Little did I know, upon regaining consciousness, that there had been a series of minor complications in my operation. I was told that I had been on the table for almost 7.5 hours instead of the expected 2-3. In the recovery ward I had an intense pain in my leg where the nerves had been trapped for such an extended period. That was more intense than the actual abdominal pain I was feeling. I had never been under a general anaesthetic before, and it was frankly quite frightening waking up in that situation, but my recovery nurse was absolutely brilliant, very attentive and sympathetic to my condition. Within hours of returning to the transplant ward I was able to get up from my bed and make the short walk down the corridor to see Craig after surgery.
It was such a beautiful thing to see he had come through his surgery safely and without complication; a truly overwhelming emotional experience like I hadn’t ever felt before. It seemed to melt away all the pains I had. I stayed in the ward overnight for observations, then the following afternoon – just around 48 hours after admission – my stay in hospital was over and I was sent back home for recovery.
The first night at home was a real struggle. My partner Bethany and I both got quite emotional, because I was in such pain after climbing the stairs to the bedroom and couldn’t find a way to get into bed without serious abdominal pain and she was powerless to help me. Each day things got progressively easier, and I was insistent on getting out each day and walking, even if just for 10 minutes, as I was determined to recover as quickly as possible. I had been given some medications that I was taking to help post-operative recovery, including a self-administered blood-thinning injection that I had to do daily for two weeks after the surgery. I am needle-phobic, and still can’t look when my blood is drawn (despite the numerous tests we went through and I still go through now), so to inject myself was an extremely difficult thing for me to do!
It took around three months to fully recover my energy levels. In September of 2023 I started running again, with the aim of taking part in the 2024 London Landmarks Half Marathon. It feels amazing to be able to move and be active in the same way I was before donating my kidney, and I take pride in promoting awareness of kidney disease when I am participating in races as a living donor.
If I had to do it all again, knowing what I now know about the process, I would say yes in a heartbeat. Not only has my life returned to normal since donating, but I feel immeasurably better in myself knowing I have been able to give my brother the gift of a healthy life. And he has more time – unburdened from the restrictions of dialysis – to enjoy his life with his fiancée, family, and friends. We can both now look to the future, to our marriages, and to creating more memories together over the years, knowing we have an unbreakable bond that has been made possible by the brilliant hard work of the NHS staff that have carried us through this process and continue to support us.
Stuart is also a Buddy in the UK Living Kidney Donation Buddy Support Service. Visit our webpage on the service if you would like to speak to her, or someone else who has experience in living kidney donation.
