Day 9: Kidney Failure

The tests they performed last night showed Jean's right kidney, the one they transplanted, had failed and died. They removed the kidney this afternoon during a brief surgery. She's recovering right now and will be fine.

Last night they performed a nuclear test on her kidney. They injected her with dye containing a harmless radioactive tracer, and followed the tracer using x-rays and scanners as it passed through her digestive system and into her liver, kidney, and bladder. They were looking for possible leaks in the right kidney and ureter, which had been transplanted. What they saw was the kidney was not processing ANY liquid. This was a clear sign it had stopped functioning.

Dr. Hanto quickly returned to the hospital today and scheduled a surgery to remove the kidney. If the dead organ is left inside the body, either the body will gradually reject it and induce sickness or an infection might have spread across her entire pelvis or abdomen. They wanted to remove it sooner than later.

The surgery lasted no more than an hour. As expected, the surgeons found the kidney had died. It's likely that one of the renal blood vessels had a blood clot and cut off the kidney. According to the doctors, this isn't uncommon in auto-transplants patients. It's also seen in cancer patients and in people who have had radiation treatment in their belly area; the radiation causes blood vessels to constrict or grow smaller permanently. We won't know anything definitive until the pathology reports come back.

Jean is doing fine, and is already back her room this evening. You can try calling. If she's awake enough and feels like talking, she'll pick up or will try calling peopleherself. The docs expect she'll be in the hospital until the middle or end of this week.

The only bright spot: the left kidney is still intact and doesn't appear to be compromised by the tumor or previous surgery. According to Dr. Hanto, she can experience long, healthy, normal life with one kidney.

But I can't express how disappointed we are. It's really the worst case: she underwent transplant, and it failed, leaving her with only one kidney. She's unable to use her upper right leg as a result of the transplant, and we don't know how long that will last. The loss of a kidney will affect her treatment options in the future. We're not at a point where we can start thinking about the future. We're just trying to get her through the end of this hospital stay. Then we'll work on the rest, whatever that may be.

I'd like to thank everyone, but today most of all Jean's parents and my parents, both of whom had a lot of patience and courage throughout the day. They kept us company and gave us immediate support. If I have any strength in my character or spirit, I owe it to my parents. And Jean feels the same way about hers.

Love & Peace to you all,
Pat

Posted by gasbarro at March 25, 2006 07:40 PM