Patient : I am a 54 year old woman with kiney disease from a unknown origin. My GFR is currently 24. I have extreme anxiety about my future. I am hoping that a family member is a match and I could get a kidney without ever having dyalisis. I would like to hear other stories regarding transplants and how they are doing and what is recovery time actually is. I am healthy in all other ways (except for bad knees) and would just like some input. Also any symptoms when you GFR is in the low 20's. I am fairly tired and itch a lot. (I do not smoke or have diabetes)
Had a combined kidney pancreas transplant in 2000, and things are generally doing well. It is not perfect, the required drugs can have some significant side effects, but I wouldn't be here today without the transplant.
My recovery time was probably rather longer than average, but my surgery was more intense and took longer, than a kidney alone. I was hospitalized for about 10 days and needed to take it easy for a couple of weeks at home. Most kidney transplant patients get out of the hospital in4 or 5 days, though every case is slightly different.
Symptoms vary for each individual: some experience only fatigue, some experience generalized itching, mental confusion, loss of appetite or nausea. It's different for every one.
When kidney failure run to stage 4, the remaining healthy kidney function already can not help people live a normal life and they just can help to keep people alive. Under this circumstance, it is almost impossible for us to reverse the damaged kidney functions.
