We just had our meeting with the consulting surgeon Dr. Roberto Cacciola about our tests. He was very happy with them and told us Pieter is extremely fortunate to have a non-related living donor with such a good match. He discussed everything with is in fine detail, down to the actual procedure and incisions.
Long story short, Dr. Roberto showed me die CT scans of my kidneys and was very pleased. He told us that they prefer to remove the left kidney because it has a longer artery and is easier to access. It wonderfully turns out that my left kidney is slightly smaller than the right one by 1.3cm. They will always remove the smaller or weaker one leaving the best one for the donor. My left kidney is connected to my main artery by only one artery, exactly the same as Pieters! Where the one on the right has two.
This means an easy an smooth operation because there are only these two arteries to connect. It's common to have up to 6 arteries, and connecting those to an odd number is very complicated.
So all my tests have been concluded and the surgeon is happy to do the operation!!!
There is one bit of bad news though; he noticed that Pieter is still on anti-rejection medication for his non-functioning kidney, even though his doctor should have told him to stop it once I started my tests. The medication prevents Pieter's body from producing new cells, which means that the new kidney won't be able to attach to his body. He is very upset about it because we were preliminarily scheduled to have the operation at the end of October, and now we have to wait another 3 months. I feel his anguish, but at least we know it will definitely go ahead!
Oh my, Bitter & sweet news there; such a shame it won't be done by Christmas, but as you say, at least you know the operation 'is a go'
ReplyDeleteBest wishes as always to you all :0)
You are my hero, John. What a brave and generous thing to do for someone who isn't even related to you. God will bless you for it, I know. All the best, Lois
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