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 Photo by Amber Hunt |
On Friday, April 7, 2000, one week after the surgery, my father left Chicago to return home to Ohio. I was supposed to have left at the same time, but a blood test earlier that morning indicated my new kidney was not functioning as well as it should be and I would need to stay in Chicago a few more days.
A week after receiving a kidney from a living-related donor, the creatinine of the recipient should be at or below 1.8. Mine was hovering around 2.4 for several days and the doctors were getting concerned. Needless to say, so was I. It was the first time the word "rejection" entered my vocabulary.
I was quite concerned that weekend and even attended church (the first time in many years) in a selfish attempt to sway the odds.
On the following Monday, however, I was cleared to go home. My creatinine was still over 2, but since it wasn't rising, rejection was ruled out. Lisa, my nurse, said the kidney was probably traumatized and needed a week or two to recover from the surgery.
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