As most of you already know, I had a kidney transplant on July 29th, 2009. That’s just over a month ago. Since then, I simply cannot believe I had this procedure, since I don’t feel much different now than I did more than a year ago. It’s amazing how much of a difference having a kidney transplant makes.

I just want to send a great thanks for everyone who asked about me and wanted to know how I was doing. It Really helped to be thought of and Really gave me a lot of positive energy. Most of all I want to thank my sister for giving me the kidney. It still seems weird that I’ve got a part of her inside (literally) so it’s almost like we’re more than just brother/sister, it’s like we’re twins or something. LOL

So the other day I managed to get the bill for the surgery and hospital stay. It all came out to about 150,000 bucks. No, I’m not kidding. Luckily, I have great insurance and I probably won’t have to pay more than 600 bucks and the cost of the medication. Thank you Group Health!

But as of right now I’m doing good and I no longer have to do dialysis. Believe me that alone is quite worth it. Aside from that, the only other “side effect”, if you can call it that, is my neuropathy has gotten worse. Actually that’s not entirely true. Because prior to the transplant, the kidney disease would build up toxins in my body, it would actually become numb to a lot of pain. Now that I have a functioning kidney, those toxins are no longer building up and I’m no longer numb. So I actually feel the neuropathy now instead of numbing myself to it. Interesting!

Anyone else out there with transplants? I’d like to hear from you about how you deal with all the medications and anything else. Remember, transplant is a treatment, not a cure!