It’s been a long day. We were unsure about traffic this morning so we left the house at 8:15 am. My sister came and picked up me and my parents since she also has to go for labs and meetings. We got to Westwood around 9:00 am so we stopped by Tiverton House to check out the facilities.
One of the staff at the front desk was able to show us what the rooms look like. They are pretty small and don’t have cooking facilities. You can use the shared kitchen in the lobby, and breakfast is included. The room with two double beds is $179/night, and a room with a single king sized bed is $189. Actually, the rooms are kind of depressing so we may check out Airbnb to see if there are other options. The donor gets a few nights of paid accommodations for their family so my sister-in-law probably going to stay a few nights, and ask my parents to watch my nieces.
We arrived at UCLA 200 Medical Plaza at around 10:00 am. There was a long line at the main lab so we got into the virtual registration line. You send a test message to QLess and it keeps you informed of how long the line via test. There is also an app to update you with a big more details. I then went to radiology to get a chest x-ray which only took 10 minutes. I went back to the lab line and was called in pretty quickly, except it was just for registration, and the second line for service was 58-74 minutes long.
Since we had other meetings at the transplant center, we decided to go to the 5th floor, check-in, and have our parents wait in their lobby. At check-in, we found out that the lab draws were scheduled in the transplant center instead; we had read the instructions incorrectly. They were able to transfer my reservation upstairs but my sister had to go back down to the main lab to have her blood drawn. Confusing.
We waited for about 20 minutes and I was called in for labs. They drew 15 tubes of blood; I guess they’re testing for everything. That was followed by an EKG. Next, the transplant surgeon came to do a quick exam and an intake interview. After he was done, their nephrologist came and did a quicker exam and she also asked a few questions. Finally, a transplant coordinator came to tell me a few preparation items and another copy of the documents the they sent via Fedex Saturday. We were done at around 12:30 pm and headed home.
I got a few follow-up calls already. Most of my labs were fine, except my potassium levels are still elevated. They were at 5.9 last month at the dialysis center, and today’s test came back at 6.2. Again, I’m not sure what’s up with that since I’ve avoided high-potassium foods. Also, my creatinine is higher at 10.49, which translates to a eGFR of 5. This is lower than my typical 7-9 score. I don’t know if it means much at the low end of the scale, but maybe hemodialysis is becoming more ineffective for me? I’ll need to check my clearance numbers with the dialysis center. UCLA also said it won’t delay the surgery but they may give me another medication pre-surgery to lower the potassium levels.
So far, it looks like a go. Their nephrologist was very optimistic. Since my sister and I match very well, she thinks I’ll only need a minimum dosage of inmmunosupressive drugs post-surgery. She also kept saying that my hospital stay will be only three days. The coordinator said the room situation is still fluid but I still may be able to get my own room. Since that wing of the hospital is reserved for transplant recipients, hopefully it won’t be too full. All I have to do is keep my dialysis schedule, show up for a COVID-19 test in two weeks, and go back at 6:00 am on Wednesday, January 27th.
==========
The coordinator also said since my surgery is scheduled, they are taking me off the UNOS transplant wait list. No problem since I probably still have a good four years to go before getting a cadaver donated kidney.
Life with chronic diseases 