My Kidney Transplant and My Renal Transplant Nephrectomy

In 2014, I was lucky enough to receive a kidney transplant from the England Donor List at the age of 18 years old. I went on to continue my education as it was very important to me, especially during such a hard time after being diagnosed with CKD. I went on to university and graduated in 2016. Earlier in 2016, I was told that my new kidney was failing. I was shocked and out of sorts, and was certainly not ready for dialysis again. It was a scary time for me, but my doctors gave me a year to finish university, take the trips I wanted, and come to terms with going back on dialysis. But can we ever come to terms with the lack of freedom?

Feelings after my kidney transplant

I had many plans. One was working abroad for the summer after graduating. However, instead of the Spanish weather, I had to go on dialysis and started to develop an infection. I noticed the infection when I went to the stage of sepsis. I was then rushed into the renal ward of the hospital to have my transplanted kidney removed, as I was sick and unable to walk. I was in a wheelchair needing a lot more assistance than normal.

After being rushed into the hospital, I was there for a week on a drip of antibiotics and pain medications, among other courses of IV medication. Before they took me to surgery for my renal transplant nephrectomy (transplanted kidney removal), I went down to the operating room. It had slight similarities to my transplant from before.

The recovery was one of the most challenging times during my CKD journey. My mental health was on a significant decline due to having to go back on dialysis during the surgery recovery, and unfortunately, having a bad experience with a staff member in the hospital caused more emotional distress to my healing process.

Going through a renal transplant nephrectomy

When I had my transplant, the feelings were different, of course, and you have a lot of things to look forward to. I was 18 when I had my first kidney transplant. It was a time of new chances and freedom of choosing when to do things or even saying yes to an invite to an event or a date. I felt like I was ALIVE and LIVING.

Recovering from this major surgery and then doing hemodialysis was overwhelming and different. I was emotionally scarred and physically scared, having to re-open a wound that was a beacon of hope to feeling stuck in the mud.

I got to a point I needed more emotional support and finding something to hold on to, and for me, that was surviving the whole ordeal; I told myself every day not to worry, to take it day by day, and focus on today and not the next. I survived getting sepsis, and I picked myself up and picked up the torch to fight another day.

We have our bad days, and with CKD, bad days feel like the end of the world, but knowing you are fighting to get to the good days is something we all should feel proud we can do. I know I am.