Down the Hatch

Glucose beverage... um, yum?

Hanging in the waiting room.

Glucose test day.  Dum da dum!  I have been dreading this part of the testing.  I am a big fat baby about eating or drinking things that are disagreeable to me.  I am a VERY healthy eater, and I never ever drink sugary drinks, so I was very worried that I would end up gagging and not be able to choke the drink down.

After fasting since 8 pm last night, I arrived at the hospital at 9 am to get a fasting blood draw.  One little needle stick, a vial of blood and I was sent back out to the waiting room.  I hung out there for about fifteen minutes while my vial of blood was tested and then they brought me the dreaded bottle.  I was instructed to drink it quickly, in five minutes or less.  I unscrewed the cap, smelled it, took a tentative sip... and realized that I had psyched myself out for nothing.  Flat orange soda is what it tasted like.  No big deal at all.  Would I drink it on a daily basis?  Absolutely not.  But I can handle it for this test. 

So I slugged the drink down and then was instructed to come back in two hours for the next blood draw.  Within about ten minutes I started to feel pretty sick to my stomach.  The glucose drink certainly did not agree with me.  I went home and laid down for an hour and a half and tried to ignore the growing nausea.  After two hours I headed back to the lab and had my next blood draw done.  And that was it!  All in all a pretty darn easy set of labs.  Now I just have to wait for the results to come back from Colorado to determine what the next step is.  Will I pass?  I sure hope so!

Vial of my blood.

A Wee Bit of Info

More than 88,000 people in America are waiting for a kidney transplant; sadly, about 12 of these patients die every day because there aren’t enough donors. Many kidney patients have someone who is willing to donate, but because of immune system or blood type incompatibilities, they are not able to give a kidney to their loved one.

The Alliance for Paired Donation can help. Kidney paired donation matches one incompatible donor/recipient pair to another pair in the same situation, so that the donor of the first pair gives to the recipient of the second, and vice versa. In other words, the two pairs swap kidneys . APD has also pioneered a new way of using altruistic, or good Samaritan, donors, so that the transplants no longer have to be performed simultaneously. Non-simultaneous Extended Altruistic Donor Chains (NEAD Chains ) allow donors to “pay it forward” after their loved one receives a transplant.

Big decision, right?  Absolutely.  But if there is even a tiny part of you that is considering being a kidney donor, then at least look into the process.  I have a mixed bag of emotions about all of this... I am nervous, excited, a little apprehensive but most of all optimistic.  One thing I can promise everyone is that I will blog the absolute truth about my experience.  If something is scary... I will tell you.  If something hurts... I will tell you that too.  But I have a feeling that whatever might end up being scary or painful is going to be quickly forgotten about after I experience the absolute joy of this process. 

Love and hope,

~LL