Testing Day 2

Once again, I was required to fast for my first test of the day. I had to eat my final meal before 6 pm and avoid all food and water after 10 pm. This would have been bad enough, but I also had to drink a big bottle of lemon-flavored laxative. At about 1:00 am, I woke up and spent about 30 minutes in the bathroom. I will leave the rest of the details to your ample imaginations. Needless to say, this - coupled with the fasting - left me quite dehydrated. This is where the excitement comes in.

My first test was a CT scan. For those who have never experienced a CT scan, you lie down on a big table and they move the table back and forth through a big circle (looks a lot like a Stargate). They needed to inject a much larger amount of contrast solution so they could see the parts that they wanted to get images of (kidneys, ureter, bladder, etc.) so they had to insert an IV port. For some reason, the port needed to be in my right arm which is NOT my good arm for injections and draws. The veins in that arm only show themselves after I have been working out heavily. The first attempt (in my elbow pit) didn't even catch a vein - I suspect it nicked one though, because I still have a bruise there.

The nurse then decided to try my right hand, which would have been fine, except that she said, "It's harder to get these ones in because they roll." Gee, thanks. I needed to hear that shocking lack of confidence just as you were aiming a needle at me. Between the nerves and the dehydration and the minor pain and the being tensed up and not breathing the way I should, I managed to nearly pass out. I didn't faint, but I must have gotten pretty darn white, because I had the undivided attention of every nurse in the room. One was holding my feet up, one was holding a cold rag to my forehead, one was grabbing the blood pressure cuff (after I told her that my BP drops dramatically in these situations), and several others were watching and asking how I felt. It was quite embarassing. Eventually, I managed to bring my BP up high enough that they would believe me when I said I felt fine. I headed over to have my CT scan.

The IV in my hand was hurting the whole time they prepped me for the scan. When they were going to hook me up to the contrast solution I mentioned how sensitive it was, so they decided to move it to my elbow again. After yet another needle stick I was ready for the scan. It involved lots of lying on a table with my arms over my head. I had to hold my breath each time they took an image. The worst part was when they inflated the little balloons strapped to my abdomen. I think they were supposed to prevent the contrast dye from travelling too quickly, but it mostly just felt like they were jabbing straight through me. I had a hard time staying still during this part. After they got all the images they needed, I had the IV removed and headed out to the series of meetings I had scheduled.

First, I met with the hypertension nurse, who explained the results of my blood tests and my 18 hour BP eval. Next, I talked with my coordinator briefly. We talked about scheduling and she made sure I didn't have any questions. After a break of a couple hours (occupied with window shopping and feeding our faces), we went to a little educational class. They summarized all the info that everyone else had given me in the last 2 days. We got to watch a DVD of an actual kidney removal. It was facinating. Finally, I met with the nephrologist again and he gave me the final "go ahead" after looking over the results of all the tests.

There you have it. The entire two days of testing to be a kidney donor. My hope is that someone who plans to do this in the future will read this and now what to expect, because I didn't have a clue. To anyone who is worrying about these tests, I just want to tell you that it is not bad. I whine and complain about the fasting, but it was really not bad at all.