Post-Transplant Part 2

I don’t believe I mentioned this on the other Post-Transplant post, so I’ll mention it here. After the transplant, I noticed that I had to go to the washroom several times a day (and night). This was after the catheter was removed, of course.  When I did go, the amount of urine seemed to be very small.  This made me a bit nervous. When my surgeon came to see, I asked him about this.  When my own kidneys still worked, I don’t remember having to go to the washroom/bathroom/toilet every 30 minutes!! (Well, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but it was quite a bit. Perhaps every hour at night…and even more frequently during the day).  What my surgeon told me made perfect sense.

Our bladders are essentially muscles. Like any other muscle in the body, if it remains unused for a long period of time, it will get weaker…and smaller.  I had been on dialysis from 2004 to 2012, so my bladder remained largely unused for that entire period of time.  My surgeon told me that as time went on, things would begin to normalize. My bladder would get stronger, so in the future I wouldn’t feel that urge that I have to go to the washroom and I have to go NOW!! On top of that, the bladder will get bigger and be able to accommodate a larger volume of fluid as time goes on.

Now that I am 3 weeks, almost a month in, I can say from experience that this is obviously true.  I still go to the bathroom quite a bit, but not as much.  I do feel that this will improve even further as time goes on.  The volume of fluid that I am able to hold is much more as well.  Before, when I was in the hospital and the week after I got home, I was producing maybe 100mL/ a little over 3oz of fluid when I went to the washroom.  Now, i’d say that amount has tripled (this is a guess, as I had to measure/write everything that I drank and everything that came out when I was in the hospital…I don’t have to do that anymore).  So, if you just received a kidney transplant and are wondering “Why am I producing so little urine/pee after my kidney transplant?” I hope the above will answer your question.  As always, if you are concerned or confused, definitely ask your doctor.

I still have a urinary stent in place.  That will be removed at the end of the month.  Also, I am still going to the hospital 3 times a week for blood work.  So far so good, as I haven’t had any message left for me on my “easyline” telling me that there are any issues.  I will be seeing my doctor on Monday.  As long as there are no issues, I will be given a blood requisition and will be allowed to do my blood work at a local blood lab instead of travelling all the way to the hospital, which, as I mentioned previously, is about a 30-40 minutes drive.  My local blood lab is about a 5 minute drive away 🙂  I have also been taking my temperature frequently and my temp is under control as well.  

The number of meds I have to take is a bit daunting. I plan to do a post in the future where I take pictures of all my meds individually, just so you can see what they look like.  

I’ve gotta say that I’m glad that the transplant happened in March, as I now have the warm spring weather and even warmer summer weather to enjoy. I can go out with friends and such and not have to worry about rushing home to do dialysis. Can’t wait to slather on some sunscreen and enjoy my summer!!