Everything came back saying I was healthy enough to donate, and a transplant date was scheduled. Things definitely got real from there! It felt like quite a shock after so long in the testing phase. I’m a very positive, pragmatic person, so just wanted to get on with it and help my nephew before he was forced to start dialysis treatment.
The operations went absolutely fine and Louis’s new kidney started working almost immediately. I needed a couple of days to recover – obviously Louis’s body felt great as it got a newly working kidney, but I was the opposite, having felt so well going into the surgery the first 24 hours were quite challenging with sickness. By day two I was able to get out of bed and see him for the first time. The difference in him was incredible and made the whole process immediately worth it.
That first week or two after getting home from the hospital was definitely tricky. I’m not used to feeling poorly, so I wasn’t a very good patient! But after the first 10 days I was doing well and getting back to work and more normal life. After six weeks I was 90% back to normal and now, 18 months on I wouldn’t know any difference from life with two kidneys.
By pure chance I had a neighbour who happened to donate a kidney six months before me. They became my support and really helped me through that initial recovery period.
A few months after the donation, we had a big family celebration for Easter. Louis was himself again for the first time in a while. He had been feeling poorly for some time so we had forgotten what he was like when he was at his best. I had my nephew back, and my sister had her son back. We just couldn’t stop talking all day long!
My living donation was relatively straightforward, and we’ve had an incredible outcome. It’s an honour I was able to pay it forwards like that. When I tell people I’m a living kidney donor, they always say how amazing it is to donate. I appreciate what they mean, but it’s also very doable. I think anyone that can do it should give it serious consideration, you are literally saving a life. My nephew gets to lead an almost normal life post transplant which is all we could wish for.
