Kidney Transplant: Hospital Recovery after the Surgery

Imagine this. You’re yet to open your eyes, but you’re conscious. You can hear hushed voices around you, sense a strong ambient smell, get a feeling of being “lifted & wheeled somewhere”. At a point, you feel a sudden pain on one side of your lower abdomen. It’s only a matter of time that you open your eyes nice & wide and if health & luck are on your side, you recognize most of those masked faces, where you are and what you just underwent. Wondering what’s this all about? Well, that’s my own experience of waking-up after my Kidney Transplant Surgery.

Of course things may differ individually, depending on how the new kidney works in a recipient and his/her general health. Despite variable experiences, once you do wake up, you officially enter the Transplant Survivor Club. Congratulations!

So how does the rest of your hospital stay look like?

Post Kidney Transplant Hospital Stay Cover Pic | allthingskidney.com | All Things Kidney Official | Dr Sparshita Nag

That is what we aim to walk you through, with this article.

Continue reading “Kidney Transplant: Hospital Recovery after the Surgery”

Kidney Transplant Complications

Kidney Transplant saves precious lives. But it also qualifies as a major surgery involving complicated procedures. This holds true for both the donor kidney retrieval surgery and implantation of the donor kidney into the recipient (patient). Quite naturally, both surgeries may entail risks / possible complications during and after the procedures, both in the short & long term. It is these possible risks/complications of Kidney Transplant are what we aim to walk you through, today.

Complications of Kidney Transplant cover pic | All Things Kidney Official | allthingskidney.com

We will first cover the risk-profile associated with Kidney Donation followed by that for the Kidney Recipient. The article presents the list of complications as per the time points at which they usually appear after the surgery. Read on to get a comprehensive insight on the what-why-how of these complications below.

NOTE: This article only covers complications from the kidney transplant procedure. Adverse effects expected from anti-rejection & other medications that a kidney recipient is put on, will be explained in a separate article.

Continue reading “Kidney Transplant Complications”

Kidney Transplant: Before the surgery – II

Transplant Kidney Transplant Hospital Admission till Surgery | allthingskidney.com | all things kidney ATK

Hello kidney warriors & knowledge seekers! Today, we continue from our previous article on all steps that kidney patients & kidney donors need to follow before getting admitted to the hospital for a Transplant surgery.

The article today explains the basic workflow involved for every kidney patient scheduled for a transplant & their donor starting from hospital admission until they finally get to go under the knife.

Continue reading “Kidney Transplant: Before the surgery – II”

Kidney Transplant: Before the surgery – I

Kidney transplant 

Every patient with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or in other words, Kidney failure needs to go on treatments that would “fill the gaps” in the errant functioning of the unwell kidney or completely replace it with healthy functioning. Dialysis is a way to fill the gaps while a Kidney Transplant is a complete replacement.

In our previous article, we explained the bare basics of a Kidney Transplant.

This article covers an outline of what an average pre-transplant preparation for the patient and the kidney donor may entail.

Continue reading “Kidney Transplant: Before the surgery – I”

Kidney Transplant – Basics


Contents


 

1. What is Kidney Transplant?

Kidneys are essential for sustaining life. Individuals who end up with very little or almost no kidney function, either due to an incurable disease, birth defect or extensive injury, require a solution to regain/assist with their kidney function. Kidney Transplant is one of the methods to do so.

This involves a surgical procedure of “transferring” a healthy, matched kidney from a willing donor to “implant” it in the belly of the patient requiring the organ. Hence the name, Transplant.

Here, the donor kidney is securely removed with Continue reading “Kidney Transplant – Basics”

Creatine Supplements and your Kidney

Creatine Supplements Kidney

Creatine Supplements are a common performance-enhancing agent. It is also rather popular with fitness enthusiasts, athletes and professional bodybuilders these days. But a growing number of Creatine consumers are also concerned about if these supplements could damage kidneys.

Creatine Supplements and your kidney | www.allthingskidney.com | All Things Kidney Official

 

Now, anything kidney tingles our neurons immediately! So we decided to address these concerns with today’s article.

Continue reading “Creatine Supplements and your Kidney”

Medicines can damage kidneys: Understanding Drug-induced Nephrotoxicity

Medicines damage kidneys

Whatever we eat, drink or inject into our body circulates via blood through our kidneys. This tenet holds true for medicines as well.

All of you know that prescription medicines come with specific dose instructions. These comply with dosing protocols found “safe & effective” after rigorous clinical trials for that drug. The purpose of such fixed dosing is to ensure maximum benefit from the drug & minimize the chances of harmful side effects.

If such medicines are not taken following your healthcare provider’s instructions, or if it is an illegal substance, it can end up harming your kidneys!

Technically, such medicines are termed “Nephrotoxic”.

Drug induced Nephtotoxicity cover | www.allthingskidney.com

This article aims to provide an overview of which drugs can cause nephrotoxicity (kidney damage), when and how, plus how to protect yourself against it.  Continue reading “Medicines can damage kidneys: Understanding Drug-induced Nephrotoxicity”

High Blood Pressure in CKD

High blood pressure is almost always present at the time of diagnosing Chronic Kidney Disease. And as time passes during your CKD journey, controlling your blood pressure becomes an essential part of your treatment plan to delay kidney failure.

But why does your blood pressure rise in chronic kidney disease in the first place?!

High blood pressure in chronic kidney disease cover pic allthingskidney.com

That, and the basics that you must understand about high blood pressure in CKD is what today’s storytelling is about.

Continue reading “High Blood Pressure in CKD”