.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Heather,
I'm so glad to hear that your surgery went well. I wish you and your cousin quick, uneventful recoveries, and the very best of health for years and years and years and years (well, you get the idea!) to come. Be well and keep us updated!
Hugs, Marlene

HeatherT said...

Thank you Marlene! Thanks for your positive comments and well wishes. :-) Today is the first day I've felt human again. I have been feeling really down and out, but I have to remind myself that it's not even been a week!

A few bad things happened in the hospital, but overall, this was a positive experience that has changed my life for the better.

Take care!
HeatherT