Here it is ... one year post-op.
Since April, I decreased another pants size, down to a 3/4. While that is happy, I had promised not to lose weight for a year, so at my 6-month check up I asked the doctor about it. He asked what my pre-op weight was and what my current weight was and said that I was fine. It is normal for the donor to lose some weight for the first year. "But don't worry," he said, "you'll probably gain some of it back at the year mark."
My pooch below my bellybutton is hard for me to explain how it feels. It doesn't hurt. It's more of a sensation. If I press hard and firm it could feel a bit like pushing firmly on a bruise, but with no searing pain, just a pressure discomfort. If I press or rub with my fingers over the skin, I feel like I can feel it both on the surface and underneath, maybe because I am feeling the skin moving around it or maybe because the "numb" part is between. Most of the time I don't feel anything and it doesn't feel "numb" or "tingly", just nothing, unless I am trying to move it around and describe it. The best I can come up with is that it feels like a numb lip after a shot at the dentist. It's that "nothing" sensation, like it's not even there, just a mass. I could do sit ups, no problem, and I'm sure it would tighten it right up, but I don't, so the pooch just sits there like a bag in front of me, probably looser than if it wasn't numb, but who knows, since I'm not doing sit ups, but I do walk!
In the past few months I have been without a vehicle quite a bit. I live in a town where the farthest point is 3 miles. It's amazing how much you can fit into just 3 miles! There is a fantastic bus system that I use often, but I also walk around town a lot, because the farthest I walk (to work) is only 1 1/2 miles, so why not? I have plenty of energy for all the walking. What is always surprising to me is that when I get home and sit for a minute, I almost immediately fall asleep! My adult son asked if it was possible that I was still recovering on the inside. Oh - yep. The exercise is important. So is rest. I love that my body is so willing to do both, as needed.
My scarring. The incision which my kidney was brought through is located at the bikini line. It is so tiny, you can only see it if you know it is there and are on purpose looking for it. It is as fine as a cat's scratch scar. The only exception is less than a half inch in length and located on the right corner. I've never seen it there. It looks tender, but isn't. I am wondering if I have a tiny infection. I am watching it. I just saw it this morning. (Update: It was only swollen and pink that day. Now that part of the scar looks the same as the rest of the scar. No difference.)
My scar at the top of my bellybutton is, again, fine as a cat's scratch and located within my stretch wrinkles, so in order to see it I have to stretch my belly button skin tight, and then have to look really, really closely to find it.
The scar highest, by my diaphragm, is easy to see, but looks more like a discoloration, like a chicken pox scar that is disappearing.
The scar I call my "button" is located about 3 inches above my belly button. It was the most irritating and the thickest from front to back. A blind person would probably feel it and guess it was a mosquito bite. The reddish scar is actually about a half an inch long and runs up and down. I am amazed that even my "button" is melting away! It just looks like sometime in my life I got scratched pretty good and left a scar. Nobody would, on their own, guess that I have had surgery!
For my one year post-op check up, all I had to do was go to my local hospital lab with the orders, pee in a cup, get a couple vials of blood, and have the results sent to the kidney donation coordinators. I called the coordinator to ask a couple questions, but there was no actual doctor appointment. Apparently all of my test scores are within normal range for 1 year post-op.
I just talked with my recipient. She had great news for me. Next month the doctors are changing her medication, and she will be able to try to get pregnant!!! This is extremely good news! I am so excited for her! Not every recipient gets this opportunity. It just depends on how they are recovering. Apparently she is doing very well!!!
And, this ends one wonderful adventure of a lifetime!
